DIRECTIONS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES

Over the long term, Green Evolution will occur because sociotechnical systems advance a few percent per year along environmentally desirable directions or trajectories. Burning carbon and heavy use of materials create many environmental concerns. Thus, critical directions include decarbonization and dematerialization. Decarbonization, which is well established, is the decline in tons of carbon used to generate a part icular amount of energy. Dematerialization is the decline in the inten sity of materials used to produce particular economic goods. Together, decarbonization and dematerialization can key a superior industry eco logy, an economically more efficient and environmentally less harmful network of industrial processes. Annual corporate environmental audits might move the system more rapidly and steadily in the favored direct ions.