Sustainability was one of the key topics at CES 2023. At the annual Consumers and Electronics Show organized by the Consumer Technology Association in Las Vegas, innovation, tech, and sustainability went together in an unprecedented way.
The motto of CES 2023 was “Innovation for human security.” Sustainability fits quite well in this topic. It will not just be a trend for this year, but something that will help shape the tech industry for many years to come. Among many interesting events to attend, we chose three CES 2023 sustainability panels to review.
#Sustainability is the buzzword on everyone’s lips. #CES2023 https://t.co/piEmtG2iXX
— Gary Shapiro (@GaryShapiro) January 8, 2023
The Era of Sustainable Consumer Electronics
This was actually the first panel at CES 2023 focused on consumer electronics and sustainability. The panelists were Jayshree Seth, Angela Baker, John Taylor, and Bob LeFort. Each of them talked about what steps their companies are making to become more sustainable.
Jayshree Seth a Corporate Scientist and leader of Applied Technology Development for the Industrial Adhesives and Tapes Division at 3M pushes her team to strive for sustainable innovation. Her motto is “the most sustainable product is the one that has not been invented just yet.”
John Taylor VP at LG Electronics spoke about electronic products during the panel. He pointed out that every new tech product should be sustainable. From the very beginning to the very end of their life cycle. His company, LG, is on a mission to make sure that happens for all its products.
Angela Baker, the Chief Sustainability Officer at Qualcomm talked about her company’s goal to achieve NetZero emissions. According to her, to reach that and help other companies do the same, developing a reliable 5G network will be crucial.
Bob LeFort, President at Infineon, one of the world‘s largest semiconductors producers, spoke about embedding sustainability into products. Sustainability is now part of every business. It is no longer a separate concept from the core business of a company.
Renewable Energy Renewable World
The second panel we attended was about renewable energy solutions. The panelists were Andrea Murphy, Anthony Vetro, Giovanni Fili, and Abo-Hamed Enass.
RELATED ARTICLES: Fireworks at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 as Tech Giants and Startups Compete | PikaBoost: Accessible Electric Bikes | ChatGPT Is Becoming As Smart As Humans | Levante Makes Foldable Solar Panels
One of the main topics of the panel was cooperation. This was quite interesting considering two of the panelist came from large tech companies and the other two were from tech startups. Climate change is however everyone’s problem and collaboration between large and small companies is one of the ways sustainable tech solutions could be implemented.
During the panel, Andrea Murphy, Director of Environmental Affairs and Sustainability at Panasonic’s North America spoke first. She talked about the issues related to the raw materials supply chain in North America. It is a serious problem that includes not just the extraction of raw materials. Finding people with the necessary skills to process them is quite a challenge too.
Anthony Vetro, VP & Director of Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs talked about cleantech solutions that have an impact on the environment. He gave a great example of heat pumps in the US state of Georgia. The most pollutant coal plants in the state could shut down if every Georgia home starts using a heat pump.
Abo-Hamed Enass is the co-founder-and-CEO-at-H2GO a company developing software and hardware hydrogen energy storage technologies. She pointed out that in the world‘s transition to clean energy and sustainability, hydrogen could play a major role. Unfortunately, only a small part of the hydrogen currently produced is actually “green”.
Giovanni Fiil the founder and CEO of Exeger a solar cells startup talked about his company from a different perspective. He mentioned some of the challenges he faced as an entrepreneur. One of those was how to communicate with potential customers what his company was working on. This seems to be a common issue for many technology companies nowadays.
Very cool @panasonic Green Impact showcase @CES featuring a ‘Green Impact House’ using the Perovskite Solar Cell for 1) Highly efficient energy conversion 2) Versatile battery sizes formed with inkjet-based coating! Scouting for @mccann_mw Tech Safari! #sustainability #innovation pic.twitter.com/V7I346VApS
— Charlie Leech (@c_leech) January 5, 2023
Driving Environmentally Sustainable Tech
The final panel from our review of CES 2023 hosted by Deloitte was about sustainability, tech, and the role of the CIO in a company. Panelists were Kim Stroh, CDIO, and Co-Founder at Persefoni; Todd Inlander senior vice president and chief information officer (CIO) for Southern California Edison (SCE); John Mennel, National Managing Director of Sustainability at Deloitte; Tim Smith a principal at Deloitte responsible to monitor Deloitte’s Technology Strategy & Business Transformation practice.
The panelists talked about how the CIO role is changing. CIOs now are part of the global effort of companies to reach net zero. During the panel, Tim and John Mennel from Deloitte explained how the process of becoming a net zero company is changing and how information is collected and shared could be crucial for a company looking to become a sustainability leader.
Todd Inlander spoke about how his company is taking these steps. It has two main purposes: on one side there is sustainability and on the other side the fight against climate change. Innovation in tech could help an energy company like SCE to become more sustainable by optimizing its processes and reducing emissions.
Persephone is a carbon emissions accounting tool. Kim explained how her platform helps companies keep track of their emissions and define strategies to mitigate or reduce them. Furthermore, she also mentioned some of the best practices to mitigate company emissions. One of them is actually speaking with suppliers and understanding carbon data from them.
Did you attend CES 2023 too? What interested you the most? Let us know here.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of Impakter.com. In the Featured Photo: CES 2023, Las Vegas. All Photos Credit: CES2023.
