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Concept
Alternative technology
Summary
Alternative technology is a term used to refer to technologies that are more environmentally friendly than the functionally equivalent technologies dominant in current practice. The term was coined by Peter Harper, one of the founders of the Centre for Alternative Technology, North Wales (a.k.a. The Quarry), in Undercurrents (magazine) in the 1970s. Alternative Technologies are created to be safer, cleaner, and overall more efficient. The goals of alternative technology are to decrease demand for critical elements by ensuring a secure supply of technology that is environmentally friendly, increased efficiency with lower costs, and with more common materials to avoid potential future materials crises. Alternative technologies use renewable energy sources such as solar power and wind energy. Some alternative technologies have in the past or may in the future become widely adopted, after which they might no longer be considered "alternative." For example, the use of wind turbines to produce electricity.
Alternative technologies include the following:
Anaerobic digestion
Biogas
Landfill gas extraction
Composting
Alternative fuel vehicles
Greywater
Solar panels
Silicon-based
Photosynthetic "Gratzel cells" (Titanium dioxide)
Recycling
Wind turbines
Biogas, landfill gas extraction
Anaerobic digestion is a series of biological processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material when there is no oxygen. During anaerobic digestion, one of the end products is biogas, which is combusted to generate electricity and heat, or can be processed into renewable natural gas and transportation fuels. Anaerobic digestion is considered alternative technology because it is a way to create energy using materials that can be broken down and reused for something else.
Compost is organic matter that has been decomposed in a process called composting, which is the breaking down of the materials within that item. This process recycles various organic materials otherwise regarded as waste products and produces a soil conditioner (the compost).
Official source
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