Trends Identified
Nanotechnology
Application of scientific knowledge to manipulate and control matter in the nanoscale (ranges between approximately 1 and 100 nm) in order to make use of size and structure dependent properties and phenomena. Nanoscale materials have unique electromagnetic, thermal and optical characteristics which are distinct from those associated with individual atoms or molecules or with bulk materials are essential in solving many of the problems facing humanity. These materials could have new possibilities of applications by making lighter, stronger, smarter, cheaper, cleaner and more durable consumer and engineered products.
2017
Science & Technology Foresight Malaysia
Malaysia, Academy of Sciences Malaysia
Nanotechnology
Beyond its role in plastics, nanotechnology can also help accelerate fuel efficiency trends, through a combination of lowering the weight of vehicles and thus increasing efficiency, improving tire efficiency, and nanocatalysts that make fuel consumption more efficient.
2018
The bigger picture- The impact of automation, AI, shared economy on oil demand
The 2° Investing Initiative
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology focuses on manipulating matter at the atomic and molecular scale, generally at less than 100 nanometres in size. At this size, and using other scientific disciplines, the characteristics of matter can be changed. This will create new and unique properties with profound and diverse applications. Advances in nanotechnology, at the interdisciplinary frontier where physics, chemistry and biology meet, will be a key enabler of technological advance, involving: new additives and coatings; materials and sensor development; and medical treatments and heath diagnosis.
2010
Global strategic trends - out to 2040
UK, Ministry of Defence
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology 26 is a field of enormous promise and big challenges. It is reported to have high potential for increasing innovation for sustainable development in the energy, water, chemical, medical and pharmaceutical industries. 27 Nanoimprint lithography is expected to lead to large-scale manufacturing of nanotechnology products with various positive and negative sustainable development challenges. Nano-products might revolutionize many fields including medicine, electronics, energy and water, as well as food industry in the coming years. At present, there are high expectations about high-performing nanomaterial solar cells and nano-technology applications for decentralized water and wastewater treatment, and desalination. 28 Recently, scientists in Singapore have demonstrated converting CO 2 into methane using light and amine-functionalized titanium dioxide nanoparticles – this would allow storing intermittent solar energy in the form of natural gas which could then be burned in a carbon neutral way. The implications of unethical and uncontrolled use of nanotechnology have created an ongoing debate in the scientific community around concerns about their toxicity and environmental impact (e.g., nanowaste). 29, 30, 31 The OECD and IUCN are currently working with several governments to develop suitable and efficient regulations and policies, and urge a more unified and collaborative approach at all levels to address this potentially hazardous issue through experience- and knowledge-sharing, coordinated research activities, development of guidelines for producers, users and waste-processing facilities 32, 33 and examination of existing guidelines or policies. 34 ANNEXES | 121 As nanotechnology can be damaging to environment and human health, it requires effective policies and frameworks to manage all stages of their life-time, including manufacturing, distribution and use, as well as safe disposal or where possible effective recycling. 35, 36 There are many promising future, inorganic and organic nanomaterials . Examples include perovskites, gold nanoparticles, graphene, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanodots and conducting polymers. Carbon based nanomaterials are very interesting as they rely on abundant carbon and have much potential as high performance substitutes for many materials that are scarce and highly resource intensive in their extraction process. Iron, cobalt, and nickel nanoparticles can be alternatives to scarce metals like platinum, rhodium, and gold for catalysis . For example, layered iron and nickel nanomaterial are a more sustainable alternative to rare-earth “supermagnets”.
2016
Global sustainable development report 2016
United Nations
Nanotechnology for batteries
Batteries will improve through the use of enhanced nanomaterials and economies of scale. We expect higher capacities, much faster recharging, and greater longevity and significantly lower prices. Better and cheaper batteries could be the cornerstone technology to displace the internal combustion engine for passenger vehicles and support the transition to renewables in homes and businesses by addressing the intermittency of renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Using these technologies, buildings may become energy independent and solar-powered fueling stations could support the growing electric vehicle market.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada
Nanotechnology for solar
Solar cells, cheaper now than they have ever been, are poised for significant improvement due largely to nanotechnology. High-efficiency multi-junction solar cells, infrared energy capture and wavelength-splitting designs may increase high-efficiency solar cell performance by 200-300%. Roll-to-roll printing of solar cells on plastic using photosynthetic inks will allow solar panels to be manufactured at significantly lower costs than even today’s low prices.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada
Nanotechnology: 'Privacy will be a quaint obsession'
Twenty years ago, Don Eigler, a scientist working for IBM in California, wrote out the logo of his employer in letters made of individual atoms. This feat was a graphic symbol of the potential of the new field of nanotechnology, which promises to rebuild matter atom by atom, molecule by molecule, and to give us unprecedented power over the material world. Some, like the futurist Ray Kurzweil, predict that nanotechnology will lead to a revolution, allowing us to make any kind of product for virtually nothing; to have computers so powerful that they will surpass human intelligence; and to lead to a new kind of medicine on a sub-cellular level that will allow us to abolish ageing and death. I don't think that Kurzweil's "technological singularity" – a dream of scientific transcendence that echoes older visions of religious apocalypse – will happen. Some stubborn physics stands between us and "the rapture of the nerds". But nanotechnology will lead to some genuinely transformative applications. New ways of making solar cells very cheaply on a very large scale offer us the best hope we have for providing low-carbon energy on a big enough scale to satisfy the needs of a growing world population aspiring to the prosperity we're used to in the developed world. We'll learn more about intervening in our biology at the sub-cellular level and this nano-medicine will give us new hope of overcoming really difficult and intractable diseases, such as Alzheimer's, that will increasingly afflict our population as it ages. The information technology that drives your mobile phone or laptop is already operating at the nanoscale. Another 25 years of development will lead us to a new world of cheap and ubiquitous computing, in which privacy will be a quaint obsession of our grandparents. Nanotechnology is a different type of science, respecting none of the conventional boundaries between disciplines and unashamedly focused on applications rather than fundamental understanding. Given the huge resources being directed towards nanotechnology in China and its neighbours, this may also be the first major technology of the modern era that is predominantly developed outside the US and Europe.
2011
20 predictions for the next 25 years
The Guardian
Nanowire Lithium-ion Batteries
As stores of electrical charge, batteries are critically important in many aspects of modern life. Lithium-ion batteries, which offer good energy density (energy per weight or volume) are routinely packed into mobile phones, laptops and electric cars, to name just a few common uses. However, to increase the range of electric cars to match that of petrol-powered competitors – not to mention the battery lifetime between charges of mobile phones and laptops – battery energy density needs to be improved dramatically. Batteries are typically composed of two electrodes, a positive terminal known as a cathode, and a negative terminal known as an anode, with an electrolyte in between. This electrolyte allows ions to move between the electrodes to produce current. In lithium-ion batteries, the anode is composed of graphite, which is relatively cheap and durable. However, researchers have begun to experiment with silicon anodes, which would offer much greater power capacity. One engineering challenge is that silicon anodes tend to suffer structural failure from swelling and shrinking during charge-discharge cycle. Over the last year, researchers have developed possible solutions that involve the creation of silicon nanowires or nanoparticles, which seem to solve the problems associated with silicon’s volume expansion when it reacts with lithium. The larger surface area associated with nanoparticles and nanowires further increases the battery’s power density, allowing for fast charging and current delivery. Able to fully charge more quickly, and produce 30%-40% more electricity than today’s lithium-ion batteries, this next generation of batteries could help transform the electric car market and allow the storage of solar electricity at the household scale. Initially, silicon-anode batteries are expected to begin to ship in smartphones within the next two years.
2014
Top 10 emerging technologies for 2014
World Economic Forum (WEF)
NATO’s Image Improves on Both Sides of Atlantic
Views of NATO have ticked upward in many member countries. Opinions about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have improved on both sides of the Atlantic over the past year. The share of the public with a favorable view of the alliance increased by 9 percentage points in the U.S. and 10 points in Canada, along with a rise of 7 points in the Netherlands, 8 points in Germany, 9 points in Poland and 11 points in France, where it had fallen 15 points between 2015 and 2016. At least six-in-ten people in each of these countries now have a favorable view of NATO. In the U.S., the recent uptick in approval has mainly been driven by Democrats, while Republican views have remained largely unchanged.
2017
6 trends in international public opinion from our Global Indicators Database
Pew Research Center
Natural disasters
Natural disasters will have increasing impact, partly due to overall increases in the severity and prevalence of severe weather events, but also due changes in the regions and times of year where these events may occur.
2017
Strategic foresight analysis
NATO