“A lot of the things that are important to life – and a lot of the things that are important to energy – they all occur at a very small scale,” are the words of Shell’s chief scientist Sergio Kapusta talking on Earth & Sky Radio.

But it is not just Kapusta who is excited about the word “small” in the world of science, as scientists across the globe are enthused by a new scale of technology, cited by many in “the know” as the solution of the 21st century, and eminent savoir of a potentially ill-fated planet. The vast excitement about this “atom up” technology is not only because of the endless new opportunities and systems made available, but also due to the belief that “nanotech” practises will help preserve the environment.

According to experts the major advantage of nanotechnolgy is the durable and resilient coatings it can provide and by making materials stronger and longer lasting will ultimately lead to less waste. More robust finishes can also be applied to wind generators and nuclear power stations thus providing greater resilience to elements such as water and radiation. Another fascinating feature being explored involves carbon nanotubes’ ability to efficiently hold vast quantities of hydrogen to create new fuel cells. In reacting to sunlight more quickly, nanotechnology is making solar panels more flexible by producing more proficient and lightweight photovoltaic cells.

Stronger but lighter, nano-materials will not entail the treatments that more complex materials like steel and plastic require that often leak toxics into the environment. Researchers assert these new materials will be able to conduct electricity faster and more resourcefully and run engines with greater efficiency. Further benefits of these technologies are that nanostructures can be made biodegradable therefore creating less waste and toxics that prove detrimental to the environment.

Sergio Kapusta is amongst those pioneering the meteoric rise of nanotechnology because of the critical role it will play on the health of the planet. He said:

“We think that nanotechnolgy has the potential to produce more energy. It can help us produce energy from more difficult sources, and it can also help us protect the environment, remove CO2, clean the water. That’s the promise of nanotechnology.”

Jon Whitehead, a scientific researcher and executive director of Moorfield, a scientific instrument company based in England, is as equally enthusiastic towards nanotechnology as Kapusta. Being a leading figure in the development of scientific technology, Jon Whitehead believes the possibilities of nanotechnology are potentially limitless, an essential asset in the self-inflicted rush to rescue the planet. He also thinks this technology will grind traditional methods of manufacturing to a halt. With this philosophy firmly intact, Jon Whitehead has spent a lot of time and money investing in the research and development of carbon nanotubes. Although researchers discovered these tiny tubes, which are 10,000 times thinner than a piece of human hair, in 1991, their apparent weaknesses are scientists’ inability to manipulate them in a controlled way. Mr Whitehead believes he has cracked the “nanotech cipher” and is producing more economically viable, “desktop” versions of this technology that are proving to be accurate and consistent every time. The company director said:

“The reason why nanotechnology has had a relatively limited career so far is because nobody has really got the gist of the chemical reaction. Until now.”

Jon Whitehead says that the many long and lonely nights his team have spent in the Moorfield laboratory have finally paid off, as the favourable electrical properties this technology provides can now be more realistically and reliably offered and will be readily available from this autumn, a move, he believes, will radicalise the energy challenge of this generation.

“Think about it. Resistance is much lower with nanotechnolgy; therefore the amount of power required is significantly reduced. And anything that uses less power has to be good for the environment,” Mr Whitehead logically asserts.

The scientific researcher is also keyed-up about the possibilities nanotechnology has in the field of biology and DNA. Many experts in the medical profession echo Mr Whitehead’s beliefs that “nanotech” can not only detect disease but can be used to create solutions and minimize the spread of infections.

Although not everybody is as enthusiastic about this innovatory technology as the scientists involved in its development, and there are implications causing politicians to regulate the use of such technology. Harald Zaenka, a scientist at the Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf research centre in Germany, believes there has not been enough research carried out on the behaviour of nanotubes in water and the effects uranium, which is attached to the surface of treated carbon nanotubes, has on the environment. Zaenka commented on nanotechwire.com:

“It is plausible to assume that carbon nanotubes, if released to the environment, influence the transport of uranium in environmental waters and even in biological systems. The possible impact on the environment and on human health has in general been considered too little.”

Although “assuming” anything, especially when dealing with science, is perhaps a little naïve. Another reported “breakthrough” within the realms of nanotechnology involves its ability to cleanse water, thereby contradicting with Zaenka’s “nano” qualms. The construction of specialized nanoparticle filters is also deemed amongst scientists to be the next “big thing”, which can strain out toxins from the air and the water with more precision than any other method.

Researchers writing for the journal Nature Nanotechnolgy carried out an interesting study, which found that there are diverging attitudes towards this kind of technology, which are often determined by religious persuasions, and those with religious beliefs tend to think more negatively of nanotechnology. The research revealed that the US was the most religious country and also the least accepting of nanotech. The technology’s ability to treat disease at a sub-cellular level and its potential to “create life at a nano-scale without divine intervention” raises a multitude of moral issues. According to Professor Scheufele from the department of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin in the US, these “moral debates” make it very difficult for policymakers to regulate nanotechnology:

“How do we regulate something where we have different moral ideas from the public? Scheufele told the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7767192.stm).

It is a dilemna which scientists have been up against for centuries, “what could be done vurses what should be done.” Whilst we may only be at the beginning of a myriad of nanotech opportunities, experts like Jon Whitehead are narrowing the boundaries between a largely intangible and abstract scientific “whim”, to a concrete and explicit technological breakthrough. And if humans possess a moral repsonsibilty to attempt to offset human-inflicted damage to the planet, nanotechnology in the future may prove priceless.