With climate change being the hottest topic for debate on the entire planet, it is more evident than ever that humanity, as a species, needs to come up with ideas on how to help itself survive. This survival of the species is not possible without addressing the challenging problems the Earth is facing. In other words, to save ourselves, we must protect the planet we live on.
To do that, new technologies are now in development, and their main goal is to provide for humanity while protecting or even helping the environment restore some of its health. These technologies are more and more numerous, which is fortunate. Take a look at this list that is far from being complete.
Thermo-polymerization
That is quite a complicated term to remember, but it may become part of our everyday vocabulary, and, hopefully, quite soon. This name stands for the new technology that will help us obtain oil from virtually everything. Nature needed millions of years to turn dinosaur bones into fuel, but, with thermo-polymerization, we won’t need as long.
Solar glass
Harnessing the natural power offered freely by the environment has been a pursuit for a long time now. Although the final products are far from being finished so that they can be used on a large scale, some technologies are getting better and better. Solar glass is one of them, and the idea behind it is as simple as it could be significant for saving the planet.
There is a lot of glass in the world, with buildings covered almost entirely in it. With solar glass, which is glass that can collect the energy from the sun, all this inert surface could be turned into a force for good. The idea is to make a type of material that does that and allows the sun to go through at the same time.
The optics performance of this glass, as you can learn here, must be maintained at a proper degree so that it doesn’t affect its original purpose, which is to filter light, without preventing it from getting inside a room.
Plastic made from plants
It is a quite well-known fact that plastic is one of the main culprits for the state of the planet as it is today. However, the convenient material is challenging to replace, as it is now part of so many items and applications we use every day. That is why scientists have another critical challenge to overcome.
They must come up with an alternative to plastic, and it looks like they have found one. Plastic can also be obtained from plants, and the idea that supports it is that this new type of plastic is biodegradable. Nonetheless, like all the latest technologies, it comes with its fair share of challenges.
For instance, while plant-based plastic can be biodegradable, it is essential to know how long it takes to disintegrate, and that’s where not all products appear to have been created equal. A lot of customer education is needed for identifying those items and even technologies that truly help.
A new way of thinking about batteries
Energy is one of the most significant issues and factors that affect the evolution of the planet, so there is no surprise that a lot of research is invested not only in renewable sources but also in storage alternatives. Li-ion batteries are widespread right now, but they are expensive to produce, and their ability to store energy is limited.
The planet needs new batteries, and it looks like some advancements have already been registered. Aqueous sulfur-flow batteries are among these steps forward, and it appears that they might be a good candidate for replacing the current Li-ion batteries.
Carbon-capturing technologies
One of the critical reasons why our planet is getting hotter, year after year, is the immense quantity of carbon that is released into the atmosphere. Because of the urgency of the situation, there is a lot of talk about technologies that could allow us to capture the carbon.
New technologies have already emerged, and their purpose is to capture the carbon emitted by industrial entities and store it in the shape of rocks underground. How efficient such technologies are remains to be seen.
