Sustainable Technologies That Will Forever Change the Business World

In the past, there was nothing wrong with a business being strictly progress-driven without much regard for the environment. That is… until we saw the consequences of this business culture. Today, sustainability is the name of the game, and many young people decide who they’ll work with based on their business practices. 

One of these ethical practices that is highly regarded is their eco-friendliness. Since this concept also benefits these businesses (producing less waste, paying less for their utilities, etc.), it’s not hard to see why this trend has gained more and more traction over the past several years.

Speaking of which, here are a few sustainable technologies that will forever change the business world as we know it. 

1. Green transportation is almost here

Electric vehicles and electric fleets are the future of delivery. Drone delivery is already a huge trend, and robots are in many warehouses worldwide. It’s only a matter of time before some of the world’s biggest enterprises switch entirely to electric fleets.

The biggest bottleneck in the past was the difficulty of coordinating charging with so many vehicles. After all, the grid of electrical charging stations was not as widespread as the network of gas stations, which is what caused a bit of a conundrum. 

Even if you were to keep in-house charging stations, it takes a while for an electric vehicle to charge, which means that you have to add an extra layer to the fleet organization. It’s not like with gas, where you can fuel one vehicle in a matter of minutes and have the second one right after it.

Fortunately, thanks to modern battery intelligence systems and AI-powered analytical tools, it’s easier than ever to keep track of all the vehicles. This concept will help you triumph against the problem of range anxiety, which is one of the main reasons many still avoid switching to electric vehicles.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that modern electrical vehicles and these battery intelligence systems have far superior diagnostics. This means that they can make a world of difference when it comes to predictive maintenance and reducing the amount of downtime caused by regular fleet service.

The best thing is that electric vehicles, electric vehicle batteries, and battery intelligence software are getting more sophisticated by the hour.  

2. Digital money is eco-friendlier

Even before cryptocurrencies were a thing, about 95% of all money in the world existed only in digital form. However, the remaining 5% is still not negligible, especially if we talk about small bills and the amount of deforestation that it takes to print them all.

Opponents of this green revolution often argue against the amount of power it takes to generate all this crypto. Well, this might have been true in the past, but today, we’re facing a scenario where sustainable crypto mining is no longer an idea but a reality.

Now that we have this out of the way, it’s important to point out that it’s not just about deforestation prevention but the overall greater efficiency of the system. First of all, it no longer relies on the physical infrastructure like bank branches and ATMs. Cryptos are handled without the need for any of these objects or institutions.

It’s also worth pointing out that these transactions are much more energy-efficient. 

Most importantly, due to the DeFi nature of cryptocurrencies, the system is scattered across the globe, which means that it’s not like there’s a single area that’s getting polluted. While the total amount of pollution created may seem the same, the difference is noticeable.

Keep in mind that cryptocurrencies are now a mainstream term. In the past, only the tech-savviest of individuals even knew about crypto (and even they just knew about the BTC), but today, everyone and their grandmother buy tokens. Not only that but there’s also a huge market for buying crypto presales and ICOs, which paves the way for many new coins to be developed. 

3. Circular economy solutions

The next thing you need to understand is the concept of circular economy. This idea is truly unique because it allows companies to create minimal waste, which really works to everyone’s benefit. On the one hand, the practice is quite sustainable, but at the same time, the companies produce less waste and get the maximum value out of every resource.

The first such technology that will allow this is 3D printing. The reason why it’s so green is that it can be calibrated to use the smallest necessary amount of resources. This means that the product will always be made with as little material as possible. 

Remanufacturing is another fine example of how products can be remade to prolong their useful lifespan. Not only is this the optimal reuse of resources, but it also helps retain the original value and quality of the product. We’ll likely see more and more of this in the future.

The next step is the concept of upcycling. Here, you take an old product and repurpose it into an item of a higher value. An example of this would be restoring old furniture but the reality is that the concept is applicable in so many different ways. 

Instead of selling a product, the majority of businesses are considering switching to a Product-as-a-Service model. This produces the longevity of the product since the manufacturer usually keeps working on the software that the system runs on. In other words, you buy a product, and the manufacturer keeps adding features as long as you’re subscribed. This also prolongs a product’s useful life by a significant margin.

4. Green data centers

If there’s one thing that the business world always seems hungry for, it’s data. Let’s face it: even the biggest businesses in the past didn’t have as much data as medium businesses in 2024. 

All of this has to be stored somewhere, and just because you’re using cloud computing, this doesn’t change the storage requirements of the given data. Just because the hardware for storing this file is not in your rig (in your HDD), this doesn’t mean that it’s not kept on a server somewhere out there.

Now, when it comes to these data centers, we’re talking about huge structures with incredible power requirements and capacities. This is why it’s so important that they adopt green practices. In 2024, they’re either one of the biggest power consumers or one of the quickest-growing power consumers in the world. 

Still, what makes data centers green? First of all, they should be energy-efficient. Technology can allow a piece of hardware to provide the same performance by wasting just a small fraction of power. 

Another requirement that a data center can fulfill to be labeled green is to be supplied with renewable energy sources. 

It can also be constructed according to green building standards or have an energy-efficient structure design.

Ideally, it should fulfill more than a few of these requirements. Combined, the results can be really game-changing and make a huge step in the right direction.

The future is green, and everyone will have to accept it (sooner or later)

If there’s one thing that you should notice with these trends, it’s that they’re all colossally important to the world as we know it. We’re talking about transportation, the nature of money, manufacturing processes on a large scale, and data storage. In other words, trends that have the power to shape our reality and be a true solution to our ecological crisis.