All across the world, entrepreneurs and business moguls are seeking to promote an ethos of environmental consciousness into their respective enterprises.

Companies everywhere are building sustainable practices into their business models and utilizing the latest technologies in order to reduce their carbon footprints.

Some have even brought in a motivational event speaker to discuss the importance of our natural ecosystems in supporting the life cycles of the Earth. As technology advances, so too will our ability to counteract the damages wrought upon the environment from the industrial age. Here are the top 5 ways you can expect technology to help the environment in the coming years:

Biotechnology will create newer models of genetic engineering.

These new practices will allow agriculture scientists to harvest crops use less fertilizer and water. Not only will this reduce water waste and the environmental damage and toxicity of the land, it will allow crops to be more nutrient-dense.

The worldwide web to the rescue.

Wireless Internet and advanced technological applications such as retina interfaces will cut down on our tree decimation and forest clear-cutting and will reduce the need for the energy used to manufacture ink and paper. The Internet element is obvious: the growth of the web is already dramatically cutting back on paper usage. Retina interfaces involves future display systems that will also cut down on the need for physical documents like faxes and snail mail.

More responsible manufacturing.

Biodegradable and recyclable materials will become more prevalent as companies which specialize in sustainable and green products will be incentivized. This will reduce the use of non-biodegradable plastic and other materials whose manufacturing tasks the environment with emissions.

New “smart” technology.

Smart tech will advance to the point that filters will be able to automatically calibrate themselves to effectively treat water. Smart technology will also promote overall better environmental policies. The coming energy smart grid, for example, is expected to utilize wind and solar power to more efficiently generate energy for the world’s cities. And smart appliances will reduce the average household’s energy use.

Cars will get even more eco-friendly.

Car manufacturing will progress to include significantly less steel and more composites of materials like aluminum, magnesium, and titanium. Fuel efficiency will also progress, allowing cars to reach 80 miles per gallon. Hybrid and electric cars will become the norm, as will fuel-cell vehicles, neat ethanol vehicles, natural gas vehicles and automobiles which run on clean diesel and gasohol.

Expect a wide variety of technology advancements in the coming years geared toward generating less adverse affects on the environment. These changes will run the whole gamut of society, from your average household to large corporations.

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