Schneider Electric: Sustainable Technology- How Such Technologies Are Set to Revolutionize the Industrial World?
Today, we live in a consumeristic society, where every industry aims to fulfill the needs and demands of the customers in the most effective way. Since the industrial sector brings in a massive amount of revenue, industry owners ensure that their sites are equipped with high functioning and reliable technologies. In this article, we will bring under purview how deploying sustainable technologies in the industrial sector can benefit the development of the country while maintaining the overall health of the planet.
Before we delve into the idea and integration of different technologies used in the industrial sector, let’s understand the role of an industry and how it contributes to enhancing the well-being of society. In simple terms, our society can be divided into two spheres: base and superstructure. Superstructure refers to our society’s relationship with different ideas like rituals, culture, religion, justice, power structure, and more.
On the other hand, the base comprises of the material reality like raw materials, land, industries, sites, etc., that maintains the economic balance of the society. When we view the living conditions of humans via this approach, it seems imperative to invest in crucial industrial resources like workers, technology, equipment, machinery, fuels, and more. However, in recent years, this model is slowly getting disrupted by the looming threats of climate change and environmental degradation.
What is Sustainable Technology?
Since shutting down the carbon-emitting industries would be too idealistic, scientists and researchers have formulated an innovative solution by combining technology with sustainability goals, often referred to as sustainable technology. In layperson’s terms, the process of making technical and mechanical activities more energy-saving, eco-friendly, and source-efficient while focussing on innovation, reusability, long-term planning, and social responsibility is known as sustainable technology. In order to give you a more comprehensive look into how the concept of sustainability works with technology, we have divided the end-goals of this process into three simple steps:
- Efficiency: This novel technology is efficient and energy-saving in terms of its resources and energy.
- Prevention: Sustainable technology aims to prevent harmful environmental impacts like water contamination and soil degradation through organic manufacturing and production processes.
- Substitution: Technology combined with sustainability enables easy replacement of non-biodegradable materials with biodegradable or renewable sources for industrial operations.
Fortunately, in the past few years, topics like carbon emissions, environmental degradation, sustainability, and global warming are not only limited to academic debates and discussions. People from different sectors of society have finally begun to understand that their choices have an impact on the overall health of the environment. Similarly, industry owners are stepping up and shouldering the responsibility they have towards ensuring the well-being of society.
Benefits of Leveraging Sustainable Technology in the Industrial Sector
Sustainable technology carries the potential to revolutionize the way industries and businesses operate. It aims to lower any adverse environmental or social impact [1], which ultimately uplifts the brand value of the company. Below we have carefully curated a list of benefits industries can avail by deploying sustainable technology:
Better Business Output
When you switch to renewable energy, the absence of fossil fuels significantly lowers the risk of sudden power outages. This ensures the effective continuity of your daily industrial operations while promising better results. In addition, several businesses opt for sustainable technology to enhance their innovation and production levels. With growing environmental awareness, investors are more likely to associate with companies with impressive ESG scores; therefore, by incorporating sustainable technology, your business will automatically rank better for business investments.
Boost Your Bottom Line
Sustainable technology ensures that all your resources are utilized in the most effective and efficient manner, which helps in boosting the bottom line of your business. In addition, in order to make financial profits, the primary focus of every business is to lower its internal costs and expenses. Therefore, employing sustainable technology can help your business stay competitive in the market, helping you make higher revenues.
Attract Top Talent
The younger generation is much more updated with technological advancements and how they can be used to bring about a positive change in the world. Incorporating sustainable technologies into your business will highlight your futuristic vision, attracting refined talent that will eventually safeguard the prospects of your enterprise.
A Peek into Some of the Many Sustainable Technologies
Now that you have understood the basic meaning of sustainable technology and its power to revolutionize the industrial sector, let us explore some of the many advanced sustainable technologies that are proving to be highly beneficial for businesses:
Smart Monitoring
Every industry is equipped with complex tools and instruments that work around the clock to produce optimum results. Since all these machines work on electric power, unless a manager is appointed to supervise all the on-site equipment, it can lead to careless power wastage. To rectify this obstacle, researchers have devised smart monitoring systems that carry the intelligence to turn the equipment off when it senses that the machine is utilizing more than the required energy.
Biofuels
As mentioned above, industries invest a huge amount of money in purchasing fossil fuels that lead to toxic gas emissions. As an alternative, several industries are opting for biofuels like biodiesel and ethanol that are made from manure, algae, feedstocks, and other waste materials. Even though biofuels are not very conveniently accessible, they can help in reducing the carbon footprint of your industry.
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is an umbrella term that carries various applications for greenhouse gas management, sustainable living, production of green energy, and green manufacturing. For instance, researchers have designed an intelligent technology to destroy bacteria in drinking water by using composite nanoparticles [2].
Pave the Way for Sustainability with Schneider Electric
At Schneider Electric, we aim to bridge the gap between sustainability and progress in the most efficient way possible. According to Corporate Knights 2021, we are ranked as the most sustainable corporation driven to lead the way to promote sustainable progress for our employees, partners, communities, and customers everywhere.
Since the end goal of our organization is to empower all by making the best of our resources and energy, our team continually works on introducing several innovative initiatives like Schneider Go Green 2022. In this novel mission, we welcome bold ideas that can pave the way for a sustainable and smarter future for both our company and the industrial sector.
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