While there are few who would argue against the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the living standards of the poorest nations, many of these altruistic ideas crumble when individuals or countries are faced with the possibility of having to pay extra to be environmentally friendly.
According to Greenpeace, currently 2 billion people - one-third of the planet - have no access to electricity for basic needs, such as lighting and cooking. Oil, coal and gas cannot meet the needs of the world's poorest, but 'positive' or renewable energy potentially can.
Now before you start asking what this has got to do with nanotechnology, let us consider a recent talk at the CANEUS (Canada-Europe-US-Japan Workshop on micronanotechnology for aerospace applications) conference by Nobel prizewinner Richard Smalley. Smalley believes that many of the world's problems can be alleviated by addressing the problem of energy. Take water as an example. Our planet has plenty of water, it's just that most of it seawater and therefore undrinkable. Well, that's not really a problem, because we know all about desalination. So why can't we irrigate drought-stricken areas with desalinated water? Simply because we don't have the energy to be able to treat and transport the water to where it is needed. Solve the energy problem and you solve many other problems.
But the argument goes much further than that. What if, as a business, you could become more environmentally friendly and more profitable? Normally only token measures are taken by companies to clean up their production processes. After all, what do the world's stock markets care for the future of the planet? The current refusal of the US to reduce carbon emissions on the grounds that it would hurt the competitiveness of its industry illustrates the point perfectly.
Here comes the nanotechnology. In previous weeks and in some of our recent reports we have discussed how nanocatalysis is beginning to shift usage from dirty to cleaner fuels in China. In the Nanotechnology Opportunity Report we discussed how improved battery or fuel-cell technologies coupled with coatings and nanocrystalline materials can increase the efficiency of solar cells while lowering their cost. Since then there have been developments in nanoscale structures that might offer high efficiency, low-cost solar cells a few years down the road. The weight of nanocomposite materials are about to be reduced, and therefore fuel consumption in the aerospace industry will also go down. All of these are our first steps down the path to sustainable development. These changes are happening not because anyone wants to save the planet, but because people can make more money.
Like any new technology, nanotechnology offers us the possibility of constructive and destructive uses of our new-found understanding of the world. Unlike any previous technology, it does offer a multitude of pathways that allow the aims of environmental groups and large corporations to converge. Whether in science or business, it is our duty to make the best possible use of the technologies being discovered, for both our bank balances and the future of our planet.