Trends Identified
Smart transport systems
Known technical solution areas which require innovation to realise their potential and enable scale of deployment: Clean liquid and gaseous fuels, System efficiency solutions, Clean long-haul transport, High-efficiency engines, Next generation batteries, Energy-dense gaseous fuel storage, Technology enabled transport systems.
2017
Innovation for the Earth - Harnessing technological breakthroughs for people and the planet
PWC
Sustainable production and consumption
Known technical solution areas which require innovation to realise their potential and enable scale of deployment: Circular economy recycling solutions e.g. cradle to cradle, Sharing economy, Reduced waste and energy production, Clean chemicals, steel, cement, and paper production, Extreme durability for energy-intensive products and materials, Extreme efficiency of IT/Data centres, Supply chain transparency, CO2 extraction from manufacturing.
2017
Innovation for the Earth - Harnessing technological breakthroughs for people and the planet
PWC
Sustainable land-use
Known technical solution areas which require innovation to realise their potential and enable scale of deployment: Land-use transparency, Low-emissions agriculture, New-techniques in forest management, Reduced losses in the supply chain, Soil sequestration, Low-emissions sources of protein, Reduced emissions from livestock, Reduced deforestation.
2017
Innovation for the Earth - Harnessing technological breakthroughs for people and the planet
PWC
Smart cities and homes
Known technical solution areas which require innovation to realise their potential and enable scale of deployment: Connected homes, High-efficiency heating, cooling, lighting, and appliances, High-efficiency windows and insulation, Building energy storage, Technology- enabled urban planning and building design, Next-generation commercial building management.
2017
Innovation for the Earth - Harnessing technological breakthroughs for people and the planet
PWC
The next generation distributed grid
Making distributed energy possible at scale will revolutionise the useability of (and market for) renewables, increase energy efficiency, and disrupt traditional carbon intensive power grids.
2017
Innovation for the Earth - Harnessing technological breakthroughs for people and the planet
PWC
Electrification of the transport system
Electrification of short-haul transportation enabled by advanced battery breakthroughs for inexpensive, quick charging energy dense batteries could disrupt the market for carbon intensive internal combustion engines and make zero-emissions EVs cost and performance competitive.
2017
Innovation for the Earth - Harnessing technological breakthroughs for people and the planet
PWC
A smart and automated road transport grid
Widespread adoption of connected and smart autonomous vehicles deliver substantial energy use savings, but is only a transformational sustainable transport solution if the autonomous cars are themselves low, or even better, zero-emissions vehicles.
2017
Innovation for the Earth - Harnessing technological breakthroughs for people and the planet
PWC
Smart and transparent land use management
Transparency of real-time land use practices enabled by 4IR technologies including IoT sensors, cloud and big data, drones and advanced satellites, will be a game changer for implementing climate smart land use practices, and driving accountability in agriculture and forestry value chains.
2017
Innovation for the Earth - Harnessing technological breakthroughs for people and the planet
PWC
Technology enabled urban planning and design
Designing IoT enabled cities with intelligent infrastructure and grids, and shared operations, can increase energy efficiency, and reduce GHG emissions and waste at the building, transport system, and municipal level.
2017
Innovation for the Earth - Harnessing technological breakthroughs for people and the planet
PWC
AI
Software algorithms that are capable of performing tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and language translation. AI is an “umbrella” concept that is made up of numerous sub fields such as machine learning, which focuses on the development of programs that can teach themselves to learn, understand, reason, plan, and act (i.e., become more “intelligent”) when exposed to new data in the right quantities.
2016
Tech breaktroughs megatrend
PWC