Economics of Eco-Technology
What is Ecological Technology?
Ecological Technology (or eco-technology) is simply the application of technologies to manage ecosystems effectively. This is done by understanding the workings of the ecosystem and ensuring that minimal costs are used and minimal harm is caused to the environment while applying this technology. Ecotechnology mainly facilitates ecosystem management through efficient engineering and innovation to protect, conserve and sustain the environment. A few examples of Ecological Technology are:
Waste to Energy Solutions
Waste Management and Disposal Systems
Electric Vehicles
Vertical Farms
Ecological Economics
Ecological Technology comes under the purview of Ecological Economics.
Ecological Economics emphasizes the concept that the economy is embedded within a social system, which is in turn embedded within an ecological system (the biosphere). This trans-disciplinary field recognizes the fact that we live on a planet where resources are finite and bordering scarce. The subject focuses upon preserving the natural capital of the ecosystem emphasizing "strong" sustainability and rejecting the proposition that human-made ("physical") capital can substitute for natural capital.
How does using Ecological Technology help the Ecosystem?
Like every natural organism, every economy grows till a certain stage and then stops growing and reaches a steady stage. Ecological technology will help steady the growth rate by the means of sustainability, efficient allocation and fair distribution. It will be a step away from growth-oriented competition and a step towards cooperative, stable relationships among the different economies in the world. The economy is a subsystem of the biosphere. The economy grows into the biosphere and not vice versa. The biosphere cannot grow indefinitely larger as per the wasteful utilization and growing needs of the physical world economy.
Ecological Technology focuses on using the core of Ecological Economics. The core study of ecological economics is that: it is wrong to treat the environment as merely a factor of production that can be analyzed in isolation to, and extracted out of, the whole ecological system. If the environment is viewed as merely a factor of production, as it is being viewed in conventional economics, the fact that we live on a finite planet will catch up as resources dry up and goods and services become scarce, endangering human survival, as it creates a demand much higher than the supply potential.
Using Ecological Technology achieves the key functions and interrelated goals of ecological economics: sustainable scale, efficient allocation and fair distribution.
Sustainable Scale: The environment creates certain limits and constraints and on that, we can define a safe operating space within which we can do the best we can in such a way that we meet our own needs, and that the future generation can meet their needs without having to compromise on their requirements or wants.
Efficient Allocation: One may speak of “market allocation” of resources, “forcible allocation” of resources, “governmental allocation” of resources, “traditional” (or “customary”) allocation of resources and so on, depending upon the kinds of social processes and incentives by which various sorts of scarce resources are allocated in the particular society under consideration.
Fair Distribution: Distributions key impacts are in the spaces of society and quality of life. If the distribution of income is too big, it creates competing groups within society and cooperation is lost. Unequal societies are less productive in the end because they spend a lot of their energy trying to maintain that gap.
Ecological Technology ensures the minimization of the utilization of finite resources (like fossil fuels) and if absolutely essential, then on a sustainable scale and the harnessing of unlimited resources (like solar and hydropower) to meet the needs of the economy.
Although human capital cannot replace natural capital, Ecological Technology makes use of solutions that reduce the existing stress on the environment so that the availability of resources is not compromised for future generations (like Waste to Energy solutions).
Technological advancements and the move to efficient technology like electric vehicles reduce the stress on fossil fuels and the atmosphere.
Developing farming methods like Vertical Farms increases the crop yield that comes with a smaller unit area of land requirement. The increased ability to cultivate a larger variety of crops at once because crops do not share the same plots of land while growing is another sought-after advantage. Additionally, crops are resistant to weather disruptions because of their placement indoors, meaning fewer crops are lost to extreme or unexpected weather occurrences.
All of the above methods contribute to human welfare and sustainability.
Conclusion
Since Ecological Technology focuses on sustainability and alternative resources, the idea of fair distribution depends upon the capacities of all the economies in the ecosystem.
Efficient allocation can be accomplished when technological advancements in all contributing economies, both large and small, are approximately standard.
Using Ecological Technology is the key for continued sustainable growth of the economy with minimum impact on the environment. It is a change in mindset that will improve overall well-being and quality of life.
Written by Zoyah Virani | Proofread by Alexey Dudarev
