sustainable nanotechnology (and other emerging technologies) · tim harper • engineer at european...

Sustainable Nanotechnology

(and Other Emerging Technologies)

Tim HarperCientifica Ltd / Envision ALR

1Wednesday, 12 May 2010

Sustainable Nanotechnology

(and Other Emerging Technologies)

Tim HarperCientifica Ltd / Envision ALR

Tim Harper

• Engineer at European Space Agency

• Serial Entrepreneur

• Founder of European NanoBusiness Association

• Chair / Chief Advisor of Several National Funding Bodies

• World Economic Forum Emerging Technologies Council

• President, Nanotechnologies at Envision ALR

We Wrote The Book on “Nano” in 2002

“The Nanotechnology Opportunity Report is a breakthrough - it is the first complete report of the state of our field”

-Meyya Meyyappan director of the Center for Nanotechnology at NASA Ames, March 2002

And Rewrote It In 2008

"Almost a billion dollars of investors cash has been poured down the drain by investors who did not understand the crucial difference between a science project and a successful company, egged on by a plethora of nanotech ‘experts,’ while large corporations have laughed all the way to the bank”

Envision A Living Revolution (“Envision”) was launched in 2006 with the vision of becoming a leading integrated operating company in the markets of

• Healthcare

• Energy

• Green Chemicals & Materials

• Water

Envision ALR

Envision ALREnvision builds strategic and profitable positions in these markets by acquiring & commercialising underexploited technology platforms in the scientific fields of:

• Regenerative Medicine

• Nanotechnology

• Industrial Biotechnology

Envision employs an integrated operating model and full life-cycle funding approach allowing it to drive commercialization from the point of technology acquisition all the way through manufacturing and marketing

Envision develops products that can be marketed under Envision’s own brand, or marketed by partners, under their own brands

Sustainable Technologies -

From A Passive To An Active Role

5000 Years of Science

Humans have

• Been observing the world for 5000 years

Humans have

• Significantly changing it for 100 years

Humans have

• Significantly changing it for 100 years

• Understanding our actions for 20 years

How Do We Use Technology For Good?

Control Over Materials

Materials Have Always Been Vital to Humanity

• Clothing,

• Heating, hunting tools

• Coal, iron, oil, copper

• Semiconductors

• Satellites

Materials Have Shaped Our Culture

10,000 BC

Stone & Wood

Nanotechnology

Adapted from Herrmann, W. Chem. Eng. Technol. 21(7), 549 (1998)

Synthetic Biology

Cement Steel

1000 BC 1900’s

PolymersComposites

2000 2010

Science Enables New Technologies

1650 1950 2050

1650 1950 2050Semiconductors

Biotechnology

BiotechnologyNanotechnologies

Synthetic Biology

Geoengineering?

With This13

And This14

And This15

And Even This17

Moving From Control Of Materials to Control of

Things

Materials• Metals

• Semiconductors

• Food Processing

Passive18

Things

Materials• Metals

• Semiconductors

• Food Processing

Things• Crops

• Cells

• The Planet?

Passive Active18

Resources Are Getting Scarcer

• Global competition for resources

• Demand driven by increasing and increasingly affluent population

• Some resources are almost exhausted

Metal Remaining Supply*

Indium 5-10 yearsAntinomy 15-20 yearsPlatinum 15 yearsHafnium 10 yearsTantalum 20-30 yearsUranium 30-40 years

Scarce Resources

Armin Reller, U. Augsburg, Tom Graedel, Yale

* Pre Global Economic Crisis20

The Rare Earth

• Global demand for rare earths has tripled from 40,000 tonnes to 120,000 tonnes over the past 10 years

• China now controls 97% of the global supply of 17 rare earths

• 25% of new green technologies rely on minor metals and rare earths

A Fuel Efficient Resource Hog

• Each electric Prius motor requires 1 Kg of neodymium

• Each battery uses 10 to 15 kg of lanthanum

2006 20112007 2008 2009 2010

Global Market for Transparent Conductors

LCD Displays

Solar Cells

Touch Screens,& other electronics

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

1 2 3 4 5 6

Uses of Indium

He Could Be Right!

“Rare earths are to China as oil is to the Middle East”

- Deng Xiaoping (1992)

What Can We Do?

We Have The Tools

How To Use Them?

Using Emerging Technologies

• Emerging technologies are critical to long-term global prosperity

• Innovative technologies do not conform to conventional technology development paradigms

• Effective policies for nurturing and employing emerging technologies are largely absent or poorly formed in government, industry and other stakeholder organisations

Understanding Nature

A Top Down Approach

A Bottom Up Approach

By Copying This Trick

Reducing friction between container ships hull & water could

• Save 1% of global oil consumption or

• 850,000 barrels per day

An Old Trick For Textiles

3 Emerging Technologies

• Nanotechnology

• Synthetic Biology

• Nanotechnology

• Synthetic Biology

• Geoengineering

Nanotech Already In Use

• Composite Materials

• Conducting Polymers

• Thin Film Photovoltaics

Drug Delivery

Tissue EngineeringCatalysis

Filtration

Water Treatment

Computer Memory

Data Storage

DisplaysFood

Textiles

Cosmetics

Sunscreen

Lighting

Coatings

Household Cleaners Sporting Equipment

Construction

Insulation

Anti Corrosion

Paints

Composite Applications

• Automotive body parts

• Aerospace composites & coatings

• Packaging

• Conducting polymers

Nanocomposite Materials

• Polymer + nanoparticle, nanofibre or clay

• Increases strength & rigidity

• Lowers weight

• Much of value is in the formulation rather than the filler

Nanocomposite Materials

• Polymer + nanoparticle, nanofibre or clay

• Increases strength & rigidity

• Lowers weight

• Much of value is in the formulation rather than the filler

Abalone Shell - Nanoscale Engineering38

Nanocomposite Use In Automotive Industry

• Conducting composites for better paintability

• Moulding cycle time reduction

• Improved mechanical properties

• High scratch resistance paints

• Demand Drivers

• Rising demand for touch screens and flat panel displays

• Increasing use of thin film solar panels

• Solar applications and displays require better materials than Indium Tin Oxide

• Global supply of Indium is limited

Replacing Indium With Conductive Inks

Conducting Polymers at Envision

A Paradigm Shift in Medical Diagnostics

Broad range of Point-of-Care applications

• Complete blood profiling

• HIV/STD testing

• Infectious diseases

• Molecular Diagnostics:

• Cardiovascular diseases

• Cancer diagnostics

• Animal health

Nanosolar

market volume (Billion $)

Siliconsemiconductors

Printedsemiconductors

19801985

19901995

20002005

20102015

20202025

Market forecast SIA, IDTechEx 200646

market volume (Billion $)

Siliconsemiconductors

Printedsemiconductors

19801985

19901995

20002005

20102015

20202025

Market forecast SIA, IDTechEx 200646

• It will take ten to twenty years for new sources for renewables to become competitive with existing sources

• Market forces will drive up the cost of dwindling resources in the meantime

• Current investment levels in renewables have priced many investors out of the market

No Quick Returns?

It Takes $1Bn To Get In The Solar Game

• Konarka Technologies burned through over $100 million in VC funding

• Nanosolar has raised $295 million to date

• Realistic opportunities are enabled by organic solar, not producing solar

The Rise Of Biotech49

Source: Rob Carlson synthesis.cc

Synthetic BiologyLongest Published DNA Sequence

50Source: Rob Carlson synthesis.cc

A Lot Like Moore’s Law51

Not Just Biofuels

Converting waste products into feedstock

• Wheat & Rice Straw to Sugars

➡Sugars to Glycol

➡Glycol to Bioplastics

Reducing Our Dependence On This

Cleaning Up The Mess

Geoengineering - Could We? Should We?

“There are no current proposals that have clear validity at the moment, but I think we are faced with such an enormous problem that we need to do all the research we can to see if there are any geo-engineering proposals that work through to the marketplace”

- Sir David King, former UK Chief Scientist

Geoengineering - Could We? Should We?

Should We Do It?

Not if we can help it - but we do need a ‘Plan B’

What We NeedSector Need Solution

FoodImprove Yields

Address Malnutrition GM CropsGolden Rice

EnergyReduce Consumption

Generate Clean energy

CompositesPhotovoltaicsWind/ Tidal

ClimateAlternative Fuels

Make Better Use of What We Have

Industrial BiotechSynthetic BiologyNanomaterials

Disease Earlier & Cheaper DetectionEffective Treatment

Synthetic BiologyTargeted Nanoparticle Drug

Delivery

Can We Do It?

Well...

Can We Do It?

Well...

• The innovation process is inefficient

Can We Do It?

Well...

• Capital for Emerging Technologies is Poorly Educated

Can We Do It?

Well...

• Capital for Emerging Technologies is Poorly Educated

• Governments Lack Foresight

Inefficient Innovation

To get there we need

• Scientists to realise commercial potential

• Investor to both ‘get it’ and have liquidity

• Quality management to take it to market

• Market pull rather than technology push

VC investments are highly concentrated• 6 of 17 industries receive >73% of investment• “Me too” company investments are common

Sectors are selected with inexperience• Example: $ Billions invested into biofuels

• Investments have unrealistic expectations• > $100 MM in annual revenue targets• Ignoring advances and “foundation technologies”

The Capital Gap

Government Foresight

• Huge pressure on finances

• Hard to second guess the market

• Governments have a poor record of picking winners

In The End...

• Technology has lead every economic and social advance for the last 10,000 years

In The End...

• It can create and clear up problems (e.g Ozone layer depletion)

In The End...

• It can create and clear up problems (e.g Ozone layer depletion)

• It is human nature to innovate

Conclusions

Nanotechnologies and biosciences will be as important to the 21st Century as oil, polymers and semiconductors were to the 20th Century

Conclusions

Nanotechnologies and biosciences will be as important to the 21st Century as oil, polymers and semiconductors were to the 20th Century

We have the tools, lets use them wisely

tim.harper@cientifica.com@tim_harper

sustainable nanotechnology (and other emerging technologies) · tim harper • engineer at european...

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