Sustainable technology is the combination of two complementary ideas. The first is technology that is meant to remedy, improve, or offset carbonization, environmental setbacks, or problems. The second is technology that is produced using green or ecologically responsible materials or processes.

What is green sustainable technology?

Green sustainable technology is any effort put toward creating solutions aimed at reducing or eliminating anything that causes global warming or climate change.

Examples of sustainable green technology include the reduction or elimination of industrial emissions, recycling efforts in people spaces or industrial areas, solar or self-sufficient builds that require less or no energy consumption for standard operation, and passenger or fleet automobiles that produce little or no greenhouse emissions.

Additionally, the nascent financial technology of cryptocurrency shows promise as a green sustainable initiative as well, although storage and management of cryptocurrency produces emissions and consumes energy that could otherwise work to decarbonize traditional sectors working to achieve climate targets.

What is the role of technology in sustainability?

Aside from individual choice and agency, the role of technology in sustainability may be the most important, since advancement in technology both informs and facilitates decarbonization and sustainability initiatives.

There are four main ways that technology plays a role in sustainability: optimizing processes, carbon footprint transparency, circular and green products and services, and collaboration and cross-industry partnerships.

Optimizing processes

Utilizing cloud-based architecture, organizations can reduce on-premises energy consumption as well as manufacturing emissions produced from physical hardware-based networks and digital systems.

Carbon footprint transparency

When organizations share their energy consumption, emissions production, and carbon footprint data, a greater audience of accountability and oversight are invited into the conversation. Transparency and candor allow solutions to come from all directions and cross-industry thought leaders.

Circular products and services

Technology companies may choose to recycle, upcycle, and promote eco-friendly manufacturing efforts in their products and physical goods.

Cross-industry partnerships

Collaborating with other organizations allows the technology industry to consolidate energy consumption and reduce emissions where possible.

HPE and Sustainable Technology

As the circular economy grows as a global opportunity, HPE is leading the charge to help you adopt sustainable IT practices that make the most of your budget. HPE’s goal is to help you remove resource inefficiencies. Here are a few ways we work with you in your decarbonization and eco-friendly efforts:

Leverage efficient product design

We take a holistic approach to product design that results in fewer material inputs, lower product power consumption, and minimized waste—reducing the total cost of ownership for you to contribute to a more circular economy.

Embrace new business models

Consume IT as a service to take advantage of the latest technologies and asset lifecycle management services. With HPE GreenLake, you pay only for what you use and get capacity when you need it without the consumption of unnecessary assets.

Extend asset life

One of the key tenets of the circular economy is to keep assets in use longer to reduce new raw material extraction and minimize e-waste potential. HPE Asset Upcycling Services can maximize end-of-use asset value and provide money back for other innovation projects.