Futuristic Sustainable Transportation

Take a look at some futuristic sustainable transportation designs that caught my eye. Forces which can affect futuristic transportation options will be financial, technological, sustainability, and of course ethical(safety). Financially, futuristic vehicles must be environmentally efficient, safe, and affordable. We know fossil fuels are not getting any cheaper. For these new vehicles to be adopted by the masses, they have got to be affordable; thats where technologically efficient efforts during the manufacturing process must be realized.

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Saturday, September 1, 2012

Transition to a Sustainable World

Organic farming in Technology


After reading William Halal’s book “Technology’s Promise,” I marveled at the hundred or so experts that worked together around the globe in forecasting technology using the TechCast Method. The TechCast Project itself forecasts futuristic predictions in all fields of social or economic impact. This forcasting is based in scientific method by gathering the best background data available and orgainzing into a careful analysis of each technology.
One Chapter I found of interest was the chapter on the Transition to a Sustainable World. As I read, I found myself thinking of self sustaining technologies and what I would do if there ever came a time when I could no longer just walk down to the grocery store and buy whatever food I wanted. Could that ever happen? This chapter also brought to mind a reminder of the world’s population growth and the issues we face in the future(30+ years). I particularly found the section on organic farming interesting as anyone can be an organic farmer. With the growing population, we are expected to see some depletion of reliable food sources when the earths population reaches 10 billion. When that happens, we all need to know a little about organic farming.
We already know the use of chemicals in farming isn’t good for the soil or for human consumption. The Organic farming area is expected to be the highest growth sector in the food business. Studies find that organic farming uses less resources , maintains higher crop yields, improves the soil, produces higher profits reduces drought and erosion, and protects the environment. Organic farming is a win/win situation and TechCast studies estimate 30% of farmland will be using organic methods by the year 2022 (Halal, 2008)

References
Halal, W. (2008). Technology’s Promise: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK, and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

2 comments:

  1. Ricky,

    Good post. Organic farming is a concept that I find quite interesting as well due to the many health advantages that this particular concept holds. Today I find that many of the food manufactures are offering various organic alternatives to their wide selection of food offerings. One thing that we must keep in mind however is that this product is often more pricey than its non-organic counterpart. Could this be a downside to the expect future growth of this organic food industry? This financical factor is one that many farmers must consider as many southern farmers struggle to maintain the current crops because of the weather conditions (ie. heat) is not ofte as favorable as expected. Good insight. Enjoyed the read.

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  2. Forces affecting the transition to a sustainable world are cultural environmental, global, and sustainable. The current rate at which we are wasting our natural resources is not sustainable. Culturally we will never end our dependence on fossil fuels unless we are forced to do so. In the United States for instance, culturally it's acceptable to not recycle or waste food. Gasoline is not that expensive(compared to other nations), so we drive around the corner to the store instead of walk. We Americans are a lazy bunch. Environmental forces such as droughts or shortages of natural resources will affect the way in which we can sustain crops. Technological improvements will positively affect organic growing methods. There’s much technology in agriculture already. Global forces negatively affecting sustainable food resources is the expected population growth.

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