A sustainable future with IoT – overview

The Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the approach for creating a sustainable environment. It generates a huge amount of raw data every minute, by connecting thousands of things like machines, buildings, people, cities, etc. making them smart.

It allows us to understand our physical world and thereby generates opportunities for improving resource efficiency, reducing pollution, and creating a healthier work environment. In this blog post, I shall discuss how we can create a sustainable environment using IoT:

1.  Reducing e-waste

Once a device becomes old or beyond repair, we tend to dispose or discard it. The sheer amount of e-waste generated in the past few years is causing huge environmental concerns. Several sustainability experts want technical companies to accept the responsibility of this e-waste and work on creating restorable and reusable products, components and materials. With IoT, sensors can be embedded within devices that will monitor a product’s life cycle and notify the users when older products can be repaired or refurbished. When that product becomes unusable or discarded, these sensors will alert the manufacturers about the components that can be repurposed and reused. This will help in saving the environment and trillions of production dollars.

2.  Tracking endangered species

With IoT, scientists and conservationists are now able to track and quantify endangered species. They get an increased ability to collect, transmit, store and share data. By using tracking devices conservationists are able to know the exact number of animals of a certain species.

3.  Fighting deforestation

Several countries are making use of drones to monitor deforestation. These drones take detailed 3D images of the landscape to determine the nutrients, biodiversity, and topology of the area. This approach is followed by a precision planting pattern where the drone ejects a biodegradable seed capsule at each position that contains the essential nutrients for healthy tree growth. This method has the potential to provide fast and accurate reforestation. In many tropical countries, trees like timber are sold illegally in the black market. Here, scientists have developed an infrared, GPS-based system that generates a distinct biometric record of individual trees that have been legally authorized for harvest. The system is designed to minimize opportunities that allow the trade in illegally cut timber to flourish.

4.  Creating energy-efficient data centers

Today data centers and servers are said to be using up to 3 percent of all energy. As online information is increasing, power consumption, too, is increasing. Often servers are made to run constantly, utilizing energy resources even during non-peak hours such as mornings and weekends. Fortunately, governments and private organizations are collaborating to reduce energy utilization using “smart” data centers. Energy-efficient servers stay on standby mode when high computing power isn’t needed. At the same time, they can circulate warm exhaust air generated by them through offices’ ducts to further reduce energy costs.

IoT, undoubtedly, is the perfect technology for creating a sustainable environment. Implementing IoT is providing us with numerous aspects and opportunities for conservation. Even though creating a sustainable environment with IoT has brought new challenges, we are certain that if individuals, industries, and government work together, IoT technology will change our lives in significant ways and create a sustainable and efficient world.