Can nanotechnology be good for climate? by ZDNet's Roland Piquepaille -- The UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has recently released a long report stating that nanotechnology might offer hope for climate change. This study has focused on 5 specific areas: fuel additives, solar cells, the hydrogen economy, batteries and insulation. The conclusion of this report is that nanotechnology could contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 per cent by 2050. The largest reduction would come from using hydrogen as a source of energy. Unfortunately, this might be very difficult and will take years.
Here are a few quotes about the five areas where nanotechnologies could be used to improve our environment.
Fuel additives: Nanoparticle additives have been shown to increase the fuel efficiency of diesel engines by approximately 5%. This could be implemented immediately across the UK diesel powered fleet.
Solar cells: The high prices of solar cells are inhibiting their installation into distributed power generation, reducing energy generation from renewables. Nanotechnology may deliver more benefits in significantly decreasing the cost of production of solar cells.
The hydrogen economy: Hydrogen powered vehicles could eliminate all noxious emissions from road transport, which would improve public health. [But] the technology is estimated to be 40 years away from universal deployment.
Batteries and supercapacitors: Recent advances in battery technology have made the range and power of electric vehicles more practical. Issues still surround the charge time. Nanotechnology may provide a remedy to this problem allowing electric vehicles to be recharged in less than ten minutes.
Insulation: Cavity and loft insulation are cheap and effective, however, there are no easy methods for insulating solid walled buildings. Nanotechnology may provide a solution which, if an effective insulation could be found with similar properties to standard cavity insulation.
Download the report here: Environmentally beneficial nanotechnologies
1 comment:
this is where i turn into the warren buffet of environmentalism and don't want to depend on anything i can't understand. invest yes, save the world? would be great, but let's not plan on it.
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