Nanotechnology and the Resource Fallacy

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Technology, Engineering, Chemical & Biochemical, Material Science, Science, Earth Sciences, Geology
Cover of the book Nanotechnology and the Resource Fallacy by , Jenny Stanford Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: ISBN: 9781351402910
Publisher: Jenny Stanford Publishing Publication: March 22, 2018
Imprint: Jenny Stanford Publishing Language: English
Author:
ISBN: 9781351402910
Publisher: Jenny Stanford Publishing
Publication: March 22, 2018
Imprint: Jenny Stanford Publishing
Language: English

Dwindling global supplies of conventional energy and materials resources are widely thought to severely constrain, or even render impossible, a "first-world" lifestyle for the bulk of Earth’s inhabitants. This bleak prospect, however, is wrong. Current energy resources are used grotesquely inefficiently as heat ("fuels," after all, are "burned"), so that well over half of the energy is simply dissipated into the environment. In turn, conventional materials resources, particularly of metals, are geologically anomalous deposits that also are typically processed by the prodigious application of raw heat. Simultaneously, rising levels of pollution worldwide are a challenge to remediate as they require the extraction of pollutants at low concentration.

Nanotechnology, the structuring of matter at near-molecular scales, offers the prospect of solving all these problems at a stroke. Non-thermal use of energy, in broad emulation of what organisms do already, will not only lead to more efficient use but make practical diffuse sources such as sunlight. Pollution control and resource extraction become two aspects of the same fundamental problem, the low-energy extraction of particular substances from an arbitrary background of other substances, and this also is in emulation of what biosystems carry out already.

This book sketches out approaches both for the efficient, non-thermal use of energy and the molecular extraction of solutes, primarily from aqueous solution, for purification, pollution control, and resource extraction. Some long-term implications for resource demand are also noted. In particular, defect-free fabrication at the molecular level is ultimately likely to make structural metals obsolete.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Dwindling global supplies of conventional energy and materials resources are widely thought to severely constrain, or even render impossible, a "first-world" lifestyle for the bulk of Earth’s inhabitants. This bleak prospect, however, is wrong. Current energy resources are used grotesquely inefficiently as heat ("fuels," after all, are "burned"), so that well over half of the energy is simply dissipated into the environment. In turn, conventional materials resources, particularly of metals, are geologically anomalous deposits that also are typically processed by the prodigious application of raw heat. Simultaneously, rising levels of pollution worldwide are a challenge to remediate as they require the extraction of pollutants at low concentration.

Nanotechnology, the structuring of matter at near-molecular scales, offers the prospect of solving all these problems at a stroke. Non-thermal use of energy, in broad emulation of what organisms do already, will not only lead to more efficient use but make practical diffuse sources such as sunlight. Pollution control and resource extraction become two aspects of the same fundamental problem, the low-energy extraction of particular substances from an arbitrary background of other substances, and this also is in emulation of what biosystems carry out already.

This book sketches out approaches both for the efficient, non-thermal use of energy and the molecular extraction of solutes, primarily from aqueous solution, for purification, pollution control, and resource extraction. Some long-term implications for resource demand are also noted. In particular, defect-free fabrication at the molecular level is ultimately likely to make structural metals obsolete.

More books from Jenny Stanford Publishing

Cover of the book Mysteries in Muscle Contraction by
Cover of the book Three Daughters, Three Journeys by
Cover of the book Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers by
Cover of the book Marine Polysaccharides by
Cover of the book The Copenhagen Conspiracy by
Cover of the book A Microscopic Submarine in My Blood by
Cover of the book Handbook of Nanomaterials for Hydrogen Storage by
Cover of the book The Social Effects of Global Trade by
Cover of the book Tailoring of Nanocomposite Dielectrics by
Cover of the book Growing Graphene on Semiconductors by
Cover of the book Handbook of Carbohydrate-Modifying Biocatalysts by
Cover of the book Nanostructured Semiconductors by
Cover of the book Tuning Innovation with Biotechnology by
Cover of the book Plasmonic Resonators by
Cover of the book Learning Approaches in Signal Processing by
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy