Crystal Research Associates nanotechnology built environment green infrastructure

Sustainable Technologies Gain Momentum: New Report Highlights News

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As researchers have recently emphasized, governments have a significant role and responsibility for providing long-term support for renewable energy, smart grid, and other future “sustainable city” initiatives. The price of renewable energies and associated technologies are too high to appeal to investors without government support. Mechanisms such as incentives, feed‐in‐tariffs, tax‐breaks, rebates, and other financial instruments are critical.

With that in mind, we have released a 12-page report that expands upon several U.S. policies expected to further market adoption of sustainable, nanotechnology-driven technologies. The report, Continuing Coverage of Nanotechnology and the Built Environment (available here), is the latest update to our base report, Nanotechnology and the Built Environment: The Transition to Green Infrastructure. This update is part of a series of “continuing coverage” reports from Crystal Research Associates that detail innovations in nanotechnology and their impact on our infrastructure, building, and construction markets.

Included in the report are discussions of the following, among other topics:

  • U.S. building code changes may open opportunities for building‐integrated photovoltaics (BIPV).

  • The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is emphasizing industrial energy assessments for manufacturing facilities, and industrial assessment centers at universities—to date, such assessments have helped save over 530 trillion British Thermal Units (BTUs) of energy (enough to meet the needs of 5.5 million homes) and have helped manufacturers save more than $5.6 billion in energy costs.

  • The DOE is now pitching a long‐term vision for the U.S. electricity system to state regulators, with emphasis on three central themes: (1) a seamless system from generation to end use; (2) support of clean energy; (3) a system to empower consumers by providing more choices. Under this vision, the DOE hopes to easily integrate any form of energy generation or storage into the main infrastructure as well as make it easy for outsiders to offer new products, services, and markets.

  • President Obama’s 2013 energy budget request targets efficiency and renewable energy investment.

  • President Obama announces funding for alternative fuel technologies that is designed to capitalize on the nearly 100‐year supply of American natural gas. The DOE is also supporting development of transportation fuels from algae, and is currently backing more than 30 algae‐based biofuels projects. Algae‐derived biofuels have the potential to replace up to 17% of the U.S.’s imported oil for transportation.

In addition to the policy news, all of our nanotechnology updates provide readers with highlights and pertinent trends from the key sectors benefitting from advanced technologies and green investment.

The March 2012 update also includes sector developments from…

Cement/Concrete ▪ Display Technologies ▪ Lighting/Organic Light‐emitting Diodes (OLEDs) ▪ Nanomaterials ▪ Smart Grid Networks ▪ Water Treatment ▪ Windows