Economic Implications of Alternate Energy Sources
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Researchers of nanotechnology—specifically in materials science—will play a key role in developing new ways of producing, storing, and using new energy sources, including hydrogen fuel and solar energy. In 2004, the Energy Information Administration estimated that 38% of the world depended on oil-based energy and about 26% on coal-based energy. In the US, about 86% of consumed energy is from fossil fuels. In the US news media, much attention is given to the links between ‘rising fuel prices’ and contributing factors such as political conflicts in the Middle East and natural disasters in the oil-producing regions of the Gulf of Mexico. Less direct links are also made to factors such as labor strikes and decisions by nations, such as Venezuela, to export less to the US and more to China and India. Tapping into new energy sources through the development of solar and hydrogen fuel cells may have positive consequences for the pocketbooks of many. Some researchers contend that the top application for nanotechnology in developing countries will be energy. As of 2004, 1.6 billion people, a quarter of the world population, did not have access to electricity, so the supply of inexpensive energy has important implications for the health, education, and quality of life of populations in poverty. Yet the consequences of a decrease in oil value for oil-dependent economies are not clear in nations such as Brunei, Kuwait, Bahrain, Nigeria, Congo, Angola, Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, where oil-based exports contribute to more than a third of their national Gross Domestic Product. The US government is searching for new energy solutions through programs such as the 2001 National Nanotechnology Initiative and 2003 Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. Yet relatively little federal funding has been invested in solar energy research despite its support among many scientists. For example, nanoscientist Richard Smalley argued that the sun, “that great big hydrogen fusion reactor up in the sky,” holds the greatest hope for meeting the world’s massive energy needs in the future. |
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