Engineers who want to lower the emissions of their products, develop devices that consume less energy, create viable renewable energy technologies, or better understand the global ecosystem need green engineering.
Green engineering is the use of measurement and control techniques to design, develop, and improve products, technologies, and processes that result in environmental and economic benefits. While green may be the focus today, performing green engineering is fundamentally no different than any other type of engineering innovation.
First, you need to measure the variables with which you are concerned, and then you can begin the process of designing or “fixing” products and processes that achieve your desired goal. Green engineering encompasses common measurements such as power quality and consumption; emissions from vehicles and factories, such as mercury and nitrogen oxides; and environmental data, including carbon, temperature, and water quality. National Instruments enables green engineering by providing measurement, automation, and design tools that empower engineers and scientists to first quantify and understand real-world data and, second, correct problems by designing and developing the next generation of products and technologies with improved efficiency and reduced environmental impact.
Graphical System Design Platform enabling Technologies is the technology components required for green engineering are not only accessible but also easier to use and available at a lower price than ever before. Some of the key technologies that enable green engineering include the following:
• Graphical software to measure and fix
• High-speed and high-resolution measurements
• Domain-specific analysis libraries
• FPGAs for advanced control
Ni.com did several case studies of a variety of cases from preserving the costa rican forrest to how mercury emissions are affecting the environment in different locations of the world. Ni.com found that through the use of green technologies and its applications, power plants will increase in effiency, as well as increase also in profits while lowering costs.
My challenge? Is for all young engineers to begin to see the world in a way that it has yet to be be seen. We need to envision a world that we do not know yet, a world that changes and emerges into new technologies that can ensure the health of our planet and therefore, an enheritance to the new generations to come.
I invite you all to see this link: http://www.fleetmanager.org.uk/shai-agassi-a-bold-plan-for-mass-adoption-of-electric-cars/ it has very interesting new information on battery power vehicles and how this new technology is changing the world.
Think about it. Do something about it. Do it now.
