NRC “Kurchatov Institute” President Mikhail Kovalchuk spoke about the strategic importance of nature-like technologies as the foundation of the new industrial revolution during a speech at the GMIS 2019 on 9 July.
Kovalchuk noted that “a way to consume resources was obtained after the invention of the steam engine.” The globalization process that has taken hold has led to “overconsumption” and has activated “a machine for the destruction of natural resources,” which will not last forever. For example, experts say that over the past 50 years the world’s population has consumed more oxygen than in the previous millennia.
The introduction of fundamentally new nature-like technologies that do not cause damage to the outside world offers a real solution to the problem of resource conservation, Kovalchuk said. “On the one hand, by copying nature, nature-like technologies offer unlimited prospects to mankind in terms of the quality of life and improved health and longevity. On the other hand, though, they allow for interfering in human activity,” he said. In order to minimize these challenges, international norms need to be drafted to develop new technologies, he said.
Developing nature-like technologies is one of the key focuses of the work of the NRC “Kurchatov Institute.” Kovalchuk said the creation of fundamentally new technologies and systems that reproduce the principles of living nature will enable humanity to transition to more economical and safe principles of natural resource consumption.
