Let’s talk about sustainable trends. According to the Cambridge dictionary, a trend is a general development in a situation or in how people behave. Therefore, we can positively say that sustainable trends could broaden business opportunities. It is only a matter of time before someone will invent new business value because of the trending impact in the future. Since we have already touched on all possible climate change-related risks, I would like to devote this post to current sustainability trends.
1. Decarbonisation – this trend touches many cross-industries.
Electric transport is a huge thing now, as car sales doubled in 2021 to a record of 6.6 million (including fully electric and plug-in hybrids), with more sold each week than in 2012. Electric cars in China, which account for half of the worldwide sales in 2021, are typically smaller than in other markets, and this led to lowering manufacturing costs and significantly reduced the price gap with classic cars. In the short term, the most significant obstacles to further expansion of electric vehicles are soaring prices for some critical minerals essential for battery manufacturing and supply chain disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and continued covid-19 pandemic lockdowns in some parts of China. While nearly 10% of all cars sold worldwide in 2021 were electric, global truck sales were just 0.3%. This share would need to increase to around 25% by 2030 in the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario.
Electric trucks have so far been deployed only in China, but other countries have announced plans for heavy truck electrification, and manufacturers are widening their choices of models. Long-range trucks require high-power charges that are currently very expensive and require grid upgrades. There are also electric buses, ferries, and even airlines committed to the electric fleet in the future. Today’s batteries don’t have the energy density necessary to power anything but the lightest planes, and even for those, the trip will be pretty short. Batteries have been packing more power into the smallest spaces for about 30 years, and continuing improvement could help electric planes become a more feasible option for flying. They’re not there yet, and ultimately, the future of electric planes depends on a lot of progress in battery technology. Isn’t it a brilliant business opportunity?
Renewable energy is trending in expanding to the private sector from being mostly available to businesses just a while ago. The private sector demands solar panels for houses and portable ones for balconies in apartments. People benefit from non-dependency on the central public grid, which leads to cost reduction and independence from market energy prices. Also, renewable energy is considered clean energy, so for many people, it is an additional advantage of being related to the global sustainable trend. Business opportunity here lies in manufacturing, maintaining, and utilizing solar panels.
Hydrogen is another sustainable trend, but I have a separate blog post on it as well. I will not repeat myself; just check my previous posts. On the other hand, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a big deal now. CO2 is captured and compressed into a liquid state and transported by pipeline, ship, or tanker. CO2 can be pumped underground, usual depth is more than 1km, and stored in depleted oil and gas reservoirs, coal beds, or saline aquifers, where the geology is suitable. Further usage can be to produce commercially marketable products. This process is called carbon capture, storage, and utilization (CCSU). CO2 can be injected into oil and gas reservoirs to increase their extraction, used in concrete or plastic materials, or converted into biomass. In November 2021, at COP-26 Conference in Glasgow, the new technology of turning compressed CO2 into starch was introduced to the public. One can make biodegradable bags out of starch which brings us into the circular economy.
2. Deglobalisation – the world is moving from the global economy back to the local. Many factors are responsible for this trend: Brexit, economic sanctions imposed on many countries, and the pandemic. Many suppliers went out of business because supply chains were broken, and delivery became impossible or too long. Local manufacturing of goods and services dramatically decreases the CO2 footprint of a company. A business opportunity is hidden in finding new industries and increasing the workforce and employment. Businesses must rely on locally produced goods, comply with local market regulations, and consider manufacturing resources and capacities.
3. Digitalisation – one of the trends I feel the most in everyday life.
IoT (Internet of Things) – there are currently more than 7 billion IoT devices installed worldwide. That number is expected to grow to over 30 billion by 2025 and over 500 billion by 2030. The economic impact of this technology is even more impressive as Deloitte predicts that by 2023, global spending on IoT will exceed 1 trillion USD. Everything that could be connected to the Internet is connected in my apartment. Being thousands of km away from home, I can remotely switch the lights on or turn the radiators off. Everything gets its sensor, which exchanges the data, and such grid leads to the concept of autonomous factories and even transportation.
VR / AR (Virtual reality / Augmented reality) – evolving technologies could replace supporting teams’ pieces of training and visits. Using VR could tackle climate change by eliminating the need for travel and consequently decreasing the footprint of journeys. Wouldn’t it be handy not to wait until a technician visits a factory to fix a broken machine, but they would join virtually through glasses or lenses and explain everything remotely?
There are many other ways how our life is being digitalized. Try before you buy services for online shopping and electronic forms of payment, so we don’t bring plastic cards or banknotes anywhere. The pandemic escalated the development of online services for anything from groceries delivery to online consultations with doctors.
We must remember that digitalization also has not-so-hidden constraints, such as e-waste, which is becoming a global problem. My post from January 2022 expands on digital carbon emissions; you can check it to find more on the topic.
4. Circular economy is widely considered a primary driver for reaching climate goals. The central vision is that all waste could be a raw material for manufacturing. For example, we discussed above that plastic could be made from CO2 emissions, asphalt is made out of plastic or old car tires, and wind turbines could be used as a children’s playground.
3R model of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is transformed into 9R – Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose, Recycle, Recover. Wow! Have you ever considered using the old doors from your grandparents’ house as a dining table at your apartment? The circular economy is a trend that opens various business opportunities, and we will dive deeper into this in some subsequent posts.
5. Sustainable lifestyle is probably one of the most visible trends. We choose to ride bicycles to work and e-scooters to parties, check if packaging consists of recycled materials, and compensate for CO2 emissions from deliveries. Consumers are paying for more sustainable goods and services and require new food and phone apps. They shape the new market. This brings us to future business opportunities such as new food products (vegetable milk, meatless burgers, and other vegan options), sharing of many goods (something that we don’t use daily we can rent – hiking gear, repairing tools, lawnmower, carsharing and coworking spaces instead of traditional offices). New applications are developed for tracking our CO2 emissions (Capture, Map My Emissions, For Good, UN Carbon Footprint Calculator). There are many apps for saving food waste – Too Good To Go, OLIO, Imperfect Foods, Misfits Market, Hungry Harvest, Food rescue Us, and Flashfood.
Sustainable trends are shaping our world as we all play a role in tackling climate change. Most companies are adapting to the new realms and market requirements. Climate change brings new opportunities for businesses. As a consumer, it is exciting for me to see how enterprises raise the awareness of their clients by offering new ideas and products for a sustainable future.
Some related resources which inspired me for this post: