This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on January 30, 2023 - February 5, 2023

In my previous article “The green transition: Elements for a cleaner future” (The Edge, ­Issue 1456, Jan 23), I unpacked the first two considerations needed as well as recent developments for a more sustainable earth — public advocacy and government will. In this second part, we unpack some tools for the transition journey using new products, through partnerships and with empathy.

Climate change will not discriminate between societies, governments, corporations and class. Therefore, it is upon us to make sure that this is a structural change at every level, from individual choices on plastics to making changes at a governmental level. Only then can we truly turn this ship called Earth around, and secure our future on this planet.

In the green transition equation, we need to consider not just the increase of cleaner energy in the production mix, but also storage technologies.

The positive is that battery prices have reduced by a tenth just over the past few years. A big part of that was due to the uptake in electric vehicles (EV) globally. In 2021, electric car sales more than doubled to 6.6 million, which is close to 9% of the global car market, compared with a 2.5% share in 2019. Large corporations are switching their logistics to electric, for example, Amazon, which in 2020 started switching its delivery vans to run on electric.

In another example: the use of recycled materials has not reached its full potential as the strength, quality and elasticity do not yet meet industry application requirements. To solve this challenge, Hexagon worked with companies to develop recycled polymers for high-end applications to create an advanced predictive approach to reverse engineer high-quality material.

The benefits from the projects include lifecycle assessments of CO2 reduction of materials at an astonishing 84% compared with similar virgin materials. This is really good news for myriad industries, including electronics, aerospace, building and construction and transport, which are still figuring out ways to detach their dependence on plastics.

Saving the planet is the biggest business opportunity of the 21st century, and solar, blue carbon and green hydrogen are just the beginning.

No doubt, for many corporations going green is a matter of balancing between sustainability intentions with profitability in a way that is sustainable for their shareholders, employees and the overall business. The right direction for industries is to move away from a singular outcome of perceived profit and look at the overall return-on-impact scenario.

This is where companies like Hexagon come in — we are enabling industries to move towards more sustainable solutions, whether in manufacturing, aviation, transport and more.

In agriculture, for example, making crops more efficient would reduce the need for more land and also lower the stress of ecosystems with decreased use of chemicals. Hexagon technologies are used by SwarmFarm Robotics, a developer of autonomous agriculture robots, which uses precise positioning and autonomous mobility technology and lightweight robots at 10% of the weight of traditional farm equipment. This allows them to use less fuel and minimise soil disturbance while maximising yield and efficiency. Over the past three years, the robots have farmed over 274,000ha, resulting in 431,000 fewer litres of herbicide being applied in the catchment area for one of the world’s most threatened coral reefs in 2021 alone.

The savings in some areas are a staggering 95% reduction in herbicide being sprayed on farm fields. SwarmFarm’s robots also allow farming practices that could eliminate some chemical inputs entirely, such as applying fungus or other natural herbicides. Hexagon also estimates that its positioning systems have reduced fuel usage by 190 million litres — equivalent to 500,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

While we must take action and be decisive in single-mindedly moving towards our environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals and sustainability goals, we also need to employ empathy and understanding that this journey will look very different across the world.

The transition from an “outward-looking” mindset towards “introspective sustainability” is something we must individually embrace. That is to say that if your neighbour is not being as “green” or responsible as you are, stop finger-pointing. Start with the person in the mirror.

There needs to be an acceptance that different parts of the world will move at a different pace towards this common vision and goal — and those more advanced in this journey will need to step up and help out those falling behind. As the adage goes, we are as strong as our weakest link. And for the earth to survive, we are part of that bond that keeps us alive.

Siddhant Gupta is the global vice-president for energy at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence

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