It’s easy to see machinery as something set apart from the natural world. It is after all often made of metal, where the natural world is awash with greens and blues. But machinery isn’t in opposition to the natural order and can actually help us humans to reduce our impact on the climate and to make manufacturing and production greener, more efficient, and less wasteful or energy intensive. Here’s how machines can work in step with human change to help us overcome the damaging effects of climate change.
Less Waste
One of the most unfortunate parts of the mechanized production that we’ve seen a rise over the past century is that, at its worst, it produces a great deal of waste. That might be from off-cuts or products that never made it, or it could be from the plastic packaging that firms use to protect their goods when they’re on the way to retailers. But recently, machines have been developed that make far fewer mistakes, which means that waste is no longer an issue on production lines. Meanwhile, only recyclables – certain plastic polymers and cardboard – are increasingly used by many of the world’s leading factories.
Long-Lasting
Another element of the waste that we once saw in factories was the machines themselves. They’re working furiously every day of the week, so it’s no surprise that some of them experience so much wear and tear that they have to be decommissioned. But when this happens frequently, it’s clearly a waste of money and resources that would be better invested in more effective machines. Factories can find replacement conveyor belts for their current belt systems that are far longer-lasting, helping them to reduce waste and keep the production line running without costly and wasteful outages.
Green Energy
Production lines are energy-intensive places. When you walk into a factory, the first thing you’re likely to notice is the movement and the noise, with hundreds of machines whirring and rattling at once and all powered by electricity. The electricity demand of such facilities is gigantic, but there are two promising developments in this regard. First, it’s becoming cheaper and more viable for companies to buy solar panels and turbines to produce their own electricity renewably. And second, machines themselves are becoming more efficient – driven by a market need to reduce energy costs.
Efficiency
Whether or not you like the aesthetic of a factory, there’s no doubt that they’re incredibly efficient ways of producing goods. And though they are major polluters, accounting for a slice of global emissions, they’re also working hard to produce machines that are far more energy-efficient at producing than humans. So while machines might look and sound like great energy-guzzling things, if you want products supplied to the world – including, importantly, safe food – then the machines in these factories are by far the most efficient way of delivering that.
Machines are our friends in the fight for the climates, as this article demonstrates with a number of examples that might take you by surprise.
