CES is a yearly technology conference in Las Vegas where the industry’s biggest players come to show off their new products, inventions, and innovations. Every year is a little different, but with 2019 being such an environmentally focused year it is no surprise that this year’s conference has renewable energy solutions at the core of its message. Whether it is a huge tech company or a small player with an eco-friendly product, everyone at this year’s CES was focused on the green. Only this time it focused on the profits of green energy.
2020 CES
The panelists at the 2020 CES had a lot to say about the state of technology and its ability to solve our climate problems. There was a lot of big talk, but also a lot of action. There was focus on technology and what we are calling “smart cities.” Los Angeles, for example, plans to be completely carbon neutral by the year 2050. While this sounds for off, 30 years from now, the task is quite large.
To do get this done, 130 electric car charging stations will need to be built every week to reach the 192,000 stations needed to be carbon neutral. Cybersecurity is another issue, with mobility networks and trafficking systems that will need to be protected. Every politician, company, and individual will need to be focused on sustainable environmental practices to get the job of cleaning our environment done. This was the overall message of CES. It wasn’t all talk, companies premiered some innovative products that will change the way we use energy.
Eco-Friendly Products
According to the site MoneyPug, which is commonly used in the UK to switch energy supplier, Oxicool is a company that is trying to revolutionize air conditioning and cut down electricity consumption of it by 90 percent. The company premiered the system that uses only water as a refrigerant. Normally air conditioning requires huge amounts of energy and uses harmful chemicals. Oxicool is claiming that their system is so clean, the water is drinkable. Furthermore, each part of the device is recyclable in its own right.
Water isn’t just a concern as far as air conditioning goes, two companies at CES were focused on the impending water crisis. Clean water is becoming scarcer and scarcer. The Arizona company Zero Mass Water came back to the CES conference with a new version of their Source Hydropanel. The smaller version is called the Rexi. What this generator does is use solar energy to pull moisture from the air to create clean drinking water. Implemented in a large scale, this could revolutionize the water industry.
Another company that is focusing on the water crisis is Rocean. The New York-based business has created a machine that filters, carbonates, and even flavors your tap water. The company is trying to lessen our reliance on bottled water by cleaning and livening up the water from our sink.
Living Packets is a packaging company that is making bid strides in the industry. They have created a reusable box with digital address labels. It is made up of recycled plastic that comes with a display that shows the postage. This can both reduce the use of plastic and decrease the amount of trees cut down for paper materials. The internal part of the box is made of mesh that also eliminates the need for bubble wrap, polystyrene peanuts, and other packing materials. While the boxes can be recycled, the business plans to refurbish and recirculate them instead.
The Future
Tech companies both big and small are making changes to their business models and products to make them more eco-friendly and sustainable. With the world finally coming to terms that our energy systems are ineffective, unproductive, and wasteful, tech companies and politicians are waking up to their role. Many providers like Reliant Energy (which has price-protected plans on Home Energy Club) have solar and renewable energy price-protected plans for their customers. A lot of money will be made from making a more sustainable world, and this year’s CES conference had many companies realizing that their role can be made into an advantage. However you look at it, the world needs to change and technology is the most promising avenue for real change when it comes to renewable energy and eco-friendly lifestyles.
Photo credit: “CES®”
