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With lockdown policies in place in most countries due to the Corona pandemic our impact on the environment becomes more apparent each day. With people isolating at home, not travelling, and planes staying on the ground nature seems to recover from pollution: clear canals in Venice, reduced air pollution in China and major cities all over the world, and a fallen global carbon emission. Still, climate change has not stopped, with a record heatwave in Antarctica, which has impacts on all of our planet's climate, and countries like Germany, which are usually blessed with a lot of rain, facing droughts. Realizing how our own actions can positively or negatively affect our environment is a wakeup call for everyone, as we cannot deny the positive impacts of the lockdown on our environment. So, as the official motto of Earth Day 2020 is climate action, we want to discover what technologies may help us in stopping climate change and creating a better future.
Saving Earth with Blockchain
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="59c9590c7f2dbfd83ea82b8a07f9e24b"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VKZJD1Zz4kU?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p> An important aspect of saving our future is to rebuild what we have already lost. <a href="https://www.regen.network/" target="_blank">Regan Network</a> is a blockchain technology, which tracks, verifies and rewards ecological system improvement. Roland Harwood, founder of the <a href="https://www.weareliminal.co/" target="_blank">Liminal Collective Intelligence Community</a>, is very excited about this project: "They [Regan Network] gather data with satellites, sensors and observation, and upload it to a data marketplace. Governments, institutions and businesses can pay for accurate ecological data, and the results they want, from farmers anywhere in the world. It makes it possible [for governments and organizations] to financially reward ecological progress, like improved soil, cleaner rivers and replanted forest."</p>Clean Energy
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="817e226812bf60b01daf42ffd9dec570"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zfz52w7znEw?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p> Sun, water, wind or even biowaste: Earth has a lot of natural resources we could harvest for energy without them running out or polluting nature like fossil fuels do. Green energy is one of the most efficient actions for cities and whole countries towards becoming carbon neutral and thus should be a priority moving forward, says Andrew Winton, Vice President of Marketing at Kaspersky. "The possibilities around <a href="https://www.tomorrowunlocked.com/kinetic-energy-future-power-source" target="_self">kinetic energy</a> are almost limitless, beyond the hybrid cars we're most familiar with. Devices can <a href="https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/fitness/power-music-player-with-running-shoes.htm" target="_blank">charge your phone by the movement of your running shoes</a> as you jog. <a href="http://www.kps.energy/" target="_blank">Kites can use more powerful wind speeds high in the sky to produce more energy</a> than ground-based wind turbines."</p>We Create Change
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="73e2696dc10a2abad43a159da3cdb187"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7KXGZAEWzn0?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p> A lot of us preach change, but sometimes we tend to forget that change starts within us. If we want to save the world, and stop climate change, we are the ones who have to take action. "The best way to protect the earth isn't technology. It's us. If we change the way we think and act, we will change the future. We're only just getting started. Technology is more of an amplifier of thoughts and actions," says Irina Bock, eCommerce Director at Kaspersky. To want to change we have to understand the value of earth. Tomorrow Unlocked author Marco Preuss is certain, that sending people in power to space to have a look at Earth, could help in driving green policies: "I had the chance to talk to astronauts, and they all agreed, once you see Earth from space, you realize how wonderful and fragile it is, and you think differently. You value it more."</p>How green is green technology?
Green technologies are often seen as solutions to save our environment. But have you ever heard of their rebound effects?
Imagine an entire country enacts a law that requires the use of a more energy-efficient LED lightbulbs. Sounds good right? But what if I told you that in every country this law has been passed energy consumption went up?
The reason why could be a bit of a mystery, but it's exactly why using green technology to solve problems can be incredibly difficult. It all boils down to two main reasons: The first is that a lot of what we consider to be the sustainable option, is only sustainable if a product is used in a certain way. The second is that people's behavioral changes that come from introducing new technology are hard to predict. That's what we call "rebound effects". But what does that mean?