What if the biggest obstacle to a sustainable IoT isn’t the devices, but how we power them?
New data reveals a startling environmental blind spot.
The promise of IoT is extraordinary: smarter homes and cities, efficient industries, leading to a potentially significant reduction in global waste and energy consumption.
At Lightricity, we see this potential every day. However, this promise rests on a fragile, unsustainable foundation the single-use battery.
50 billion IoT devices are forecast by 2030. Most are built to last over 10 years, yet their batteries last just 1-2 years. This isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s an environmental time bomb.
Your Power Source is one of the Biggest Polluters
We commissioned an independent Life Cycle Assessment to uncover the truth. The results were unequivocal.
For a device powered by AAA batteries over its full 25-year lifespan, the batteries themselves were responsible for 51% of its total carbon footprint. The device’s own manufacture accounted for less.
Let that sink in. The biggest part of your sensor’s environmental impact isn’t the device it’s the constant cycle of replacing its power source.
A LOOMING WASTE CRISIS OF UNSEEN PROPORTIONS
The problem extends beyond CO2. The world is facing a tidal wave of battery waste.
- EU research warns that by 2025, up to 78 million batteries from IoT devices will be discarded every single day.
- Despite recycling efforts, Eurostat data shows nearly half of all batteries still end up in landfill.
This is the IoT sustainability paradox: Deploying smart technology to save the planet, while its power source actively works against that goal. There is an alternative, the use of Energy Harvesting.
Here at Lightricity we use patented Light energy harvesters and sophisticated low power electronics to generate and deliver the power required to reliably operate a range of IoT sensors.
BUT WHAT IF THERE WAS A WAY TO ELIMINATE THIS PROBLEM ENTIRELY?
In our next article, we will reveal the results of the same study for a battery-free alternative. The data doesn’t just show an improvement; it shows a near-total elimination of the problem.
The first step is understanding the challenge. Discover the full data in our whitepaper, “Powering sustainable IoT”.
