A recent report entitled "Nanotechnologies for Sustainable Energy: Reducing Carbon Emissions through Clean Technologies and Renewable Energy Sources" from researchandmarkets.com examines the impact of nanotechnology on the road to sustainability.
Its analysis of technologies both currently available and under development concludes that:
- The major near-term benefit of nanotechnologies will be in reducing weight in the transportation sector with nanocomposite materials quickly diffusing across the automotive and aerospace industries
- Over the next seven years, the highest growth opportunities will come from the application of nanomaterials to making better use of existing resources, rather than generating new forms of renewable energy.
- The highest growth rates will be in the development of renewable energy sources while the materials sector is already crowded.
- Current applications of nanotechnologies will result in a global annual saving of 8,000 tons of carbon dioxide in 2007, rising to over a million tons by 2014.
