5 reasons to invest in green technology today

There is a lot of talk about green technology solutions and sustainable mindset but mostly in relation to sustainability and environment preservation. However, there is less talk about the fact that investing in green technologies is economically sensible. Read and find out why. 

1. Supporting regulations. Green technology is becoming more and more popular and regulations, which support business change, contribute to this. Already in the near future, new buildings have to meet the nearly zero-energy standard. At the same time, countries have the obligation to reduce the level of CO2, and what type of country would not want to be carbon neutral?
2. Green enterprises are unique. Green technology enterprises offer many opportunities to change the existing enterprises, industrial sectors and fields to be significantly more effective and reduce the carbon footprint of the enterprise by doing so. At the same time, they offer a lot of opportunities for creating completely new business models.
3. Mineral resources are depleting. Extracting mineral resources is becoming increasingly complex and expensive. But why mine nickel for example, when you can extract it from used computers? In order to keep the materials used in production in circulation, production needs to be changed – the product needs to be designed for the environment. This stands for the purposeful selection of material, which entails production from either new materials produced in the first round, consumer waste or industrial waste. The new product is designed in a way that after the end of its useful life, it is as easy as possible to extract the materials again for reproduction. In this way, it is possible to conduct more business with the same materials. One’s scrap is another’s raw material!
4. Energy recovery is in! Energy is often produced when it is not needed. In this way, the production of solar parks for example, is strongest when it is warm and sunny outside, but the consumption of energy is often lower in the summer than during the cold period. In order for it to be used when needed, we have to save energy. Changes can certainly be expected in the field of transport and already today, there are talks about a tight ban on diesel engines. It may be the case that in 5–10 years, a person who wants to purchase a new car only has a selection of electric vehicles. Why invest in this? Because the systems necessary for accepting this quantity of electric vehicles are not ready yet. At the same time, the production of electricity and heat is the most energy-intensive and polluting.
5. There needs to be alternatives for obtaining food. In the field of food production, alternative food sources need to be created because the population of the world is soaring. Farming, by using the current method, burdens the environment and is not sustainable. The danger of arable land disappearing might occur soon. Lab-grown meat already exists, but there is still a lot of room for development in this field.

Opportunities for making the first steps in the field of green technology today:

• Until 11 March, startups of mobility, clean air, heat, circular economy, smart city and other fields of green technologies can apply for the biggest competition in Central and Eastern Europe PowerUp!, the winner of which is awarded EUR 50,000 prize money and an opportunity to develop their business globally. PS: Application period extended until March 18! 
• InnoEnergy’s development programme PRIMER for sustainable energy startups announced a pre-accelerator programme for early-stage startups. In Estonia, applications for participating in the programme are accepted until 4 March. The aim is to share knowledge with startups about leading a company and prepare them for participation in accelerator and investment programmes.

To new business models!