Research paper (Internet of Things and the environment)

Widespread sensing enabled by Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is a technology that cuts across many areas of modern day living. This technology has introduced the ability to measure, infer and understand environmental indicators, such as, delicate ecologies, natural resources and urban environments (Gubbi, Buyya, 2016). The rapid accumulation of these devices in a communicating-actuating network is the reason we have the Internet of Things (IoT). In such networks, sensors and actuators integrate easily with the environment around us, and the accompanying information gathered is shared across multiple platforms in order to develop a common operating picture (COP). Moreover, following the recent advancements of a variety of wireless technologies such as RFID tags and embedded sensor and actuator nodes, the IoT has grown to become the next revolutionary technology in transforming the Internet into a fully integrated Future Internet (Gubbi, Buyya, 2016.) In this paper you will see how emerging IoT technologies seeks to address the challenges faced by consumers when they are seeking to instrument their own homes. This goes beyond just the convenience of remote door locks and alarms whereby Homeowners can also use IoT technology to monitor and manage energy and water usage in the home. As the utility matrix gets “smarter,” a home has to get smarter alongside to take advantage of energy reduction and conservation strategies.

Keywords : Internet of Things; Widespread sensing; Cloud Computing; Wireless Sensor Networks; RFID; Smart Environments, IoT, Environment, Smart Waterways, Smart Homes.

Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 3 Positive impacts of IoT on environment 5 Smart Homes 5 Smart Agriculture 6 Smart Waterways 7 Environmental Challenges brought about by IoT 7 Conclusion 8 References 9

Introduction

In the pre-modern times, governments and environmental organizations have focused mainly on the negative environmental and energy impacts of both information and communication technologies. However, the new technology called the Internet of Things (IoT) is steadily growing from its infancy. It is predicted that there will be more than 50 Billion devices connected to a wireless network by 2020. Hence, by implementing the IoT, most of our electronic devices will be connected to each other improving the way we preserve our planet by allowing those devices to control and reduce our daily impacts on the environment without human guidance.  However, this research paper tries to find whether those claims about the IoT helping the environment are true or not.

The IoT according to The University of Melbourne, demands the following so as the smart connectivity and context-aware computation can be accomplished:

“(a) a shared understanding of the situation of its users and their appliances, (b) software architectures and pervasive communication networks to process and convey the information in context to where it is applicable, and (c) the analytics tools in the Internet of Things that aim for autonomous and smart behavior.” (Gubbi, Buyya, 2016)

The term Internet of Things generally refers to scenarios where network connectivity and computing power expands to objects, sensors and everyday items not normally considered computers, allowing these devices to create, swap and use data with minimal human intervention (Rose 2015). At the moment, many smart homes already have sensors for attempting to save energy; home automation is occurring; cars, taxis, and traffic lights have devices to try and improve safety and transportation; people have smartphones with sensors for running many useful apps; industrial plants are connecting to the Internet; and healthcare services are relying on increased home sensing to support remote medicine and wellness. (Stankovic 2014)

IoT could have great positive impacts on environment. In recent times, Pocket-sized environmental sensors can now be carried around, monitoring the airborne quality, radiation, water quality, hazardous airborne chemicals and many other environment indicators. Infants, asthma patients and people working in hazardous or radiation prone environments could benefit from such information. Connected with smart phones through Bluetooth and Wifi allows sensors to send enormous amounts of data to the network. This allows us to have a better understanding of our surroundings and prepares us to find suitable solutions for environmental problems. IoT makes it is possible to integrate several systems responsible for instance energy management (controlling thermostats, windows, doors, and shades) and home health care (controlling lights, TVs, body nodes measuring heart rate and temperature, and sleep apnea machines). When the information is shared, the energy management system adjusts the room temperature depending on the physiological status of the residents as detected by the home health care system. In addition to this, all the systems are able to share sensors and actuators, which reduce cost of deployment, improve aesthetics of the rooms, and reduce channel contention.

Smart Homes

At the moment, smart buildings not only control energy or security, but also integrate personal comfort, energy savings, security and health and wellness aspects into convenient and effective spaces. A sensing and actuation utility will not only exist in public spaces, but also extend into the home, apartments, and condominiums. Here people will be able to run health, energy, security, and entertainment apps on the infrastructure. Installing and running new apps will be as easy as plugging in a new toaster into the electric utility. One app may help monitor and control heart rate while another performs financial and investments services. The Industrial Internet is also a form of IoT where the devices (things) are objects in manufacturing plants, dispatch centers, process control industries, etc.

The success stories in IoT in smart agriculture show great potential in saving resources. Through sensors, Internet and scientific knowledge, growers of tulips in the Netherlands can monitor and fine tune their production process based on weather, humility and sunlight. A university in Chile announced that they could reduce 70% of water consumption in blueberry farms through an IoT based approach.  Within the agriculture sector it is estimated that by 2020 IoT could save 1.6 Gt of CO2. We will be able to grow more food with fewer resources, which is quite a big deal for the already over-populated mother earth.

Smart Forests

Invisible Tracck is a small device covertly placed in trees in protected forest areas to help prevent illegal logging (Castro 2013). The devices, which according to Castro are smaller than a deck of cards, alert authorities when illegally harvested trees pass within range of a mobile network. Law enforcement officials can then locate the production sites and stop these activities. Invisible Tracck is currently deployed in the Amazonian forests in Brazil, which lost an average of 3.46 million hectares of primary forest each year between 2000 and 2005. Many illegal deforestation activities have gone undetected because satellite range and radio frequencies are often weak in remote areas. Invisible Tracck now ensures that even the most vulnerable, remote areas of Brazil can be policed and protected.

Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System is a network of sensors along the Great Barrier Reef to collect data for researchers exploring the impact of oceanic conditions on marine ecosystems and climate change. Buoys equipped with sensors collect biological, physical, and chemical data. Data is sent to a base station on shore using a variety of wireless technologies, including microwave, satellite, and 3G mobile networks, depending on the distance to shore. The system has been deployed since 2010 in seven different sites along the Great Barrier Reef and has collected data integral to research on fish movement, biodiversity, and damage to coral reefs.

Environmental Challenges brought about by IoT

With hundreds and thousands of IoT devices pouring into the market in the next few years, many IoT devices may end up becoming e- waste. Eventually, the next generation of IoT devices will be obsolete due to hardware upgrade. There was already 53 million metric tons of e-waste disposed worldwide in 2013.With the speed of IoT development, the number is expected to accelerate. The problem may not be obvious now, but we need to take that into consideration for a sustainable world development.

The second challenge is energy consumption. IoT networks require giant data centers to process and support their needs. As a result, the energy consumption by the data centers is massive. The resources needed to produce that energy will add a massive burden to the environment. Although big data centers are trying to use as little energy as possible, it’s still going to affect the energy sector as a whole. In addition, the energy and resources used to manufacture hundreds and thousands of new devices is another source of energy consumption caused by IoT.

For environment, IoT is a double sword bringing both benefits and challenges. People should be aware of the both sides so they can weigh the pros and cons thoroughly to benefit the most and sacrifice the least. For instance, the best approach to address the environmental impact is a design-for-the-environment approach. Taking environmental impact from the beginning to integrate it with IoT development as a system will be the best we can do for future generations.

As consumers, we are fully aware of the environmental impact of products we buy and sell on a daily basis, we make sure that we manage the product in a proper way to minimize the environmental impact. However, we can’t ignore the fact that IoT has been quite impactful to the modern world with its sole concept of combining computers, sensors, and networks to monitor and control, etc. IoT promises to usher in a revolutionary, fully interconnected “smart” world, with relationships between objects and their environment and objects and people becoming more tightly intertwined. The prospect of the Internet of Things as a widespread array of devices bound to the Internet might basically change how people think about what it means to be “online”.