The development of green technology brings new business models

(Ragmar Saksing, Tehnopol Greentech Sector Manager)

Green technology is a relatively new industry, and as with any new direction, it creates some doubts in people. The representatives of large and old industries are particularly distrustful and to dispel these doubts, will briefly explain the nature of green technology and its benefits for entrepreneurship.

The main goal of green technology is to reduce the impact of human activity on the environment and to improve the environment. It is a sustainable and environmentally friendly technology that to the maximum extent utilizes renewable energy sources and materials. At the same time, energy use is minimal and/or, the created materials are recyclable. It is important that the products to be created are environmentally friendly throughout their life cycle.

Chemistry vs. physics

Today’s economy is largely chemistry based. At the heart of such an economy is the extraction and recycling of mineral resources. The economy of the future is more physics based, utilizing all the operating forces and renewable energy. For this purpose, new business models are created that define how we have been used to doing business so far. From an entrepreneurial perspective, this means generating revenue through change.

Smart entrepreneurs welcome change, seek and find new opportunities. They develop companies in a multi-layered manner, on a wide scale. Smart entrepreneurs do not get rich at the expense of the environment; they make the entire business climate better while taking the environment into consideration.

A very simplified example of this is solar energy. People do not buy solar panels just because they have a green state of mind. Solar panels are installed to save money and/or generate revenue. Solar energy can be widely used, and while doing that, the environment becomes better. The useful life of most solar panels is 25+ years and who would not like to live in a house, drive a car or scooter and do it for free?

New opportunities in traditional areas

In particular, the decentralization of central systems is one of the areas that should be observed in the development of green technology. Energy savings, energy efficiency in buildings, alternative energy sources, and energy use, food production, recycling of materials, transport and logistics bring along many new opportunities. In all of these areas, science-based businesses are gaining momentum, where smart entrepreneurs help fund scientific inventions.

A contemporary man emerged about 200,000 years ago, the first proof of agriculture dates back to 23,000 years, the industrial revolution began less than 300 years ago. In this time scale, one should not underestimate the formation of nature during 3.8 billion years. People have invented plenty of things and reaped a lot of economic benefits from the inventions. In the future, we could look at nature as a catalog of products, where all the achievements have benefited from 3.8 billion years of research and development. Now our challenge is to put it to work for humankind cleverly.

(Source: Prototron)