Oct 16 2008
The future of how the world communicates, and how we power our lives, will likely come from the same source: nanotechnology. According to a just-released podcast and new publication from the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN), nanotechnology will be central to developing advanced, "faster, better, cheaper" electronics and "green" energy technologies.
In the latest installment of the podcast series Trips to the Nanofrontier, journalist Karen Schmidt interviews Caltech chemistry professor Dr. Jim Heath about how computers, healthcare applications and other devices will use nanotechnology to exchange and obtain information more effectively.
But to power these new applications, as well as every other modern human activity, experts from industry and government are searching for new technologies that will foster more efficient and less-polluting energy sources, according to the new PEN Nanofrontiers publication, Nanotechnology: Energizing the Future. From nanotech-enabled solar panels to long-lasting automobile batteries that contain nanoparticles, this emerging technology is a cornerstone of 21st Century energy sources.
"We see a future where vehicles run on electricity and are equipped with clever ways of making electricity on board, making us less dependent on gasoline. It's the next great paradigm shift in our industry, an opportunity largely due to the rapid advancement in battery cell technology" that result from nanotechnology, according to Bob Lutz, General Motors vice chairman of Global Product Development, who is quoted in the report.