Rahmi AYDEMİR
Aydemirler Makina
In 2009, The National Nanotechnology Initiative allocated 1.5 billion dollars for reseacrhes. In the Nanotechnology Report prepared by National Science Institution, it is stated as: “Nanotechnology has the potential to increase human performance, lead to sustainable developments in issues such as material, water, energy and food products, and to ensure protection against unknown bacteria and viruses…”.*
The real impact of a product on the environment is revealed by examining the entire process, from the production of the raw material to the disposal process, i.e. the end of life cycle. The source of the basic energy used to produce the energy is at least as important as the type of that energy – even if the result is clean. The sustainability goal is exactly like that. Each input and output must meet the sustainability conditions for all supply and raw material processes of the material entering that process in the language of production. Sustainability policies, which have begun to form some part of corporate cultures in theory – or at least we think so – have to proceed with technology in order to work in practice and respond to our understanding about rapidly increasing production and consumption. If nanotechnology, initiated by Richard P. Feynmann, who made a speech on miniaturization in 1959 at the California Institute of Technology, can proceed with the foresight of Moore’s Law, it may be possible to completely eliminate the environmental impact in all fields and processes of the industry.
On April 19, 1965, Intel’s founder Gordon Moore predicted, in his article published in Electronics Magazine, that the number of components that could be installed on the integrated circuit would double every 18 months, resulting in large increases in the processing capacity of computers, while production costs would remain the same or even tend to decrease. Nevertheless, the important part of Moore’s and Feymann’s views for us is related to the ability of nanotechnology, which is expected to make significant contributions to the protection of the environment by saving raw materials, energy, water and reducing greenhouse gases and hazardous wastes, to take fast
progress towards the realization of the sustainability goal.
Although the goal of nanotechnology researches is not a priority in protecting the environment, in the near future, high hopes are pinned on nanotechnology-optimized products and processes in which nanotechnology is applied for energy production and storage. We can say that miniaturization in technology will enable 100% clean energy in energy production in order to realize the energy revolution in the tomorrow’s world immediately. Just as hydrogen is a clean energy carrier, the source of this hydrogen is polluted. The hydrogen can be produced using a variety of sources. The dirtiest method – at least until highly efficient carbon capture and separation technologies are developed – is the gasification of coal. Using solar energy to separate water to produce hydrogen and oxygen, artificial photosynthesis can provide a durable, clean and portable energy source as well as sunlight.
We will also frequently encounter the use of nanotechnology in recycling. The waste management of batteries poses a potential threat to human health when not properly planned. Nanotechnology used in environmental technologies can eliminate the environmental hazards of billions of batteries in landfills, and also prevent this type of waste. Waste disposal and management has also become a major problem. With the recent Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident, which we will all remember, the infiltration of radioactive waste into the Pacific Ocean and the transport of nuclear waste via sediments that accumulate at the bottom have not resolved our concerns on the marine ecosystem even today. Studies on the use of titanate nanofibers as absorbents to remove radioactive ions from water can alleviate our fears of radioactive waste.
Another problem is the danger the oil poses while transporting, apart from the use of it. The fact that the oil leaking to water directly causes death of living creatures, increases the effort on cleaning techniques. But traditional cleaning techniques are unfortunately not sufficient to solve the large-scale oil spills. During the recent years, nanotechnology, which has emerged as a potential source for new solutions to many of the world’s leading problems, is also making progress at least with the support of fossil fuel investors, although it is still in the start-up phase in oil spill cleaning.
We can say that the environmental and economic pressure on the cement sector, which is one of the sectors where industrial fuel type petrocoke is used most and which is the leader in carbon emissions, will increase in the near future with the carbon taxation as a result of legal regulations. New items such as greenhouse gas emission analysis and measurement device depreciation expenses, expenses related to emission reducing investments, fines and tax applications will restrict the range of motion of the sector. The advantages to be offered by nanotechnology can limit carbon emissions.
Most of the current methods for filtration used in Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) processes today are expensive, but require the use of certain chemicals. Nanoscale thin membranes can offer much healthier solutions as one of the blessings of nanotechnology.
(https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-and-the-environment.php)
*Michio Kaku, Geleceğin Fiziği, Ankara 2020, ODTÜ Yayıncılık, s.235 / *Michio Kaku, Physics of the Future, Ankara 2020, METU Publishing, p.235
