Opportunities & challenges for Eco Technology
When thinking about exciting developments in eco technology you should always start with the biggest challenges we face. Why? Because these present the biggest opportunities.
The need to provide 9.5 billion people on Earth (by 2050) with a good quality of life with the resources of single planet is certainly one of those. How we mitigate and adapt to a changing environment is another. Running through both of these is how we can equitably manage our (increasing) energy needs when our current approach relies on limited resources and creates impacts the planet cannot absorb.
At the Technology Strategy Board we help companies innovate more quickly; to do that well you have to think about the future market. For most innovators, having a conversation about trends in technology, competition and customer needs is what they do every day. Bringing thinking on environmental and social drivers into that conversation is more difficult and that is where we try to help. The challenges I have outlined drive huge business opportunities. So taking them in turn...
First up we are seeing a growing demand from resource intensive businesses, particularly consumer facing brand owners, for ways to change their business models to be more circular. Essentially they are trying to work out how to make more money by selling less ‘stuff’. This is driven by escalating resource cost and uncertainties in availability as global demand outstrips our ability to access virgin materials. Another key driver is the society’s trend away from ownership of products towards wanting accessibility to goods and services. Coupled with that is a demand for personalisation that means products and services need to be ‘hackable’ – an anathema to many traditional brands – which may drive some of these business model changes. A resource linear, one-solution-fits-all approach simply won’t work in a future where peer-to-peer selling and discrete, distributed manufacture is made easier thanks to new technologies.
The second challenge: how we might adapt and mitigate changes to our environment is being explored by increasing use of data. Climate adaptation and increasing the resilience of infrastructure and communities has been highlighted by issues such as the recent floods and incidences of air pollution across Europe. As businesses realise their reliance on ecosystems and the effect they have on society more are turning to big and open data to understand and manage these relationships. Governments and cities collect huge amounts of data and by making these open and easy to work with digital entrepreneurs are enabling a range of new insights and services.
Lastly, with security of supply being seen as important as lower environmental impact and lower cost, there is a trend towards localised energy systems. Industry is installing renewable energy and energy from waste plants at a growing rate, often at a price below the grid. An example here is large solar roofs at big footprint sites with high energy demands. Wal-Mart aims to have 100% of its energy needs met this way by 2020. Jaguar Land Rover has recently completed the installation of 21,000 photovoltaic panels at its new Engine Manufacturing Centre in Staffordshire, making it the UK's largest rooftop solar panel array at 5.8MW supplying 30% of the centre's energy requirements.
Off-grid and remote communities can make use of integrated systems that use renewable energy as well as technology that uses their waste to contribute to their energy needs. The reliability of fuel cells has seen them used more and more for remote installations. As community energy systems grow, the trading of energy will become a reality and our energy network will have to change. The impact of electric vehicles presents challenges as well as opportunities (such as storage for renewables).
For all these areas the Technology Strategy Board has active programmes and funding competitions. To learn more about them come and see my session at EcoTech or follow me on Twitter.
Dr Mike Pitts Lead Specialist, Sustainability, Technology Strategy Board