Why adopting new green technologies is not always easy

Imagine that we give you three cucumbers.

One is grown in a field, roots in soil, continuously fertilized and watered. Another is grown suspended in air with naked roots, receiving nutrients and water from regular sprays. A third is grown with its roots direct in water that is also used as a fish farm. The fish excrements provide fertilizer for the cucumber plant.

Which one of these three cucumbers do you think is the most climate friendly?

You have probably figured out that this a trick question: That the first cucumber is the least climate friendly, and the two others are more climate friendly because they use much less water, space, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.

The climate friendly cucumber that didn’t catch on

Why do we still grow cucumbers and other crops in fields that take up space and need a lot of water and fertilizer – not to mention pesticides? Why have we not shifted to more climate friendly ways of producing our food? We could grow our cucumbers away from fields in so-called vertical farms, taking up space vertically instead of horizontally (fish underneath are optional), but there are almost no vertical farms in the world.

The cucumber mystery is a matter of concern for researchers like SDU’s Kerstin Fischer, who is a Professor at the Department of Media, Design, Education and Cognition, the Faculty of Humanities. One of her research areas is motivations for, and barriers to, our adopting new, green technologies.

- This case, the slow adoption of vertical farming despite all its benefits, illustrates how difficult it can be for us to embrace new, green technologies. We have the technology for it, but we don’t use it. Why is that she asks.

Difficult to replace something that works fine

There are many reasons, she says – and also a number of solutions. But first the barriers:

One is that people hesitate to accept new technologies in general, climate friendly or not.

- People don’t readily change their habits. Yes, a few of us are adventurous, but the majority will not adopt unless they perceive clear benefits (e.g., financial or health benefits).

Another is that new green technology often aims to replace something, that we already have, something that already works for us.

- So, if I ask you to switch to another technology, you may get the impression that I am telling you that you are currently doing things wrong. Nobody likes to be wrong, so that is also a factor, says Kerstin Fischer.

Powerful stakeholders may not be interested in us switching to new, green technology

A  third factor is that the advantages of switching may be elusive, fluffy and not related to us.

- The whole point of switching to new, green technology is to mitigate climate changes. But droughts and floods in other parts of the world may not be a concern for you as an individual consumer, as you are probably already tied up with your own problems. All these barriers must be addressed, she says.

On top of these obstacles, there are also structural barriers, not easily overcome by individual consumers:

- There are stakeholders who might not be interested in us switching to new and greener technologies. In the example of moving our vegetable farming from open fields to vertical farms, the need for pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer will drop significantly, and that is not in the interest of the big companies producing those. So, it will be reasonable to expect that such stakeholders will not support a transition to vertical farming. They may even have a motive to lobby against it. The same goes for other stakeholders who would be facing losses in case we would change to the new technology.

Reframing can be a powerful tool

Lobbying mechanisms, legislation and bureaucracy are important factors when it comes to adopting new, greener technology – but we must not overlook the power of how consumers respond to the new green technology.

- In the cucumber case, I would suspect that people are skeptical of cucumbers that are not grown in a field. That they expect field grown vegetables to be healthier and more natural than vertically farmed without soil. But that may not be the case; vertically grown vegetables can be just as healthy,  tasty and nutritious - even healthier because there is no need for pesticides, says Kerstin Fischer.

This is where reframing comes in as a tool.

- Reframing is about looking at the same thing from a different perspective. It can be a helpful tool for “selling” climate friendly products, which have not caught on, to consumers, she says.

Nobody really gets organic solar cells

Take so-called organic solar cells, she suggests as an example. Thanks to new technology, these solar cells are small, cheap and bendable so that we can put them anywhere, even indoors or on windows, they can be built into facades, garden furniture or put in the living room.

- But still, they are hardly known. Why is that? Maybe part of the reason is that we call them organic solar cells. But thinking of them as cells is misleading; they are made of flexible materials so that you can wrap them around almost anything. Giving them a new name, for example, light harvesting stickers or foils and campaign for all the different places they can be applied could make both consumers and product developers more interested. That would be reframing.

Also vertically farmed vegetables can be reframed if the consumers are sceptic:

- You could focus on them being clean and pure products because they can grow out of the soil, with no artificial fertilizer and no pesticides.

We all have different motives for switching

We all have different motives for switching to new and greener technology. Some feel a moral responsibility, some are interested in saving money, some in how easy or complicated it is, some in the labor ethics behind the new technology, some in how healthy the product is etc.

New,  green technologies have the disadvantage that they come to replace something that is already there and already works, so “selling” them can be up-hill, says Kerstin Fischer and concludes:

- We must be aware that they have to appeal to a whole different set of consumer motivations. This is a huge challenge.

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