| |OCTOBER 20229E-Bikes & E-Buses for Traveling Whether it is the GMC Hummer EV or Audi's RS e-Tron GT sports car, electric transportation is closer to reality today. Within India and abroad, electric buses are being inducted into the public as well as private transportation sectors. These vehicles are not just energy efficient (some of these can run for 10-15 hours after being charged for merely a couple of hours) but their impact on the environment is also minimal.Eco friendly Cement & Eco-friendly construction materialA few days back, on Jan 11, 2021, one of the biggest man-ufacturers of traditional Portland cement in the world, LafargeHolcim, agreed in principle to buy Firestone Build-ing Products company for $3.4 billion. FSBP specializes in manufacturing insulated, solar, and green roofs to prevent energy loss. This move indicates the shifting priorities of the manufacturing sector, which is looking for sustainable diversification for the future.The onset of COVID-19 and its aftermath in the past year has highlighted the urgency for sustainable solutions in every sphere. The World Health Organization was forced to state that "To meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets by 2030, countries need to safeguard the gains already attained and accelerate efforts to achieve af-fordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all".Though the UN clearly mentioned sustainable energy, visionaries among us are already looking for sustainabili-ty everywhere else. Consumers today are willing to spend extra bucks to buy or use products and services that have a lesser environmental footprint. Businesses are looking for solutions that place them among the environmentally woke minority, rather than in the majority, that is still un-aware of where we are headed.The cities of the world are either already facing or will be facing major challenges vis-à-vis the growing world population and dwindling public resources. With global warming and climate change a past reality now, solutions are fast needed to not just address the exacerbating effect of COVID-19, but also to ensure that the world is ready to meet any other such eventuality in the future. Therefore, eco friendly cement, e-Buses, and e-Bikes as well as solar en-ergy could hold the key to a sustainable future for everyone in the world.Experts have enlisted six megatrends that businesses and govts all over the world must keep an eye on ­ health, energy, urbanization, water & climate management, and glo-balization. Some of the more pressing environmental chal-lenges of our times could be addressed well in time if indus-tries related to these six megatrends pull up their socks in time and get down to infuse change. Experts have enlisted sixmegatrends that businesses andgovts all over the world mustkeep an eye on ­ health, energy,urbanization, water & climatemanagement, and globalization
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