Can green technology help us get out of the red?

14 Replies Christopher Roberts

Most people know that the world has recently emerged from an economic recession. Many people also know that we are all dangerously close to slipping back in, and are replying on governments around the world to keep us in the black.

However, has anyone thought about green technology as a way of helping steer an economy back to growth and prosper?

Well it would appear that Scotland might be doing just that, as they are trying to encourage as many as 600 companies to move into the ‘green economy’ in order to boost profitability. The green economy consists mainly of renewable energy sources, and low-carbon technologies.

Scottish flag - offshore wind farm

Scotland seem to have recognised that there could soon be big money in this industry, hence the drive towards getting more firms into the industry.


In its attempts to become the industry leader in green technology, Scotland’s Finance Secretary, John Swinney has said that he wants to increase exports 50% by 2017 and encourage inward investment in green and low-carbon technologies.

Unemployment seems to be a problem everywhere at the moment, but Mr Swinney’s new ‘green growth’ plans are likely to create around 130,000 jobs by the year 2020.

What do you think, is Scotland taking a step in the right direction by investing in green technologies, or is is a risky option to take given the current global economic climate?

Categories: Business Environment Science Technology
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Written by Christopher Roberts
Founder and editor of Technology Bloggers, Christopher is passionate about sustainable technology and environmental initiatives. He wants to popularise critical thinking, promote responsible innovation, and excite you about the world around us.

14 thoughts on “Can green technology help us get out of the red?”

  1. David@theOnlyCog

    The Green Technology wagon is a nice one, and certainly one I approve of. However with many firms continuing to reign in costs and keep a close eye on projects it might be a difficult one to push forward.

    Environmental type projects are traditionally more costly to implement and equally difficult to find buyers in these troubled times.

    Most people are looking for cheap/cost effective solutions — sadly ‘green’ rarely fits into this category.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      Sometimes green tech can be very profitable, it just takes time. Take solar for example. Plaster your roof in it and could set you back lets say £14,000, that’s a lot, but in 25 years you could be looking at making somewhere around £60,000, easily paying for the installation, and you would get free electricity – when the sun is out!

      Unfortunatly, short-termism often means that people overlook such opportunities 🙁

      Reply
  2. jonny hankins

    Another problem is that governments are cutting back on incentive schemes that made the green option more affordable. Look at the great car scrapping schemes of last year, they soon ran out of money. Also tax incentives for solar panel fittings and other structural energy saving schemes in Italy have been scrapped. The effect can be seen within these economies as they lay workers off. The market needs incentives to help cover higher start up costs, as the benefits are clear to see in the long run.

    Reply
  3. symfony

    I don’t exactly unerstand the meaning of green technology and what it means. If it is recyclying and so on, then this is the right thing and Scotland will do it, but there are many big countries like China or for example like India and for them it is immensely hard to try any green economy at all.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      Green technology is basically eco-friendly matched with technology. Wind turbines are an example of green tech, as is a low carbon tv set, and a solar powered torch.

      Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      Green technology is anything from low power PC’s and energy efficient fridges to wind turbines and photovoltaic solar panels.

      Reply
  5. Darci@Corporate Unified Communications

    I think looking towards green technology for the future is a win/win situation. Green technology helps the environment and the circle of customers that look to spend their money on businesses that care about the environment is growing. Providing green technology lands you right in the upswing of this movement.

    In addition to that it’s nice to make profits and benefit the world at large. Like I said, it’s a win/win situation.

    Reply
  7. maynard@environmental issues

    Even if a certain country is not in a state of recession, it should always consider to use green technology. At some point, we are going to use this kind of technology to fight environmental issues we are facing right now so its better if we start using it.

    Reply
    • Christopher (admin team)

      A good point Maynard, green technology is most probably the future, so why not start using it now?

      Thanks for your comment, welcome to the community 🙂
      Christopher – Admin Team

      Reply
  8. Mike @ Scrap Car Surrey

    I think that the bigger companies (ones that have the cash flow to do so) should be forced into greener options.

    In this world not all companies can afford to “go green” although this is the best and in the long term only solution smaller non corporate companies will not be able to back the green ideas, maybe there should be an incentive brought in by the government to ensure smaller companies are doing what they can afford to do.

    I run a scrap car company based in Surrey, UK and there are constant change of legislation of which creates a massive increase in costs to stay in touch with the green legislation. I am up for helping the planet and our environment I just find it hard as a smaller non corporate company to move with the times.

    Cheers,

    Mike

    Reply
    • Christopher Roberts

      Hi Mike, I understand what you mean, the problem is drawing the line. Who has enough money to go green and how regulated should the smaller companies be?

      Thanks for the comment, welcome to the blog.
      Christopher – Admin Team

      Reply

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