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Maybe Charles Babbage was onto something...Computers have become so integrated into our lives that it's sometimes easy to forget how much energy is required to keep them going. Silicon chips use a lot of power and Nanowerk has a great article today on the consequences of that energy use:...about 200 billion kWh of electricity a year used by computers.... That means that generating the electricity for using 1 billion computers will release some 128 million tonnes of CO2 (280 billion pounds) into the air.
Maybe we can find the way forward by looking backwards. Dr. Robert Blick at the University of Wisconsin is developing nanomechanical computational devices -- chips that sacrifice a degree of speed but in return are vastly superior to silicon in terms of energy consumption and robustness. Soft Machines adds to the discussion and distinguishes Dr. Blick's work from Eric Drexler's rod logic.
Two interesting recent posts from the Nanotechnology Development Blog. First, they mention how nanotechnology is being used to develop "green" packaging. By adding nanoparticles to the bioplastic Plolylactic acid (PLA), bags made from it become stronger while still maintaining their transparency. The great thing about PLA bags is that they are made from corn, biodegradable and require less energy to create than conventional plastic bags. A few fewer plastic bags in the world might not seem like a big deal -- but it is.The other post that I thought was interesting was about the increasing demand for Electron Microscopes. Apparently the spiraling decent of semiconductors to the nano-scale is making Electron Microscopes essential for product inspection. This should really have been an easy trend to predict. Here's a prediction of my own -- a lot of money is going to be made by companies that take the adoption of nanotechnology as a given, and position themselves to provide goods or services that make that adoption easier.
Speaking of using nanotech to benefit the environment, Nanowerk has a very good summary of some of the many ways that nanotechnology looks to be able to reduce greenhouse gases.Global Warming is something we've been hearing about for a long time. It's only been comparatively recently that visible, serious consequences are starting to hit home. One of the least discussed but most serious consequences of a warming climate is the expansion of pests into new territories. In BC that means the Mountain Pine Beetle. Thanks to a series of warm winters that caused the population of the Pine Beetle to explode, vast stretches of forests in British Columbia have turned rust red and died.Unfortunately nanotechnology doesn't offer any easy solutions to the Pine Beetle problem. Pine Beetle damaged wood can be sold, but at reduced prices and this is hitting the forest industry hard. Nanotechnology cant protect the trees themselves, but it might be able to protect the economies that rely on forestry by enabling the creation of new high value products from damaged timber.Nanocrystalline Cellulose is a product of plants derived through nanotechnology. As is so often the case when dealing with nanotech, nanocrystalline cellulose has properties that are quite different from its macro-scale counterpart, including "extraordinary catalytic, electrical and optical properties." Nanocrystalline Cellulose is an example of how nanotechnology is allowing us to look at the resources we depend on and see them in a new way. By examining materials at the nano-scale we sometimes find uses and capabilities that nobody dreamed were there.
Hydrogen fuel cells seem to be one of those technologies that's perpetually just about to change the world. It's such a simple idea -- hydrogen + oxygen = energy, with no waste product more harmful than water. Of course fuel cells aren't primary power sources, but with every car on the street running off of them, it would sure be a lot easer to breath deeply in the middle of rush-hour.Unfortunately there are a few serious stumbling blocks to producing viable hydrogen fuel cells. One problem is the necessity of platinum as a catalyst. Another is the heat of the reaction -- up to 1,800 degrees Celsius and enough to burn out the cell's materials in short order.Now it looks like there might be a solution at hand to the heat problem and it comes, not surprisingly, from nanotechnology. Researchers at UC Davis have been able to create nano-scale cubic zirconia. As with so many materials, the properties of cubic zirconia are different at the nano-level than they are at the macro -- being much more conductive to electricity. This translates into cooler temperatures for fuel cells; perhaps as low as 50 degrees Celsius.BC has a lot going on with regards to fuel cells -- Ballard and the NRC-IFCI in particular. It'll be interesting to see how this development impacts their work.
Nanotech gets its incredible potential from the unusual properties that materials sometimes exhibit at the nano-scale. That potential is a double-edged sword however -- we don't know very much about the toxicity of most nano-particles or how they interact with natural environments. This should, and is being studied.At the same time nanotechnology promises new technologies that have the potential to address some of our most serious environmental problems. Nanowerk brings up a further use for nanotechnology -- to substitute for dangerous chemicals that are in use now.The key to nanotechnology is that it allows us, to an extent, to rationally design our materials. This isn't a simple process but it holds the promise of allowing us to create new substances that can meet our needs without the often very serious drawbacks of conventional chemicals.
In elementary school most of us had a class called Science. Later on that was broken up into physics, chemistry and biology -- and generally science has been broken up ever since.Nanotechnology poses a challenge to those traditional clear-cut divisions. At the nanometer scale physics, chemistry and biology are inescapably intertwined -- resulting in developments that are difficult to classify.Case in point: Nanowerk has a great article on "green" nanotechnology; using plants to fabricate inorganic nanomaterials. Nanotechnology is vividly demonstrating how the divisions we use to organize science are not necessarily natural divisions at all, but artifacts of our own thinking.
Over the next few years, whether we know it or not, we will begin using and living with products that depend on the sometimes uncanny properties that can come from nanotech. On the verge of any change that promises to saturate our lives so completely, there's an obligation to ask a simple question: What can go wrong?
Part of the mandate of Nanotech BC is to encourage discussion about NE3LS -- Nanotechnology, Environment, Ethics, Economics, Legal and Safety issues. We need to find ways to enjoy the rewards of nanotechnology without making mistakes that harm health or the environment.
As nanotechnology moves into the marketplace, the roll of watchdog will increasingly be taken up by business and consumer groups. Consumer Report is already doing that, looking at nanoparticles in sunscreen. Nanowerk contributes to the analysis, looking at how or if nanoparticles might be a danger.
Criticism and analysis is a sign of success. The fact that consumer publications are aware of nanotechnology speaks to the growing acceptance of nanotech. Thorough study of any new material is essential, but laboratory testing is only one part of the equation -- consumers need to be informed. Everybody has a stake in the development of safe nanotech, and everybody should have a voice.
