Energy Efficiency - Can Nanotechnology Change the Equation?

Abstract: How can nanoscience be used to raise the energy efficiency of established industrial technologies and in residential housing By reviewing the literature concerning nanotechnology and the impact it may have on energy efficiency, it becomes quite clear that it will have a mayor impact in the future. Much of the impact will probably come in the form of enabling technologies that could be used to improve existing technologies that are already present today, such as heat-coatings for turbine blades or non sticking surfaces for boilers. Nanotechnology will not change the energy equation, but it will definitely make an impact on the economic and environmental nature of both renewable and non renewables energy sources. It will also be used to reduce their energy requirement for different applications, without suffering any loss of quality. This also applies for the use in residential housing, where passive isolation and smart windows could reduce the demand for energy substantially in many regions of the world. I believe that the future of energy efficiency and nanotechnology will go hand in hand, where nanotechnology will be driven by the demand from the energy efficiency sector. It will become a technology that reduces the electricity need for consumers, and yields more kilowatt hours per input to the producer. Energy efficiency by using nanotechnology will definitely define that the coming decades on the technological frontier, and will help us to make the transfer into a more long term sustainable energy economy without global warming or excessive harm to the environment as a subsequent side effect. Department