IT's role in the clean-energy debate
Published: 10 Nov 2004 11:43 GMT
Such as?
A catalyst or membranes.
Which could be used in a fuel cell?
Sure. New coatings, new ways of getting more material bang for the buck, substituting. So, for example, Boeing goes from using aluminium in the bodies of their planes to using composites and ceramics. So you get cleaner industrial processes.
And here's where it comes together. Industry has to do more with less to be competitive. When PCs hit the factory floor, that had a massive impact. Now a lot of clean technologies are coming about to help companies become more productive and waste less. And pollution is ultimately waste.
So take a piece of smart logistics software, like fleet management. That's purchased to improve the bottom line, not to hit environment compliance regulations. But probably the No. 1 way it helps is by improving fuel efficiency. A strong environmental driver, (but) that's not the purchasing reason.
The computing industry is seeing more and more embedded processors and wireless networking for non-computer devices. What is the impact of that in your field?
Machine-to-machine is a hot topic in Silicon Valley. And there are all these microprocessors, in everything from elevators to wristwatches, being ubiquitously connected to the Web. Does that mean that I can monitor toxicity through microsensors? Does that mean I can manage power consumption in offices better, like elevators that don't have to stay on during the weekend? The chance to boost the efficiency of resources consumption and reduce ecological impact while it hits the bottom line is massive.
That's the future. That's what clean tech is. Not scrubbers and smokestacks.
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