The world population has grown to 7.6 billion and is expected to increase more in the future. With an overgrowing population, it is becoming difficult to sustain life on Earth. We may have adequate supplies and resources today, but no one knows what tomorrow will bring.
The fact that we may not be able to ensure enough food or water to upcoming generations is completely our own doing. We waste energy and resources like there is no tomorrow. We need to be ready for the future and that requires planning and smart living.
We need to start living our lives in a less wasteful and more environmentally friendly way. Science has come up with technologies that can help us do that. Let’s find out more:
1. Thermal Emittance Reducing Roofs
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Countries that experience extreme weather conditions have no option but to use HVAC systems or other appliances that keep the house warm or cool during adverse weather. This results into a lot of energy usage and must be controlled for obvious reasons.
One great technology that can help is a cool roof (thermal emittance reducing roof). It reflects solar energy and decreases thermal emittance. It further implies that such roofs reflect the sunlight that falls on the roof and prevents the home from getting too hot. Normal roofs can get up to 65 degree Celsius hot. Cool roofs can keep the temperature down by 50 degrees.
This roof works both ways. Stopping heat from entering and getting out. This way, HVAC and other temperature controlling appliances can be used more rationally and energy can be saved.
2. Desalination
Water is a luxury at many places but thanks to desalination, the problem has been solved to a large extent. This process allows salt to evaporate from hard water; thereby, making the water more usable.
Desalination has still not reached a stage where it can convert seawater to drinkable water on a large scale, but scientific research is heading in the right direction and hopefully, this could be life changing.
3. Bioremediation
It’s a process where plants or organisms are used to clean up contaminated areas. This phenomenon can be used to clean contaminated water that contains nitrate and arsenic. The benefit of using this method is that no pesticides are required and no energy is needed either.
Bioremediation is something that could have a huge impact on future waste clean-up operations.
4. Stormwater Management
Water runoff and erosion in the rural areas is common due to the heavy rains that come every year. They damage a large part of the area and compromise the way of life there.
Crops are destroyed, homes are damaged and large pieces of lands are washed away. The US Environmental Protection Agency suggests to install a green infrastructure to control this. Growing plants can help control this problem and also purify stormwater.
5. Waterless Toilets
We flush around 20% of drinking water down the flushes. Waterless toilets may help solve this problem around the world. These toilets do not work on water systems to drain the waste. Instead, they turn the waste into compost, which can be used for different tasks. As such toilets help recycle waste without the use of water, they are much more environmentally friendly than traditional toilets.
Article Submitted By Community Writer