Energy

Energy and Nanotechnology

The world has been confronted with a number of challenges that have become apparent as we grow increasingly aware of environmental issues.

The problem of resource scarcity, which manifests itself in the “Hubbert's Peak” arguments advanced by Marion King Hubbert, that apply to fossil fuels, uranium, and other materials that are in finite supply means that if we are to meet the needs of a growing population on Earth, we must develop radically new ways of using materials that makes most efficient use of them—not only in the materials consumed to produce energy, but also in the fundamental way that we use materials to fabricate products and energy technologies.

There is also a solid consensus in the scientific community that climate change is anthropogenic, and as such, mankind's activities on Earth contribute directly to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions, and their effect on global climate. Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, largely come in one way or another as a result of technologies that transform energy from one form to another—delivering useful work in the process. We have come to accept the amenity that energy transforming technologies deliver in our everyday life—however, we are quickly coming to terms with the fact that the environmental impact these technologies produce is not acceptable in the context of a growing population with ever increasing expectations. Therefore we must look at new ways of delivering the amenity that technology can deliver, and using different new and innovative methods that are more efficient in their usage of materials and energy over their entire lifecycle; and at the end of that lifecycle can be regenerated into new products.

There is also the need to look toward exploiting natural, abundant energy flows—and to this end, nanotechnology can help as an enabling technology that makes possible the extraction of ambient energy. Nanomaterials and technologies are such a new branch of materials science, we are unaware of any deleterious effects [Page 192]nanomaterials could have on the environment, and until we have the chance to evaluate their effect on human health we are unaware as to whether these technologies will present society with new challenges; therefore, we should be cognizant of potential risks and proceed with caution as we enthusiastically adopt new innovations.

A common goal for many nanotechnology innovations is to do the job of a traditional energy technology, but in a way that is more efficient, or requires less material for fabrication. Through materials savings and energy in use savings, there is the potential for nanotechnology to make significant environmental improvements in some domains.

Nanofabrication

Nanofabrication refers to the construction of components and whole devices on the nanoscale. Many traditional energy technologies rely on interactions at the macroscale, however, materials behave differently on the nanoscale; and these different properties can enable many innovations that would not be possible using traditional methods of construction. In the following sections, new energy technologies are discussed and evaluated which are made possible through the use of nanotechnologies.

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