Page 29 - Environmental Nanotechnology Applications and Impacts of Nanomaterials

Chapter
2

Nanotechnology and

Our Energy Challenge

Wade Adams Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and
Technology, Rice University
Amy Myers Jaffe James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy,
Rice University

Oil was, unquestionably, the basis for prosperity for the United States
and the planet in the last half of the past century. But continuing on an
st
oil-based path into the 21 century is not a sustainable path for human-
ity. As the late Nobel laureate Richard E. Smalley points out, “It is very
clear to many of us, including leading scientists and policy makers, that
if oil remains the basis for prosperity for the world throughout this
century, it cannot be a very prosperous or happy century.”
Among the most important technical challenges facing the world in
st
the 21 century will be sustainable energy supply. Lack of access by
the poor to modern energy services constitutes one of the most criti-
cal links in the poverty cycle in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Despite
great advances in oil and gas drilling techniques and progress in
renewable fuels, more than a quarter of the world’s population has no
access to electricity today, and two-fifths are forced to rely mainly on
traditional biomass—firewood and animal waste—for their basic cook-
ing and heating needs. Indoor air pollution from this traditional energy
source is responsible for the premature death of over 2 million women
and children a year worldwide from respiratory infections, according
to the World Health Organization. Without a major technological
breakthrough, well over 1 billion people will still be without modern
electricity in 2030, according to calculations by the International
Energy Agency.

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