Green Technology is a concept that sounds too good to be true: state-of-the-art technology that provides the latest and greatest functionality while protecting the environment. With the new advancements in technology, however, this concept is slowly being realized. Efforts to find or create renewable sources of energy to answer the growing concerns of the dwindling supply of fossil fuels have been made and are making great progress.
Defining environmental technology
Environmental technology or green technology is an umbrella term for technology that was made with sustainability and the preservation of the environment in mind. It also includes technologies developed for the preservation of the environment. This includes technologies such as recycling plants, purification and treatment facilities for water, solid waste management solutions, and other technologies that are meant for environmental remediation. Many of these are revolutionary breakthroughs in design and have already been implemented in various parts of the world.
Old meets new
You might be asking, what happens to the old technology? The ones that are not so eco-friendly? Should we scrap them and replace them with newer, more environmentally-conscious designs and apparatuses? While that would be the ideal solution, it is not feasible in most cases. The most common obstacle faced by organizations and establishments when considering replacing old technology with more environmentally-conscious models is cost.
Economic limitation is the most common factor that bars most would-be adopters of new, green technology from acquiring and implementing these new technologies. So what can we do? Are there any environmentally-friendly ways to operate and maintain them?
Industrialized environmentalism
In the industrial sector, it is hard to replace large pieces of machinery and equipment. These are large investments that can cost up to the hundreds of millions of dollars, making replacement unfeasible. One of the most common gripes environmentalists have with the industrial sector is when factories, plants, and similar facilities conduct cleaning and maintenance duties on their equipment. The cleaning process can release potentially harmful toxins into the environment, considering that many industries use chemicals in their operations.
So how does an industrial establishment incorporate environmentalism into their workplace?
Green clean
To address the issue of hazardous chemicals being released when maintaining and cleaning industrial equipment, a new method of cleaning such equipment has been developed. It is called dry ice blasting. Dry ice blasting is a cleaning method that uses carbon dioxide to wash industrial equipment. Dry ice is blasted onto equipment, removing dirt, grease, and other unwanted materials that hamper the performance of the equipment. It does not employ the use of any harmful or hazardous chemicals, and is similar to the process of sand blasting. However, with sand blasting, the sand used in the cleaning as well as the dirt and other materials need to be removed from the cleaning site. With dry ice blasting, this is not necessary as the dry ice dissipates into the air after use, and only the dirt and other unwanted materials have to be removed, ultimately providing a better and more efficient method of cleaning.
As we can see, it is entirely possible to maintain technology and keep industrial operations running while caring for the environment. Advancements in technology has proved that if there’s a green will, there’s a green way!
Photograph by Molotalk