Anyone can not deny that technology has brought progress in human life. However, almost everything has two sides, isn’t? Positive and negative sides.

Although, technology has provided benefits and facilitated human activities. However, there are some negative impacts of technology on the environment.

Since the industrial revolution began, various technological inventions were discovered. From trains to electricity. All of them still use non-renewable energy such as coal and oil.

So, what is the impact of technology that is not environmentally friendly? In this article we will discuss in more detail.

Impact of Unfriendly Technology

Basically, almost every industrial activity and its technology will have a positive and negative impact.

Moreover, from the period 1760 to 1840 when the industrial revolution in Europe and the United States. Industrialization brings new technologies with harmful impacts and threatens the sustainability of the planet earth.

Technology that is not environmentally friendly has a negative impact in two ways, namely environmental pollution and accelerated the extinction of natural resources.

Here are some of the impacts of non-environmentally friendly technology:

1. Air Pollution

Pollution and air pollution occur when carbon emissions or toxic gases are trapped in the layers of the atmosphere.

These harmful gases include: carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitric oxide and methane.

Air and water pollution related to technology arises as a result of industrial activities, including: burning fossil fuels, factory chimneys, non-renewable power plants, mass agriculture, and vehicle fumes.

In addition, air pollution as the impact of technology that is not environmentally friendly also affects human and animal health. Plus, the threat of global warming, where the heat trapped in the earth's atmosphere causes the earth's temperature to increase.

2. Water pollution

Another impact of technology that is not environmentally friendly is water pollution that occurs in lakes, rivers, oceans, and groundwater. Usually, because of human activities.

Some water pollution is due to domestic waste, industrial waste, and insecticides, and pesticides.

If factory waste is not treated and discharged into rivers, it can pollute aquatic ecosystems. In fact, it is detrimental to the community around the water area. Water pollution causes diseases such as typhoid and cholera.

3. The Extinction of Petroleum and the Depletion of Natural Resources

Natural resources such as oil, coal, and natural gas can run out at any time due to limited quantities in the wild.

If technology that is not environmentally friendly continues to be implemented, the consumption of natural resources will quickly run out because they cannot be renewed.

Examples of technologies that are not environmentally friendly include agriculture by burning land, mining, water use, and consumption of fossil fuels.

Environmental Technology Development

After understanding some of the impacts of unfriendly technology, we will now focus on the positive impact of technology on the environment. Here are some of them:

1. Renewable energy

Renewable energy, also known as 'clean energy', is energy obtained from naturally renewable resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal.

Modern environmental technology has allowed us to capture this natural energy and convert it into electricity.

Through solar panels, wind and water turbines, technology can be used positively while preserving the environment.

2. Internet of Things

Smart home technology uses sensor devices connected to the Internet of Things (IoT). Thus, energy consumption can be saved automatically.

For example, the light can turn on or off automatically if it detects the presence of humans in the room. In addition, the Internet of Things (IoT) can collect data using sensor technology.

This data can 'make decisions' independently in real-time. For example, a smart home lighting system only turns on when needed, or a room temperature controller only turns on at certain hours, thus saving electrical energy.

3. Electric Vehicle

The next environmentally friendly technology is electric vehicles that use rechargeable batteries. Since 2008, the manufacture of electric vehicles has been increasing. Especially, supported by public awareness to reduce global warming.

Electric vehicles demonstrate the positive impact of technology on the environment because they do not produce carbon emissions, which cause global warming.

On the other hand, electric cars do not pollute the air, which means they are cleaner and safer for health.

4. Direct Air Capture/ DAC

Environmental technology in today's increasingly ambitious. The idea to reduce carbon emissions directly in the atmosphere has been expressed by researchers. However, it is currently still in the early stages of research and development.

The technology is known as 'Direct Air Capture' (DAC). So, Direct Air Capture is a method to capture carbon dioxide directly from the ambient air and generate a concentrated stream of CO2 for absorption or utilization.

How to? The concept is to remove CO2 by blowing air through a giant fan filter. It is estimated that this technology can be used to manage emissions from vehicle fumes. The full-scale 'Direct Air Capture' program is capable of absorbing carbon emissions equivalent to the average annual emissions of 250,000 cars.

Application of High-Cost Environmental Technology

Although many argue that environmental technology will be very important in reducing the impact of unfriendly technologies and climate change. Unfortunately, the operational costs are still quite large.

In addition, if environmental technology is implemented, many people are dependent on the technology. Thus, it is considered no longer necessary to run other carbon emission reduction programs in a sustainable manner.

Perhaps, industrialization has a negative impact on technology that is not environmentally friendly. However, renewable energy technologies combined with smart technologies such as electric cars can potentially prevent further environmental damage.

Let's start the steps to reduce carbon emissions starting from ourselves and our families!