Nanotechnology. Where is the next peak?

From the editors:

We are pleased to inform to you that the young ireneus project can be considered as a successful idea. Our main task, to link two worlds such as investment, business and science and technology has originated that we had to improve our site.

Indeed, we have inaugurated recently www.ireneus.eu, where we can show in a more useful way the information and news. We consider that not only content, useful and practical navigation it is important too.

Independently that we will maintain the two sites, blogspace and website at the same time, we encourage you to visit us at the new internet site. And remember, all you opinions and suggestions will be welcomed. Thanks for all to everybody.

Smaller

As we showed in a previous post (Smaller 28/5/2008), nanotechnology has a great potential. Now, Mr. Günter Verheugen, commission Vice-President and responsible for enterprise and industry policy remarks that EU industry has to fully exploit the advances of nanotechnologies. The European Commission will start a consultation with stakeholders and Member States in order to increase knowledge and awareness.

And the figures related show exactly the same: market will expand between 750 to 2000 b € up to 2015 and 10 million related jobs in the sector, 10% of all manufacturing sectors.

As we said in our previous post, if every 3.5 years there are ‘peaks’ of technology emerging in business terms (patents and industrial goals), from today to 2015 remains 7 years in which talented investor can improve their funds. First peak will take place at 2011-2012, returning investment, and from this date to 2015. Perhaps it is time to get a clear asset in these emerging technologies. Please, see in deep the adverts because there are firms ready to work, hard work.

Please visit http://ec.europa.eu/nanotechnology/index_en.html

A brave report? Perhaps the future has just arrived?

Stronger

Spanish Nuclear Forum president, Mª Teresa Domínguez, said at the presentation of the report that in Spain, last 2007, with only 8.5 percent of the power installed, nuclear plants supplied around 55.000 million of Kw·h, it is 17.2 percent of the total energy consumption , up to 320.000 million of Kw·h. Therefore, nuclear power arises as the most efficient source of electric power. In order to reduce CO2 emissions, nuclear power can be the best election to combat the greenhouse effect in the future.

In Spain, by the 2030, it could be interesting that about 33 percent of the total energy, might be produced by nuclear plants, reducing so the dependence from fossil fueling. To achieve this target, it will be necessary to build at least eleven new plants, with a total investment over 33 b €. This ten new plants will have a nominal power of 1000 MW each one.

So, if we can get some calculating number, as always we use to do it, you can get…

(33 b € / 11 new plants·1000 Mw)= 3 m € / Mw installed.
As the experience shows, this power can be operative by 30 years and producing 24x7, without dependence of climatology (sunny, raining, wind, and so).

If you compare with the main current figures in Solar Photovoltaic,
by 2.5 m € /MW installed. In addition, if you rest to Solar Photovoltaic the subsidies that deadline it is near, because customers are not ready to pay energy that is more expensive, then Mrs. Dominguez considerations are right.

And if you consider too the boosting of economy that nuclear plan promotes: 7,000 direct related jobs and others 140,000 during the plan developing, with a direct impact on GDP Spanish figures, adding it a 3% , the plan have great reasons to be considered by society.
We celebrate the brave report, which tries to harness the main problem in our society today that is energy. Even nuclear power has a great impact on people anchored still to an ancient feeling about this energy source.

Please, visit http://www.foronuclear.org for more details.

Quantum computing, just a dream?

Smarter

- But the most important and promising advances in “quantum computing” to active investors in early stage of start-up’s today is using quantum computers to modeling the behavior of quantum world, in other words, to know the nanoscale before we build it. The quantum properties at nanoscale of heat transmit, micro-transistors, quantum electric sources and so on. Then, it will be the day when we’ll say that the nanoscale revolution has just arrived. Learn more...

Have you ever-heard talk about “quantum computing”? Well, this is a promising trend on new computing systems. The quantum properties are fascinating and allow dreaming not only to science fiction writers; even serious researchers are able to do it. Moreover, to investors, “quantum computing” allow to dream too?

We can talk for a minutes about this topic. The two most important items that researchers are focused today in this field are:

- Entanglement particles. Two particles, which can be separated even by an infinite distance, one of them determines the quantum state of another. If you get a measurement of one of them and get one quantum value, another particle will show, necessarily the quantum value that theory establishes. You can consider that the value of measurement or perhaps the sequence of events was written previously. Or perhaps we can find an infinite speed on transmitting signals. And due to this property, in the future we will be able to perform computers which will be able to process huge quantity of information in nanoseconds. So, you should see as Jurassic your last computer desk provided with the most advanced Intel, or AMD, or perhaps your beautiful Mac. In this subject we recommend you visit the web of Prince of Asturias foundation who awarded in 2006 to Mr. Juan Ignacio Cirac, “director of the Max Plank Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany, for his worldwide leadership in proposing and developing quantum computing, a new science of the 21st century that comes from combining two of the most outstanding creations of the 20th century.”

- Another subject in this field in wich quantum computing is advancing so fast is on saving and retrieving information from simple quantum systems, built with a houndred or thousand of particles. In the quantum world, a particle with a quantum variable, can be measured, for instance, within the state “1” or within the state “0”. While you don’t act measuring it, the particle has to be in an intermediate state between “1” or “0”. This is as today we say a “qbit”. If you have a system with thousand particles, this system, while you don’t collapse their state (or wave function), may be within one of their 2exp(1000) possible states. 2exp(1000) is equal to 10exp(300), a number greater that the total number of particles in the Universe. The quantity of information that you can save in sets of 100 particles is very, very great. If you can develop a laser source to pick up every particle to read their state or assign a concrete state, you will have a big computer. Perhaps Google try to buy it to you. Think about it. But if you collapse the wave function of one of your sets performing a measuring over it, you will lose the rest of 10exp(300)-1 possibilities of information. However, this arrangement is appropriate, scientist say, to get a huge number of candidates to test the solution to complex problems, problems called ‘NP’. The problems that can be solved thanks to an algorithm are called ‘P’. Nevertheless, ‘NP’ problems cannot be solved with an algorithm, because you can know that the problem is solved only when you have the solution in your hands. In addition, it is not probable that you can get the solution in a human period. Perhaps you will be dead before. For instance, a problem belong to NP class, is cracking the security keys of systems informatics by hackers. Today scientist and engineers are talking about magic properties of quantum computing, infinite speed to transmit signal, reducing until 0 the time for processing of infinite problems NP and so on. Moreover, all of this it is all right, but if you must translate investment in researching into money terms, perhaps you would think that this is just a gamble. Do not worry. Please, visit http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-limits-of-quantum-computers to learn more about it. The great article by Scott Aaronson.

Prince of Asturias awards 2008. The world will be in a special way.

Smaller, Smarter and Stronger.

Today, is a special day. We start the post with all our elements.

The Prince of Asturias Awards 2008 has been published recently their prizes in Science and Technology. They have sended a clear message to everybody: the future world will be smaller, smarter and stronger. Just as Ireneus expresed months ago when we presented the new ireneus manifest.

We think that we are achieving our target to show lines of researching and development to all investors that need to transform the scientifical numbers into monetary terms. And we continue on the track. Thanks to everybody.


The name of the great scientists awarded, Sumio Iijima, Shuji Nakamura, Robert Langer, George M. Whitesides, Tobin Marks, that they all come from the more advanced nanotechnology, energy and information researching areas.


It is very important too the explicit mention of the jury:

"

Groundbreakers in the field of Nanotechnology worldwide, these scientists have created new, revolutionary materials and transcendental techniques for fighting diseases, such as those related to the brain and cancer, and for producing artificial tissues and organs. Their work also stands out for its contribution to the protection of the environment and energy saving via the use of new sources of clean energy that may be produced at a low cost. All these technological innovations and scientific discoveries are of special importance in the fight against poverty, such as the inexpensive purification of drinking water in the planet´s more underprivileged areas. The possibility of using reduced-cost, low-energy consumption sources of light in this fight is likewise worthy of mention.

"


Well, congratulations to:
[1] Sumio Iijima was born in Saitama Prefecture (Japan) in 1939. He discovered carbon nanotubes, materials made from carbon atoms, and their inherent potential in 1991.
[2] Shuji Nakamura (Ehime, Japón 1954), who now holds American citizenship, is the inventor of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) or diodes that emit green, blue and white light.
[3] Robert Langer was born in Albany (USA) in 1948. He is considered the father of intelligent drug delivery on account of developing novel, biomimetic materials in the form of polymers, nanoparticles or chips which permit the controlled delivery of drugs throughout the human body.
[4] George M. Whitesides was born in Louisville (USA) in 1939.He has developed techniques for the fabrication of nanoscale materials that are both novel and efficient.
[5] Tobin Marks was born in Washington (USA) in 1944. He is considered a leader in the field of chemical catalysis, having developed processes for numerous types of recyclable, environmentally-friendly plastics. He has developed a prototype of third-generation photovoltaic solar cells, composed of flexible, efficient, low-cost, organic materials, as well as sensors and light modulators






Please, visit the complet information directlty at
http://www.fundacionprincipedeasturias.org/ing/index.html

It is a market, a new market and it is so attractive...

Stronger

From the International Monetary Fund Review. March 2008-06-06

Global Energy: Increasingly unsustainable.
Really still are there good opportunities to invest in renewable energies?
Well, look very carefully to the following figures of the future drown by the International Energy Agency.

- Fossil fuels –oil, natural gas and coal- will remain dominant unless governments adjust policies, with developing countries as a group contributing about 74 percent of the overall increase in demand.
- From 2007 to 2030, in billion metric tones of oil equivalent will rise from 12 up to 18. Increased by 50 percent in the period. The share of energy sources could be seen by 2030 as follows, very similar to the share of 2007: approximately 25% coal, 30% oil, 15% gas, 10% nuclear power and the last 20% renewable sources.
- These trends do not bode well for cumulative carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and climate change. Today China and India accounting for 10 percent. Europe and US about 53 percent. But China, India and emergent economies will increase and will overtake the western countries by the 2018 approximately. Not only in emissions, also in car market too.
- But if policies to save energy and reduce emissions are implemented faster, the increases in global emissions will level off and could be pushed back. In 2030 we can see, as IEA scenario draws, renewables will be responsible of reduction in approximately 4 Gigatones of CO2, together to others important reductions due to higher efficiency in energy production and consumption by consumer.

Well, now it is time to calculate.
As you have seen in the previous paragraph, by 2030 China and India could be the responsible of 60% CO2 emissions. Well, then they will have (3/5) of the investment effort in greenhouse emissions. If the IEA stabilization scenario really comes, China and India will be responsible of (3/5) of the 4 Gigatones of CO2 reduction in 2030.

If you consider that to produce energy as 1KW•h you generate actually about 300Kg of CO2, then

(3/5)*(4•10exp(9)•1•10exp(3))=2.4exp(12)

Kg of CO2 that will correspond to China and India reduction by 2030.

Then, this reduction correspond to a change in energy traditional production by renewable source in…

{ [2.4exp(12) Kg(CO2)] / [0.300 Kg (CO2)/Kw•h] } = 8exp(12) Kw•h

If we consider, just as we showed in an of our previous post, that the efficiency in production electric power will be around 12% in solar cells by 2030, and if we consider the solar constant of 400 W per square meter, then

12%*(0,4KW)/m2=0.048KW/m2

Then the land considered in emergent economies for new installations to solar photovoltaic cells, for instance, could be…

(0.048KW/m2)*365(days/year)*8(hours/day)*(2/3)(sunny factor)=93.44 KW•h/year•m2

Thus,{ [8exp(12)KW•h] / [93.44 KW•h/year•m2]} = 85.6exp(9)square meters. = 85,699 square Kilometers.

This area

Approximately 8,560,000 Ha, about 9,000,000 football pitches. This area is like area of countries as
Austria, Azerbaijan or Jordan, as wikipedia says
(please, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_outlying_territories_by_area
)


And finally, if you consider the cost installation about 150$ per square meter fully installed in solar photovoltaic (please, see our previous post "energy, solar plans and more") , then you will be able to see a market of…

85,6exp(9)*$US150 per square meter installed photovoltaic = $US 12,800 billions = $US 12.8 Giga dollars!!!

Perhaps you won’t be able to find another market so attractive and so sure by 2030. Don’t you think?