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Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology 26 is a field of enormous promise and big challenges. It is reported to have high potential for increasing innovation for sustainable development in the energy, water, chemical, medical and pharmaceutical industries. 27 Nanoimprint lithography is expected to lead to large-scale manufacturing of nanotechnology products with various positive and negative sustainable development challenges. Nano-products might revolutionize many fields including medicine, electronics, energy and water, as well as food industry in the coming years. At present, there are high expectations about high-performing nanomaterial solar cells and nano-technology applications for decentralized water and wastewater treatment, and desalination. 28 Recently, scientists in Singapore have demonstrated converting CO 2 into methane using light and amine-functionalized titanium dioxide nanoparticles – this would allow storing intermittent solar energy in the form of natural gas which could then be burned in a carbon neutral way. The implications of unethical and uncontrolled use of nanotechnology have created an ongoing debate in the scientific community around concerns about their toxicity and environmental impact (e.g., nanowaste). 29, 30, 31 The OECD and IUCN are currently working with several governments to develop suitable and efficient regulations and policies, and urge a more unified and collaborative approach at all levels to address this potentially hazardous issue through experience- and knowledge-sharing, coordinated research activities, development of guidelines for producers, users and waste-processing facilities 32, 33 and examination of existing guidelines or policies. 34 ANNEXES | 121 As nanotechnology can be damaging to environment and human health, it requires effective policies and frameworks to manage all stages of their life-time, including manufacturing, distribution and use, as well as safe disposal or where possible effective recycling. 35, 36 There are many promising future, inorganic and organic nanomaterials . Examples include perovskites, gold nanoparticles, graphene, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanodots and conducting polymers. Carbon based nanomaterials are very interesting as they rely on abundant carbon and have much potential as high performance substitutes for many materials that are scarce and highly resource intensive in their extraction process. Iron, cobalt, and nickel nanoparticles can be alternatives to scarce metals like platinum, rhodium, and gold for catalysis . For example, layered iron and nickel nanomaterial are a more sustainable alternative to rare-earth “supermagnets”.

2016

Global sustainable development report 2016

United Nations

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Neuro-technology

Smart technologies will be crucial technologies until 2030 and beyond. They will help societies to monitor, detect as well as respond or adapt to changes in their environment. Smart technologies are already and will become a part of our daily lives. 37 For example, smart electricity metering has addressed the problem of the losses of electricity due to theft. 38 Emerging technologies in the area of artificial intelligence have received much attention in which computer systems that carry out tasks normally done by humans, such as speech recognition and decision making. Another example is robotics which is understood as machines or mechanical systems that automatically handle tasks. Mesoscience 39 powered virtual reality gives us the possibility to realize the logic and structural consistence between problems, physical models, numerical methods and hardware, which, together with the dramatic development of computing technology, is opening a new era for virtual reality. Digital Automation characterizes the increasing ability of computers to overtake cognitive - and not just physical - tasks, enabling recent innovations like driverless cars, IBM Watson, e-discovery platforms for legal practice, and personalization algorithms for Web search, e-commerce, and social networks. The potential consequences of automation and artificial intelligence on employment are emerging areas in need of examination; the expansion of computing and machine intelligence is likely to affect healthcare, education, privacy and cybersecurity, and energy and environmental management. Recent studies are pointing to the possibility that a significant number of jobs - or job tasks - are amenable to automation, leading to a job polarization where demand for middle-income jobs are reduced while non-routine cognitive jobs (e.g., financial analysis or computer programming) and non-routine manual jobs (e.g., hairdressing) would be less unaffected. At this point, more study is warranted to understand implications for employment and socio-economic development in a specific national context. Autonomous vehicles or self-driving cars hold the promise to increase traffic efficiency, productivity, reduce traffic congestions and pollution, and save driving time. In 2016, the Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy was launched which foresees 25 per cent of all trips in Dubai to be driverless by 2030. The Autonomous Transportation Challenge as launched as a request for proposals to global R&D centres to apply this technology in Dubai. It will make Dubai the world’s largest R&D lab for driverless transportation. 40

2016

Global sustainable development report 2016

United Nations

view report

Green technology

Green technology refers to environmentally sound technology. Existing technologies as well as new nanotechnology, biotechnology, and digital technology may all be deployed in new ways to reduce non-renewable resource use and to utilise and support ecosystem processes. Technology change in the energy and materials sectors are key. 41 In the energy sector of developed countries, crucial technologies suggested by experts include smart grids, highly energy efficient buildings, electric vehicles, vastly improved and cheap batteries, nuclear power, hydrogen- fueled vehicles and supply infrastructures, and natural gas technologies. In developing countries, they included new ways of electrification, desalination based on reverse osmosis, small and medium sized nuclear reactors, and mini-grids based on intermittent renewables with storage. 42 Cheaper and highly energy efficient fossil fuel power plants will be needed. Highly efficient vehicles including hybrid cars and intelligent transport systems (ITS) technologies for controlling traffic flows will be important. 43, 44 Large- scale deployment of solar power, and technologies to replace aluminium and other high impact materials are equally important. 45 Salinity gradient power technology could potentially produce 80 per cent of the global energy demand. 46 Passive housing technology could make a big difference in energy use, as it results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little to no energy for space heating or cooling. Decentralized electric power systems are expected to play a very important role in coming years, especially for ensuring that no one is left behind. To this end, RD&D is needed in such systems (efficient appliances, intermittent 122 | Global Sustainable Development Report 2016 supply solar, wind) and in interactions with heat pumps for space heating, heat and power storage and electric mobility. Innovative community and business models will be needed to operate such systems in terms of reliability, affordability, sustainability and safety and privacy. Another component of this emerging technology system will be integrated urban and rural mobility, notably a well- functioning public transport infrastructure, new mobility options (e.g., e-bike, e-car, greenwheels) and in some areas biofuel supply chains. 47 Hence, deployment of off- grid electricity systems and even direct current can be a core solution to achievement of the SDGs. 48, 49 They should be given ample research funding. 50, 51 For example, off- grid electricity could be used to dry grain 52 and to store and transport perishable food, 53 in order to reduce food wastage. 54, 55 Institutional innovation does not only promote the development and deployment of technologies, but also provides the foundations for paradigm shift. In China, block tariff of household electricity consumption accelerated replacement of incandescent fluorescent lamps with LED lamps. Feed-in pricing of wind-power and solar PV are thought to have contributed to make China the country with highest increase in and the largest installed capacity of wind and solar PV in the world. 56, 57, 58 Cookstoves with the emissions comparable to those of an LPG stove would play an important role in the achievement of the SDGs, given the enormous and multiple benefits that could come from the large-scale deployment of such a stove. 59, 60 Globally, more than 2 billion people rely on traditional use of biomass fuels for cooking and heating and have limited access to clean and efficient energy for lighting. Increasing access to clean and efficient cookstoves and fuels can also ensure lasting, inclusive gains in the areas of poverty eradication, food security, health and well-being, education, gender equality, economic growth, reducing inequalities, sustainable cities, environmental protection, and climate change mitigation. Effective deployment of these technologies requires substantial engagement of women. Developers need to put female users at the center of their concepts, design and deployment stages. 61 Technologies for pollution purification will be of the utmost importance until 2030. New technologies for detection and removal emerging contaminants in stormwater, for drinking water, and wastewater treatment and reuse are emerging. In the future, every gasoline-powered motor vehicle would be equipped with emission purification plant, and polluting enterprises would be installed with comprehensive purifying equipment. Meanwhile, environmentally-friendly energy would be widely used in diverse industries. 62 New technologies are emerging that support a transition to a circular economy. 63 These include technologies for remanufacturing, technologies for product life- cycle extension such as re-use and refurbishment, and technologies for recycling. 64 Social innovation will also play an important role. The level of performance and deployment will depend on material streams and the specific context. Proposed by the EU Circular Economy Package of December 2015, a recycling rate of 65 per cent for municipal solid waste may be achievable by 2030. 65 Technological advancement should foster an urban metabolism that is sustainable in itself not dependent on other regions for the supply of resources and the discharge of waste. 66 In this direction, new recycle and reuse technologies and multifunctional infrastructures play a pivotal role. Technologies for integrating centralized systems and decentralized systems for provision of services such as energy and potable water are also emerging. 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 A whole range of new deep sea mining technologies are emerging, but many of them are not yet commercially viable. These technologies could have greatly impact sustainable development, in view of their impacts on global resource use and their potential benefits for island nations. 72 The production of food for half of the world’s population continued to depend on fertilisers made by fixation of nitrogen through the Haber-Bosch process. Technologies for nitrogen fixation that are less energy intensive and that avoid very high H 2 pressure would be highly desirable. Advances in bio-organometallics and materials chemistry are greatly increasing the efficiency of biomimetic analogs of nitrogenase , a natural enzyme that can fix atmospheric nitrogen at room temperature and pressure without the need of molecular hydrogen. Improvements in geophysical research and seismic exploration of the ocean floor, through the application of marine Vibroseis (MV), show potential in providing an environmentally safer alternative to airguns, which have negative effects on marine animals. 73 Artificial photosynthesis is close to commercialization. It is now possible to produce different carbohydrates directly from CO 2 and water using merely sunlight. Artificial leafs, when immersed in water, directly produces hydrogen and oxygen. These leafs consist of wireless, low-cost, thin film amorphous silicon multi-junction cells. 74

2016

Global sustainable development report 2016

United Nations

view report

Right-speed IT - Living between black and white

Many IT organizations are progressing beyond the traditional single-speed delivery models that work well for high-torque enterprise operations but not for high-speed innovation. While some do have needs at both ends of the speed spectrum, they often find that bridging the gap between the two is difficult. A growing number of CIOs are building capabilities that link the two edge points or operate along the continuum, with targeted investments in process, technology, and talent to reengineer the business of IT, enabling delivery at the right speed for the business.

2016