Self-pollinating crops, on-demand drug manufacturing, sensor diagnostics and 3D-printed homes are among the technologies on the list.
Many countries have pledged to set new, ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions this decade. Meeting these promises will depend on the development and scaling of green technologies.
Two such technologies—green ammonia production and engineered crops that produce their own fertilizer—both aimed at making agriculture more sustainable, made this year's list of emerging technologies.
From breath sensors that can diagnose disease to wireless charging for low-power devices, this year's list of top emerging technologies is full of inspiring advances related to the environment, health and infrastructure solutions. Experts narrowed the nominations down to a select group of emerging innovations that could disrupt the status quo and drive real progress.
Here are the 10 best emerging technologies of 2021:
Advancing decarbonization
A century after scientists proposed that excess carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere would trap heat and cause the planet to warm, global efforts are underway to decarbonize every aspect of daily life. Governments and industry have made firm commitments to reduce carbon emissions.
Fulfilling these commitments over the next three to five years will require unprecedented innovation and the scaling up to industrial levels of emerging technologies such as: mass energy storage, low-carbon or carbon-free chemical sources, revamped rail transport, low-carbon agriculture, zero carbon emissions from vehicle exhaust and energy sources, and coordinated monitoring of compliance on a global scale.
Crops that produce their own fertilizer
More than 110 million tons of nitrogen fertilizer are used worldwide each year to increase crop yields. What if crops could capture nitrogen on their own, “fixing” it in the form of ammonia, as legumes such as soybeans and beans do? As one of the emerging technologies, researchers are now trying to persuade other crops, such as corn and other grains, to fertilize themselves, too.
In one approach, researchers are working to mimic the symbiotic molecular relationship between legumes and bacteria to create root nodules—natural fertilizer factories for legumes. In another, soil bacteria that usually colonize the roots of cereal crops (but typically do not form nodules) are being taught to produce nitrogenase, the key component that converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia that plants can use.
Diagnosing disease with breath
Soon, testing for disease could be as simple for patients as breathing out. New breath sensors can diagnose diseases by measuring the concentrations of more than 800 compounds found in human breath. For example, an elevated amount of acetone in a person's breath indicates diabetes. The sensors track changes in electrical resistance as breath mixtures pass over a metal oxide semiconductor. Algorithms then analyze the sensor data.
Although this emerging technology needs refinement before it becomes widespread, in a study conducted in Wuhan, China, in March 2020, the sensors achieved a remarkable 95% accuracy in detecting COVID-19 and 100% sensitivity in differentiating patients.
Custom drug manufacturing
Today, drugs are generally produced in large batches through a multi-step process, with different parts spread around the world. Completing the process using hundreds of tons of material can take months, creating challenges for ensuring consistency and reliable supply. Advances in microfluidics and on-demand drug manufacturing now make it possible to produce small, but growing, quantities of common pharmaceuticals as needed.
Also called continuous manufacturing, this process moves ingredients through tubes into small reaction chambers. Drugs can be made in portable machines in remote locations or field hospitals, with doses tailored to individual patients. Reducing the high cost of this emerging technology remains a challenge.
Energy from wireless signals
The Internet of Things (IoT) consists of billions of electronic devices that use Internet connectivity for some aspects of their functionality. IoT sensors, often extremely low-power devices that report data relevant to our daily lives, need a constant charge because battery life is limited; once deployed in the field, physical contact is often impossible.
With the advent of 5G now providing wireless signals with sufficient power, a tiny antenna in IoT sensors can “harvest” energy from those signals. A precursor to this emerging technology has long been used in automated “tags” powered by radio signals emitted as drivers pass through toll booths.
Fighting aging
According to the World Health Organization, the percentage of the global population aged 60 years and older will nearly double, from 12 to 22 percent, between 2015 and 2050. Aging is associated with both acute and chronic diseases, such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, dementia and heart disease.
Researchers have demonstrated an early understanding of the molecular mechanisms of aging that could help us live not only longer but healthier lives. Using omics technologies (which can, for example, quantify the activity of all genes or the concentration of all proteins in a cell at once) and insights from epigenetics, researchers can identify biological markers that reliably predict disease, providing targets for proactive treatments.
Ammonia goes green
To feed the world, plants often need fertilizers made from ammonia—and lots of it. Synthesizing ammonia for fertilizer involves an energy-intensive method called the Haber-Bosch process, which requires large amounts of hydrogen. Today, most hydrogen is produced by electrolysis, splitting water molecules using electricity, or by high-temperature cracking of hydrocarbons. The energy needed to run both methods currently results in huge greenhouse gas emissions.
As renewable energy sources become more widespread, a “green” version of hydrogen that produces no greenhouse gas emissions is emerging. In addition to eliminating excess atmospheric carbon, green hydrogen contains none of the polluting chemicals that would otherwise be introduced by using fossil fuels as a source. This purity allows more efficient catalysis to drive ammonia production.
Wireless devices for biomarkers
Nobody likes needles. Yet many common acute and chronic conditions require frequent large and small blood draws to monitor biomarkers important for tracking progress in the treatment of cancer, diabetes and other conditions. Advances in low-power wireless communication, along with new chemical sensing methods using both optical and electronic sensors, make continuous, non-invasive monitoring of important medical information possible.
More than 100 companies are developing wireless devices for detecting biomarkers across a wide range of applications, with a particular focus on diabetes given its global prevalence. Wireless connectivity adds the ability to access data instantly, when needed, for intervention by a remote healthcare worker.
Homes 3D-printed from local materials
Building homes with large-scale 3D printers is already seeing limited adoption in the U.S. and other developed countries. In the developing world, where limited infrastructure makes it difficult to deliver materials, recent demonstrations using 3D printers have taken a step forward by using locally produced materials—clay, sand and local fibers—to print structures, eliminating roughly 95% of the materials that need to be transported to the construction site.
This emerging technology could provide reliable shelter in remote regions where housing is urgently needed and viable transport networks are absent. The result could be a game changer for nations that otherwise often get left behind.
Space connects the globe
Sensors in the Internet of Things (IoT) can record and report important information about weather, soil conditions, moisture levels, crop health, social activity and countless other valuable datasets. With the recent arrival of countless low-cost microsatellites in low Earth orbit, capable of collecting such data worldwide and uploading it to central facilities for processing, IoT will provide an unprecedented level of global insight, reaching previously inaccessible developing regions without traditional Internet infrastructure.
Challenges such as secure, low-power data transmission channels and the problem of short-lived satellites in low Earth orbit remain, but steady progress promises global deployment in the next three to five years.
