Environmental technology

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Environmental technology (abbreviated as EnviroTech) or green technology (abbreviated as GreenTech) or clean technology (abbreviated as CleanTech) is the application of the environmental sciences to conserve the natural environment and resources, and to curb the negative impacts of human involvement. Sustainable development is the core of environmental technologies. When applying sustainable development as a solution for environmental issues, the solutions need to be socially equitable, economically viable, and environmentally sound.

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[edit] Related technologies

Some environmental technologies that retain sustainable development are; recycling, water purification, sewage treatment, remediation, flue gas treatment, solid waste management, and renewable energy. Some technologies assist directly with energy conservation, while other technologies are emerging that help the environment by reducing the amount of waste produced by human activities. Energy sources such as solar power create less problems for the environment than traditional sources of energy like coal and petroleum.

Scientists continue to search for clean energy alternatives to our current power production methods. Some technologies such as anaerobic digestion produce renewable energy from waste materials. The global reduction of greenhouse gases is dependent on the adoption of energy conservation technologies at industrial level as well as this clean energy generation. That includes using unleaded gasoline, solar energy and alternative fuel vehicles, including plug-in hybrid and hybrid electric vehicles.

Since electric motors consume 60% of all electricity generated[citation needed], advanced energy efficient electric motor (and electric generator) technology that are cost effective to encourage their application, such as the brushless wound-rotor doubly-fed electric machine and energy saving module, can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) that would otherwise be introduced to the atmosphere, if electricity is generated using fossil fuels. Greasestock is an event held yearly in Yorktown Heights, New York which is one of the largest showcases of environmental technology in the United States.[1][2][3][4] [5]

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[edit] Criticism

Some groups, including green anarchists, have criticised the concept of environmental technology. From their viewpoint, technology is seen as a system rather than a specific physical tool. Technology, it is argued, requires the exploitation of the environment through the creation and extraction of resources, and the exploitation of people through labour, specialisation and the division of labor. There is no “neutral” form of technology, as things are always created in a certain context with certain aims and functions. Thus, green technology is rejected as an attempt to reform this exploitative system, merely changing it on the surface to make it seem environmentally friendly, despite continued unsustainable levels of human and natural exploitation.

[edit] See also

Sustainable development Portal

[edit] External links


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