Page 65 - The Fourth Industrial Revolution

entice people into consuming less electricity, thereby protecting the

environment while reducing costs.

Fourth, as the previous section detailed, new business and organizational
models promise innovative ways of creating and sharing value, which in
turn lead to whole system changes that can actively benefit the natural world
as much as our economies and societies. Self-driving vehicles, the sharing
economy and leasing models all result in significantly higher asset

utilization rates, as well as making it far easier to capture, reuse and
“upcycle” materials when the appropriate time comes.

The fourth industrial revolution will enable firms to extend the use-cycle of
assets and resources, increase their utilization and create cascades that
recover and repurpose materials and energy for further uses, lowering

emissions and resource loads in the process. In this revolutionary new
industrial system, carbon dioxide turns from a greenhouse pollutant into an
asset, and the economics of carbon capture and storage move from being
cost as well as pollution sinks to becoming profitable carbon-capture and
use-production facilities. Even more importantly, it will help companies,

governments and citizens become more aware of and engaged with
strategies to actively regenerate natural capital, allowing intelligent and
regenerative uses of natural capital to guide sustainable production and

consumption and give space for biodiversity to recover in threatened areas.

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