Close-up of two workers observing the 3D printing process
How 4IR’s advanced materials can have a significant beneficial impact on the fight against global warming, a more streamlined manufacturing process and cleaner, more efficient use of energy? originally appeared on Quora: the place to acquire and share knowledge, enabling people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Marga Hoek, author of “Tech for Good,” on Quora:
There are many exciting ways in which technological innovations in materials science will propel us into a cleaner and healthier future. New and advanced materials are transforming the way we live in unprecedented ways. Innovations in building materials development create sustainable business solutions for an economically and environmentally prosperous world. Materials not only enhance infrastructure’s potential to be energy efficient and carbon neutral, but also mitigate their own negative impacts. Recognizing this enormous potential for net positive gains, we experience advanced materials used in various real-world applications as the playful meeting of science and technology. There are truly an infinite number of discoveries that remain hidden in the chemistry between the elements and materials around us.
The technology has significant beneficial effects in combating global warming, enhancing manufacturing and ensuring efficient use of energy in various sectors. The new world of chemical configurations and compositions to produce advanced materials shaping a desirable future of innovation and sustainability is already here. In this regard, the possibilities are truly endless for the construction sector. It’s no surprise that entrepreneurs and scientists are infusing their intellect and aesthetic creativity with the promise of chemical compounds that will enhance buildings’ abilities to fight pollution and slow climate change. People and businesses around the world are investing in the development of materials that will make a difference in urban infrastructure design.
Materials advancements in energy and environmental design are being applied worldwide to perpetuate sustainable businesses. Polymers (such as plastics) and soft materials such as foams, emulsions and gels are further developed for a range of consumer products and high-tech technological applications that improve both business and environmental performance. Nanotechnology and nanomaterials offer enormous opportunities for sustainable technologies. From saving raw materials, energy and water to reducing greenhouse gases and excess waste, nanotechnology used in various products, processes and applications could certainly support environmental and climate protection.
The eclectic nature of advanced materials makes them an integral part of the production process in all industries and all sectors of the economy. With the rapid digitization and increasing interconnection of the materials industry, the development of new materials comes alongside their industrial adaptation through 4IR technologies. These newly developed and highly functional materials empower businesses by improving their manufacturing processes and methods. This increasing application of new materials in manufacturing processes in healthcare, energy, environment and many other sectors has led them to be incredibly useful and necessary to achieve sustainable business growth.
Some of the other ways this technology could revolutionize business include achieving a recycling-based and low-carbon society that makes it possible to create new and advanced materials. Industrial waste, which is very hazardous to the environment, can be turned into an advanced material that can be used to reduce CO2 emissions. Acid-fortified fertilizers to improve agricultural yields are also on the market, as are augmented plastics that can reduce conversion costs.
This question originally appeared on Quora – the place to acquire and share knowledge, enabling people to learn from others and better understand the world.
