Out with the old, in with the new
Home » Magazine » Good, issue 11 » Out with the old, in with the newRod Oram makes the case for green technology—and why we need more of it
Put simply, green technology is about finding new ways of doing things with less negative impact on the ecosystem. Why do we need it? Because, basically, time and resources are running out fast. By 2050 the world’s human population is projected to be close to 10 billion—up 50 percent from today and a four-fold increase since 1950. The ultimate goal is distant and the transition to greener technologies will be a long journey, but eventually technology must contribute to, rather than detract from, the ecosystem.
Resources are finite, whether they come in mind-boggling abundance such as sunlight (hey, the planet’s dark half the time) or infinitesimal quantities such as rare earth metals. Green technologies must use resources incredibly efficiently and with minimum impact. Ultimately, they need to be infinitely recyclable and have a positive impact.
Two standout thought-leaders making this case are biomimicry visionary Janine Benyus and Michael Braungart, co-founder of the cradle-to-cradle manufacturing philosophy (for more on both go to betterbydesign.org.nz/ceosummit). And increasingly, business is getting on board.
“Smart companies now treat sustainability as innovation’s new frontier,” wrote CK Prahalad, a leading business academic, in the Harvard Business Review in September 2009. The upsurge in development of resource-efficient technology has begun; two examples are the imminent arrival of electric cars and General Electric’s commitment to dramatically more fuel-efficient new aircraft engines.
Where does New Zealand fit in this global picture? Given our strength in science and natural resources, we have the potential to be a notable player—especially in the areas of agriculture and renewable energy—and ride this green-tech revolution to sustainable economic and environmental wealth.
But on our current course we won’t. Mainstream business in New Zealand is stuck in the old ways of making money, behaving as if our natural resources are endlessly abundant and any damage incurred is someone else’s problem.
We’re great at this rip, shit and bust business model, applying it over the past century to our native forests, minerals and fish.
The dairy industry, for example, is coming perilously close to economic and environmental catastrophe with plans for intensive indoor dairy farming in the Mackenzie Basin. With its poor soil and climate for cows, the only way to make the old model work in a place like the basin is to invest heavily in irrigation, nutrients and buildings—all of which are expensive, energy intensive and incur a big environmental cost, both in real terms and to the country’s global image.
Dairy farmers are at a crossroads: they can stick with crude, old technology to keep the existing business model alive a bit longer; or they can seek sophisticated, clean technologies that can produce more food at a lower cost while achieving higher environmental standards.
An example of the new way is the New Zealand-led international science consortium on ruminant animals. The challenge is to find ways to help cows and sheep digest their feed better so they produce more protein and less greenhouse gas. If we crack this problem and deal with other environmental impacts, our outdoor, pasture farming system will be a very efficient user of nutrients and become much more economically and environmentally sustainable.
Which way will we go? One test will be the government’s unveiling of its new economic development strategy. Worryingly, all the signs point to this new strategy working our natural capital harder rather than smarter, entrenching old technologies and ignoring new clean ones.
One of the voices for old thinking is Phil O’Reilly’s, chief executive of Business New Zealand, who suggests that ‘clean and green’ is a lazy, absolute slogan that is harming the country. People’s work doesn’t happen in a purely pristine way, argues O’Reilly. “You can’t call coal mining ‘clean and green’, or panel beating, air travel, dairy farming or diesel transport … driving to the supermarket; turning on a light that’s maybe powered by a coal-fired generator; concreting a driveway or painting a house—all these impact on the environment.”
O’Reilly couldn’t be more wrong. In all the examples he cites, companies could make more money and have less environmental impact using technologies that are cleaner and greener than their existing products. Low-impact mining and dairying, biodiesel, water-based house paints, car paints with minuscule levels of volatile organic compounds—these are not pie in the sky ideas, they’re real things that deliver economic and environmental benefits.
Companies like Air New Zealand, with its emphasis on fuel efficiency and biofuels, and Holcim, which is producing lower-carbon cement, understand this and are pushing ahead with the new technologies. To them ‘clean and green’ is aspirational. It is what’s driving them to new technologies.
We consumers can drive this change. It comes down to our everyday choices—and symbolism counts too. Cynics may scoff when we turn off our lights for Earth Hour (March 27) or email our MP with our concerns over factory farming, but by doing so we show we understand, demonstrate our commitment and exercise our will.
