As the world continues to dump down oil barrels prices, searching for new political collaborations and resources alternatives, shutting down nuclear plants (well, Japan still needs to learn from this one) and reinventing itself towards a greener path. We can finally sing along (paraphrasing Phill Collins): "I can feel it coming : green is in the air tonight, oh Lord And I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, Oh Lord "
From DiCaprio using his high-profile Oscar moment to draw attention to climate change, calling it "the most urgent threat facing our entire species." to concrete green trends, this year seems so far greener like no other.
We can see some concrete examples that the green revolution is here to stay.
Let's take a look on five green trends happening right now to give you a bird eyes view on this green revolution 2.0.
1. Solar + Nature
Everyone already know how solar can be beneficial for nature as a non-poluent form of generating energy, solar energy continue to gain acceptance and energy independence is in the forefront of daily news and behind of everyone's dream.
So, what is new in the solar trend? well, the way I see is that it is slowly integrating with nature. One obvious example can be the floating solar power plants on lakes and oceans, LG CNS, for example, just completed the largest floating solar power plant in South Korea.
Now, what you might not know is that floating solar is just the tip of the iceberg, in Japan for example, we are seeing farming-type solar plants sharing sunshine with vegetables (under the solar panels) and the tendency is to see this integration with nature as well as urban areas (yes, avoiding reconstruction of new solar facilities by renting roofs of already establish companies like logistics/warehouses for example), this trend will be shaping even more this year.
2. Sewage sludge - The biomass new Holy Grail
Getting rid of household waste water from sinks, toilets, baths and the like is a growing problem around the world. In modern cities, such water finds its way into municipal sewage treatment plants, where processing yields huge amounts of sewage sludge. But instead of disposing of this sludge as waste, people are realizing that it can be a valuable source of renewable energy.
So rather than simply dumping the sludge or using it for cement filler and other applications, there is a growing movement to utilize the material as biomass, to produce hydrogen gas for fuel cell vehicles, as a source of heat to generate electricity, and to make fertilizer and fuel pellets.
Fukuoka is the largest city in the Kyushu region in southern Japan. It is also home to the world's first serious effort to commercialize hydrogen derived from sewage sludge.
So, this reuse of resources trend seems to be a very strong candidate to continues to blossom too.
3. Eco minded brains are everywhere ...
There was a time when only scientists were focused on solutions to greener our planet but this is something from the past, today: The eco minded brains are everywhere.
From sixth-grader students like Asuka Kamiya, from Aichi Prefecture, Japan that came up and has been granted a patent for her can-recycling bin invention to, Aisa Mijeno, a Filipina architect and scientist who invented a revolutionary lamp that runs on a glass of saltwater instead of batteries. Those are just two examples that shows that a lot of brains everywhere think better and greener than those restricted and locked in the labs.
4. It's a 3D world
More useful 3D Printing products is a trend that will continue to involve. 3D printing will continue to change the way things are produced and that is a huge saving on CO2 (with the lack of transportations need), or take for example Monaco's idea that is taking a deep dive with 3D printing, creating coral reefs to help preserve its coral populations. The reefs will be submerged 27 meters into the waters off the shore of Monaco starting in the spring.
5. grendz.com
I thought it would be nice to finish this article with an in-house example (you know, lead by example :).
Wouldn't be nice to have a place where people share and grab the latest green trends on the planet all year long?
So, grendz does just that. It's "the place" where you will find the latest on green trends and zillions of positive technologies ideas. You will be able to not only see and share the site’s green trends (if you want to) but also add your own.
Easy, Simple and Green. "Viva la revolution verde 2.0!"
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