Top green technologies and innovations for a sustainable future

Sustainable development as a term has come to encompass a multitude of methods, measures and actions in today’s corporate landscape. As an umbrella term, sustainability now covers a variety of avenues, including clean-tech (clean energy, clean water and sustainable agriculture), human resources development and social development. 

However, sustainability in its most humble form, pertains to development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the requirements of future generations. Today, the idea of a successful business has rapidly evolved to include the ability of an entity to move beyond profit, and to upgrade its business model to a sustainable one. This objective has now become a strategic business imperative and is being augmented by the collective efforts of businesses, consumers, governments, and civil society. 

These efforts are critical enablers on India’s journey towards reaching the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the country’s 2070 emission reductions targets. More and more organizations are today embracing technologies that help them achieve their environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. Companies are looking at energy optimization, emissions reductions, cleaner fuels, plastic circularity and low global warming (LGW) potential products to reduce their carbon footprints as key areas. 

Facility Management and Energy Optimisation 

Facility operations are inherently energy-intensive, with power requirements ranging up to tens of megawatts for larger facilities. Most of these sites burn diesel or natural gas for their energy needs. Companies are now seeking to transition from fossil fuels to sustainable renewable energy solutions. In the current business environment, it is imperative for industries to reduce operating expenses while implementing measures to meet strict greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards. 

Companies are eager to switch to decarbonized, decentralized and digitalized sources of energy. The use of battery energy storage systems (BESS) facilitates this shift seamlessly. In their most basic form, these systems store large amounts of renewable energy for use when demand is high. Energy storage makes renewable sources like wind and solar energy both dependable and available on demand, while reducing power grid reliability and carbon emissions drastically. 

Additionally, technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and Internet of Things (IoT) can enable organizations to move away from linear production methods to models that facilitate emissions control and reduction initiatives. 

Infrastructure and buildings make up the framework of our society. Shockingly, buildings are responsible for 39 percent of the world's carbon emissions, according to research findings from the World Green Building Council. The majority (28 percent) is caused by operational carbon emanating from lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Electricity use from commercial buildings alone currently accounts for 18 percent of all GHG emissions. 

Technology and software that enable emissions control initiatives are designed to help facilities achieve carbon neutrality by monitoring and reducing methane emissions, which are more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Technology that facilitates the early detection of fugitive methane emissions, including real-time analytics and precise location of any leaks, allows facility managers to act quickly. 

Besides providing a real-time dashboard of sustainability key performance indicators, this enterprise-level software aggregates carbon data from energy-related emission sources in a building – gas, electricity and fuel sources; reduces energy consumption using advanced building control capabilities; and reduces carbon footprint without compromising occupant well-being or comfort. Importantly, it provides a roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality, and helps customers to execute the roadmap to help meet their carbon neutral goals. 

Clean fuels 

Alongside energy optimisation and storage, creating cleaner fuels through processes that reduce emissions are just as integral to sustainable development.  Alternatives such as sustainable aviation fuel have already been developed and are key to reducing the industry’s GHG emissions.

Green hydrogen, which is created by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen in an electrolyser powered by renewable electricity, is anticipated to play a significant part in the energy transition. Carbon capture and hydrogen technologies can play a key role in helping “hard-to-decarbonize” sectors such as industrial, residential, and heavy transportation reduce emissions. Developing refineries of the future and identifying cleaner fuel alternatives including sustainable aviation fuel, green diesel, and green and blue hydrogen will help fortify the foundation of India’s sustainable future.

Plastic circularity 

Improved recycling solutions and plastic management are essential to compliment the switch to cleaner fuels due to global population growth and the dynamic development in industrialization. New technologies for plastic waste management are critical to reducing carbon footprint. Advanced plastics recycling technology can help upgrade a wide range of plastics, including waste plastic, industrial packaging materials and other discarded plastics. Furthermore, these new technologies can reduce the need for fossil fuels in the creation of virgin plastics, thereby enabling a circular economy for plastics.

Commercial scale processes which convert unrecycled waste plastics into sustainable polymer feedstocks can displace fossil feedstocks in new plastics production. This ensures that waste plastic is broken down so it can go back to feed existing plastics production infrastructure to make new plastic again. Industry studies illustrate that this process potentially increases the amount of plastic that can be recycled by three times and reduces CO2 equivalent emissions reductions by up to 57 percent relative to production of the same amount of virgin plastics from fossil sources.

Today’s petrochemical companies primarily use fossil feed sources derived from crude oil. The new process can produce high yields of petroleum naphtha from sustainable feedstocks like used cooking oil and animal fats. This yield can emit up to 80 percent lower greenhouse gas as compared to petroleum feeds.

The shift to clean and green operations is now more significant than ever. With the rapid adoption of clean technologies and the efforts to innovate more sustainable methods, the future of industry looks to be heading in an optimistic direction. 

The article has been written by Kunal Ruvala,  President, Honeywell Technology Solutions (HTS)