Abstract
What drives growth becomes cancerous when it goes beyond limits. Contrary to this common sense, today, consumerism drives our economies and feeds our appetite for ever-growing wants. As a result, we are damaging our ecosystems and risking our very existence on Earth. Though too late, various efforts are promoted by governments and driven by industries to rapidly decarbonize our energy systems and sustainably consume and recycle raw materials. We have discussed two ongoing projects in the domain of energy transition and circular economy. The first one transforms industrial carbon emissions into green fuels and the second one helps in efficient and sustainable segregation and recycling of plastic waste using multi-sensor-driven AI and blockchain tools. These examples demonstrate how circular economy and energy transitions complement each other in the battle against climate change and pollution.
Highlights
Shifting GearsHow we use and abuse natural resources (energy and raw materials) define our future
Cite paper as: Sankaran, K., (2019)
We will perpetually be in a fire-fighting mode if we only engage in symptomatic cures without addressing how we fuel our growth-and-wants-driven society in terms of resources
Summary
How we use and abuse natural resources (energy and raw materials) define our future. In the last two decades, we have been hearing a lot of concerns from various scientific communities It took several years for policy makers and legislators to translate data into remedial actions. We will perpetually be in a fire-fighting mode if we only engage in symptomatic cures without addressing how we fuel our growth-and-wants-driven society in terms of resources (energy and raw materials). This is the nexus where energy transition and circular economy meet. Circular economy and energy transition projects can immensely benefit from the use of smart technologies supporting development of relevant policy frameworks and market instruments
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