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Nanotechnology: Enabling Alternative Energy Programs to be Efficient and Cost Effective
By David Walker and Mark Daugherty, Ph.D.
Worldwide, the energy industry faces constant challenges. The price of oil has been above $140 dollars a barrel and even many diehard supporters of the industry concede that there is only so much oil left. In addition, the price of coal has nearly doubled in just the last year alone. This is not unduly surprising given that a significant fraction, sometimes more than half of the cost of coal is for transportation on diesel powered trains.
To address these issues, there has been a huge surge of interest related to sustainable energy solutions. Despite the promising potential of many renewable fuels, there are three issues that generally arise: cost, cost and (you guessed it) cost. The newness of many alternative energy technologies prohibits such technologies from reducing costs to the same extent many fossil fuel technologies traditionally have. In addition, fossil fuels follow the razor blade marketing pattern; that is, the upfront equipment is relatively inexpensive, but once they buy, the customers are locked in to buying fuel for the next 30 years.
Most renewable energy systems have to be paid for upfront – then, they will produce power for the next 20 to 40 years without any fuel expenditures. Even if the overall costs are significantly lower for a renewable energy project, you still have to deal with the upfront cash flow problem.
Enter nanotechnology. Not surprisingly, the performance of renewable energy systems such as solar cells, biomass chemical reactions, wind turbine gear trains, capacitors and batteries critically depends on the performance of their component materials. Recent research suggests that we are truly developing the ability to control material architectures, including structure, pore size and material composition, down to nanoscale dimensions. This ability opens possibilities for the development of new material architectures that can simultaneously optimize critical performance parameters in ways that were previously unobtainable.
Short Term
Wind and solar renewable energy technologies are intermittent–their output is dependent on the weather. Their value can be significantly enhanced if cost effective ways of storing renewable energy can be developed.
Ultracapacitors offer one possible route for the storage of renewable energy where nanotechnology is already making a difference. Traditional ultracapacitor electrodes are made using high surface area carbon materials. High surface area is necessary to achieve high values of capacitance, but in the process of "roughing up" the carbon service, its electrical conductivity drops. This makes it necessary to often use a metal foil as a backing material for that carbon electrode. In addition, the high surface area carbon is an expensive material to produce.
Nanotechnology opens up a new possibility. By using chemical techniques, we can inexpensively prepare solutions of nanoparticles with very well-defined particle sizes and particle size distributions. These nanoparticles can then be applied to carbon electrode materials for use in ultracapacitors, eliminating the need to further modify the carbon itself. This means the unit will cost less and will have higher electrical conductivity.
Another significant use of nanotechnology is in battery technology. Again, nanocomposite materials greatly increase the surface area at which chemical reactions occur in a battery, thus enabling a large increase in the battery's power output while potentially reducing its size. The idea of creating nanostructures to increase the surface area of a battery electrode is also compelling.
Long Term
Looking years down the road, nanotechnology has the potential to be a significant force in the development of a truly sustainable society, enabling power to be harnessed from renewable sources and stored until it is needed. The advances in nanotechnology anticipated in the coming years will allow developers to tailor the performance of a wide range of materials for renewable energy systems, thus providing the technical backbone for the implementation of a wide range of environmentally friendly energy solutions.
As we face the daunting task of implementing viable, widespread renewable energy sources and tackling the myriad of challenges that come with developing an efficient, reliable sustainable energy program, technological advancements will play a critical role. Aided by nanotechnology, the overall weight, size, cost and efficiency of new power sources like solar, wind, biomass and other renewables will be optimized to allow them to function effectively. This will also ensure that the alternative energy systems already being developed remain affordable so they can be broadly implemented.
David Walker and Dr. Mark Daugherty are executives at Enable IPC Corporation. Though not limited to nanotechnology or the energy industries, Enable IPC's growing portfolio currently includes the exclusive rights to two notable energy technologies. More information on Enable IPC can be found at www.enableipc.com.
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