New Industrial Revolution

The New Industrial Revolution has more to do with rectifying or even undoing some of the damage that resulted from the last Industrial Revolution. Rather than a call for industrialization, expansion of mechanization, or a broadening of global markets, the New Industrial Revolution is characterized by merging traditionally contraditory disciplines: environmental sustainability and economic competitiveness.
History
Ushered in by industrial designer William McDonough, the New Industrial Revolution is viewed as a necessity in order to change the direction of the current industrial modality. The New Industrial Revolution will produce a world of abundance and good design - a delightful, safe world that our children can play in.
At the heart of the New Industrial Revolution is a quantum leap in the way that humans think of the products that we purchase and consume. The traditional "cradle to grave" product lifecycle must be changed to a system of "cradle to cradle" product flow. This alternative product flow can be characterized as "reuse": returning consumer products to the environment as biological nutrients, or to industry as technical nutrients that can be infinitely recycled.
Values
The values of the past Industrial Revolution centered around the creation of goods for consumption. The New Industrial Revolution espouses an entirely new value set that incorporates notions of cradle-to-cradle product lifecycles, a focus on services rather than consumable goods, a focus on the environment and the natural capital that it provides, and achieving a more prosperous future through collaboration and cooperation. In the latest Living Plant Report published by the World Wildlife Fund, the Zoological Society of London, and the Global Footprint Network, the Earth's natural resources are being depleted so quickly that the equivalent of two planets would be required to sustain current lifestyles by the mid-2030s. The fact that we are consuming our natural capital faster than it can be regenerated only heightens the urgency for a planetary shift — both in consciousness and values.
An analogy of the shift in values can be drawn from such governmental agencies as the Army Corps of Engineers and their activities of the past two hundred years — which largely focused on diverting water from natural water courses and consuming the water for human purposes only. The current policy of the Corps focuses more in decommissioning dams and enhancing wetlands, which are now seen as performing an irreplaceable and quantifiable environmental service — flood protection and water filtration.
The destruction that comes from war is now being recognized as wasteful, expensive, and an ill-conceived method for achieving peace in our world. Many environmental and peace activists are organizing against war and destruction, toward a more enlightened civilization that decries war as a means to peace. This "shift" is occurring worldwide, and is growing at an exponential rate. Additionally, many of the problems of the preceding Industrial Revolution were caused by environmental degradation from mining, deforestation, and pollution from other industries that sought raw materials from the environment with little or no thought of the environmental consequences. The New Industrial Revolution will focus more on bioremediation, eco-efficiency, and working with our natural capital in such a way as to not further denigrate the natural environment.
Eco-onomy
An eco-onomy is where prosperity comes out of the abundance of well managed biodiverse ecosystems rather than by destructive exploitation of the environment.
The current global economy weather or not on the verge of collapse seems to threaten us with runaway climate change. We are buying, using, consuming and destroying far more of the created beauty and “natural resources” of the Earth than we need to. Stern has recently admitted that the 1% GDP investment in green technologies recommended in his report was no where near enough to prevent far greater damage than he predicted from coming far sooner. It seems Global economic growth of the type recently enjoyed can not be harnessed to restore the environment in the short time we have remaining to make a difference. Green technologies that claim to reduce damage done to the environment are not the fix needed but drastically simpler living and measures to restore and enhance the planets ecosystems are.
The Carbon problem requires us to make choices we seem economically and politically unable to stomach. In time we may be forced economically to live slower simpler lives saving the environment from its more destructive populations.
May be the global economy is so broken that it can’t be mended, and is not reparable because it was fundamentally flawed. Was the flaw the assumption that an ever increasing desire for more can be met at ever decreasing cost, by ignoring the true cost of things to the environment and our emotional health?
Looking back there is just the one model for development, the global economic development that we know. Though it seems the only way, a different model for development may emerge, perhaps a restorative model for development that mends the damage done by the former kind. It will at its heart include the development of the planets ecosystems allowing mankind to live out of there abundant fruitfulness and biodiversity. We as a species will accept the role divinely given us as the caretakers of the Earth through necessity as well as renewed wisdom. We will learn to discern the folly of choosing changes to supposedly green products rather than accepting simpler lives. We will find our needs met through responsible attention to a beautiful environment rather than shallow consumerism.
Biomimicry
Biomimicry refers to the mimicry of natural systems of production and recycle that are found in nature. Translated to a dynamic system, biomimicry does the following:
# Considers waste as a resource
# Diversifies and cooperates to fully use the habitat
# Gathers and uses energy efficiently
# Optimizes rather than maximizes
# Uses materials sparingly
# Doesn't foul our nest
# Doesn't draw down resources
# Remains in balance with biosphere
# Runs on information
# Shops locally
Green chemistry
The New Industrial Revolution will be incorporating ideas from nature to mimic the ideas and innovations found there. One example where this has been done is with a product called Lotusan. This product mimics the lotus flower leaf's ability to repel dirt and water on its surface and can be applied to buildings for that purpose. Another example of harnessing nature's powers to remedy modern problems is the use of a fungus to remove sulfur from oil.
Alternative Energy
From the well-known to the more exotic, alternative energy will continue to take the place of traditional fossil fuels during the next century. This change is needed not only to curb global emissions of greenhouse gases, but also due to the reality that fossil fuels are a finite, non-renewable resources.
According to one of the world's top economicts, Nicholas Stern, former head of the World Bank, "now is precicely the moment to make the change" to a low-carbon economy. Stern believes that the shift from an economy based on fossil fuels to one based on low-carbon technologies has the potential to fuel economic growth that will be sustainable in the long-term.
Some of the obvious alternative energy sources are: solar power, wind power, and tidal power. Proponents of natural gas often consider it an alternative energy source, but most environmentalists see it as just another form of fossil fuel that will increase greenhoue gas emissions.
Other sources of alternative energy may come from geothermal power, and biofuels from corn, rapeseed, biomass, and algae.
Transportation
Urgency and crises often breed innovation. The impending "peak oil" crisis and climate change are spurring quantum leaps in thinking about transportation. One such idea, the Twike, was developed in Germany as a zero-emissions vehicle.
Architecture
Examples of architectural innovations that are occurring during the New Industrial Revolution are earthships, buildings using green building materials, skyscrapers with garden rooftops for natural cooling, and a general departure from present-day architecture. To be distinguished from "modern" architecture with energy-intensive heating and cooling systems, during the New Industrial Revolution society will witness a complete paradigm shift in building technologies. Utilizing the heating and cooling properties of the sun and the earth, new buildings will be not only more energy efficient, but will have improved indoor air quality and will incorporate natural elements. Architect William McDonough and his team helped put these ideas into motion in Chicago with the installation of a garden roof on City Hall. Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley foresees a whole city covered with green roofs that will not only keep the city cool but will also produce solar energy, grow food, and provide sanctuary to birds and people.
Earthships
Earthships are earth-sheltered buildings made of tires rammed with earth. Windows on the sunny side admit light and heat. The open end of the "U" shaped structure faces South in the northern hemisphere, and North in the southern hemisphere, so that the house will catch maximum sunlight in the colder months. An Earthship is designed to interface with its environment wherever possible and create its own utilities. Internal, non-load-bearing walls are often made of a "honey comb" of recycled cans separated by concrete. The walls are then usually thickly plastered, using the pull-tabs on the cans as a lath to hold the adobe and stucco. This is known as a tin can wall. The roof of an Earthship is heavily insulated.
Permaculture
While the first Industrial Revolution may be characterized by advents in agriculture, such as large-scale monoculture and other such "advances", the New Industrial Revolution represents a departure from the paradigm of large, industrial agriculture where goods are shipped long distances and are treated solely as commodities. Permaculture is essentially "permanent agriculture".
Examples
One example of the New Industrial Revolution is a German corporation that manufactures a paint that mimics the surface of a lotus leaf, allowing buildings coated with it to stay cleaner longer, and resist mold and mildew. Aviation experts are using biomimicry in their examination of the small bumps on the flippers of humpback whales, which allow the animals to glide through the water with less drag, and are trying to build them into airplane wings in order to allow for faster and more fuel-efficient flights.
Masdar City, United Arab Emirates
Hailed as one of the most bold steps toward creating the first truly carbon-free city in the world, the planned Masdar City seeks to make a "landscape productive as well as the city a net positive presence for people and nature."

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