Two different perspectives on sustainability and IoT
The Internet of Things offers us a broad range of technology solutions to help make our world more sustainable. It particular in the energy sector with home and building energy management systems based on embedded and IoT technologies much success is being achieved.
The increased generation of electricity from intermittent sources poses challenges for the electricity grid and IoT solutions can play a significant role here in support demand response applications and creating flexibility for the grid by linking them to home and building energy management systems, industrial control systems, etc.
While IoT supports sustainability, there is also the question of sustainability for the IoT itself. The majority of IoT devices are battery powered, which requires costly battery charging/changing for prolonged operation. The billions of IoT devices manufactured every year often have bespoke applications and are not sufficiently reused contributing electronic waste.
