Tracking Carbon Emissions through Digital Technologies

The Earth's life support systems are on the edge of tipping over. Self-reinforcing cycles start when this occurs, which could result in a "hothouse Earth" situation.

 

Nevertheless, there is still a chance for us to limit global warming. The carbon law states that in order to do this, greenhouse gas emissions must reach their peak by 2020 and then begin a significant fall that will reduce them by 50% every ten years.

 

Solutions exist for all of these issues: energy, industry, buildings, transportation, food, forestry, and agriculture. The boundary between science and knowledge in society has essentially vanished. We now need to close the gap between understanding and action. Instead of incremental gains, we urgently need rapid scaling and exponential climate action.

 

Also Read | What are Greenhouse Gases? Greenhouse Effect Explained

 

How Does Digital Technology Affect Global Emission Reduction?

 

For many, if not most, of the exponential climate solutions, connectivity will be a key enabler. The "Exponential Climate Action Roadmap," which was just announced, looks into ways to implement the carbon law throughout all important facets of the global economy. The fastest-acting force in the world to keep global temperatures far below 2°C is probably the digital technology sector.

 

The digital sector has the ability to cut global emissions in half by 2030 while delivering an exponential increase in data performance. Its own emissions, which make up 1.4% of global emissions, are already on track to be reduced. The demand for 100% renewable energy may increase significantly as a result of the internet sector.

 

According to the Exponential Climate Action Roadmap, digital technologies could already help to reduce global carbon emissions by up to 15%, or one-third of the 50% reduction needed by 2030, through solutions in energy, manufacturing, agriculture, land use, services building, transportation, and traffic management. 

 

This is bigger than the combined current carbon footprints of the EU and the US. However, the digital industry will be able to accelerate the rate of transformation thanks to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI).

 

Also Read | What is Wind Energy? Everything You Need To Know

 

For Exponential Advancement, We Need Exponential Technology:

 

Technologies with exponential growth exhibit a consistent rise in output in terms of size or cost. A well-known example is the silicon chip, whose power has doubled every 18 to 24 months since the mid-1960s while its cost has decreased by half (per Moore's Law, which served as the basis for the Carbon Law). 

 

The following iteration of exponential technology is 5G. It represents a substantial development in mobile technology, offering 10 to 100 times higher data speeds than 4G. The benefits of 5G, however, go far beyond speed. It uses less energy, is more dependable, has tighter security, and ultra-low latency.

 

The number of cellular connections will more than double prior projections by 2024, according to the most recent Ericsson Mobility Report. With sensors in businesses, smart cities, farms, and our homes, 5G and AI have the potential to dramatically increase the efficiency and sustainability of our society and economy.

 

Consider the transportation sector, one of the industries included on the roadmap, to illustrate this. Short journeys account for 73% of all transportation-related emissions, which total 21% globally. The transportation industry is currently undergoing the most significant change in a century as a result of the convergence of several technologies.

 

In the past two years, all significant car and truck manufacturers have revealed their plans to electrify their products. The 16,000 bus fleet in Shenzhen, China, is entirely electric, and taxis are on their way.

 

However, driverless and electric cars and trucks will really disrupt the game. For this industry's dependability, efficiency, and safety, 5G is a crucial technology. The transition from vehicle ownership to mobility and transportation as a service will be accelerated by driverless automobiles.

 

Less people will own cars as a result; instead, they will choose to order shared rides from autonomous electric vehicles or ride a driverless bus. Industry leaders Ericsson, Telia, and Einride are creating a connectivity-based 5G solution that might revolutionize short-distance public road travel.

 

The plan aims to convert all road freight transportation to electric propulsion and is based on Einride's T-pod, an autonomous vehicle that operates continuously. More than 60% of the transportation footprint of today may be replaced by a sustainable and affordable strategy like this. Einride estimates that in countries with a low-carbon energy mix, like Sweden, switching from diesel to electricity can reduce CO2 emissions by 90% for every pallet of freight. Additionally, it will reduce emissions of harmful NOx and ultrafine soot particles.

 

Also Read | What are the Greenhouse Effect and its Causes?

 

Contribution of digitalization to reducing the difficulties associated with renewable energy:

 

With the arrival of key technology players, the output of renewable energy increased significantly. These players purchase renewable energy on behalf of their global affiliates. For instance, businesses in the information and communication technology sector have purchased a sizeable share of the global market's renewable energy over the previous few years. 

 

The transition to renewable energy, however, created new challenges and increased the cost of electricity. Let’s assume, the number of devices connected to the renewable energy grid significantly rose with the rise in electricity supply from renewable sources. Among digital technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT) application has had the fastest growth, largely because of new standards like 5G.

 

Additionally, the issue of improving supply stability has grown significantly for the solar and wind energy industry subsectors. The most frequent issues addressed by the solar and wind energy sectors included increased predictability and independence from weather conditions, integration with existing energy systems, and energy storage from renewable sources.

 

Satellite data was used to develop insulation forecasts, and LIDAR and satellite mapping technology allowed for more efficient design of whole wind and solar energy systems. Additionally, the volume of data provided by wind turbines and photovoltaic (PV) systems was drastically increased with the introduction of new sensors with a higher degree of control, which translated into an increase in demand for analytical solutions in the wind and solar energy industry.

 

The issue of energy storage was a major concern for the wind and solar energy sectors. Despite breakthroughs in battery technology, batteries were still very expensive and enormous, therefore it was required to build expensive and large batteries to store wind and solar energy. Recent research, however, suggests that the massive storage of renewable energy may result in an increase in carbon dioxide emissions.

 

By utilizing adaptive renewable energy storage systems, AI algorithms, and more potent analytical tools for the real-time management of energy systems, the issue of energy storage may be resolved. The digitization of energy management may also cut costs by minimizing transmission losses.

 

Also Read | How Can IoT Combat With Climate Change?

 

Traceability is the Core of Trusted Sustainability:

 

Traceability may address three issues in sourcing, production, transportation, operations, and a product's life cycle, while ensuring greater openness and accountability, to assist reduce the industrial carbon footprint.

 

However, the following three areas need cross-company discussion and alignment:

 

1. The clarity in Information:

 

Information on carbon emissions needs to be clear and easy to disclose. Steel and plastic manufacturing businesses, among others, are committing to net-zero targets, but they have not yet standardized their methods for tracking their progress. 

 

The most useful technique to show how the production of raw materials, manufacturing procedures, and use affect an overall carbon footprint is to measure the life-cycle emissions of products.

 

This form of life-cycle traceability will be essential to calculate the environmental impact of businesses as binding measures are put in place to hold them morally and sustainably accountable. It entails disclosing the locations of raw material extraction, how and where products are assembled, transported, and disseminated, how products are decommissioned, recycled, or destroyed, and whether any of these processes involve the use of child or forced labor.

 

Similar to circularity programs, recently proposed carbon border taxes, and green procurement regulations, which encourage and promote the disclosure of sustainability performance, can make sustainable metals and plastics the standard. 

 

In order to prevent early obsolescence, limit the wasteful destruction of unsold goods and the usage of single-use items, and promote repurposing, remanufacturing, and recycling, it is possible to utilize technologies to encrypt and communicate immutable data as well as product certification.

 

2. Improved Industrial resilience by digitally enforced trust:

 

By digitally enforcing trust across production and manufacturing processes, end-to-end traceability technologies also promise to enhance industrial resilience. 

 

They can aid in identifying the underlying causes of manufacturing blunders and establishing methods for high-quality products to be properly sourced, produced, and shipped. Industrial firms continue to uphold data privacy and control over exposing supplier information or intellectual property.

 

3. New Competitive Advantages: 

 

End-to-end traceability delivers fresh benefits in the marketplace. A faster reduction in emissions and better control of sustainable manufacturing and material prices will result from comparing carbon footprint data across industrial sectors.

 

Decision-makers can share information, work transparently together, and build consumer trust by having access to data "only when needed." For instance, access to specific information will be triggered by product recalls, quality, counterfeit, or conformance issues and will conform to safe, sustainable, and ecologically transparent operations. 

 

ESG compliance depends on being able to make this data more easily accessible, and doing so will encourage customers to stick with sustainable brands.

 

We are in a time of extreme connection and a wealth of data. Businesses that strategically collect, securely analyze, and fully embrace digital traceability throughout industrial processes and value chains stand to gain greatly. It will undoubtedly result in increased performance, flexibility, and productivity, but it will also hasten the industrial decarbonization process.

 

Also Read | AI for Environmental Sustainability

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How Digital Technologies can help in Increasing Traceability?

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What Are the Exponential Technologies of the Next Generation?

 

We must optimize technology at all stages of development if we want to cut emissions in half by 2030. A number of technologies, including cloud computing, first-generation industrial automation, and 3G and 4G mobile networks, are already laying the framework for large efficiency gains.

 

Then there are connectivity-dependent technologies like 5G, AI, IoT, and drones, which open up totally new possibilities. These technologies will be crucial in helping society shift to a circular, lean economy that increases service value while lowering waste and pollution, provided the right legal frameworks and strong climate leadership are in place.

 

When considered as a totality, this will require both a shift in the global economy and strong climate leadership from all levels of cities, governments, and businesses. Digitalization is already transforming the global economy and unleashing powerful forces across all sectors. 

 

The likelihood that exponential advancements in information technology and biotechnology will lead to a more sustainable and wealthy future for all people is growing as the Fourth Industrial Revolution progresses. Making sure that new technologies have a clear benefit for our planet and all of its people is humanity's greatest challenge.

If we accept an integrated framework for sustainable innovation within planetary boundaries for people and the planet, we can build exponential momentum and make the Carbon Law a reality.