For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Resource Center on Agriculture and Climate and our Nanotechnology Information page.

“Very few people have looked beyond the shiny promise of nanotechnology to try and understand how this far-reaching new technique is actually developing. This report is an excellent glimpse inside, and it offers a judicious and balanced account of a subject we need very much to be thinking about.” – Bill McKibben

As concerns mount around climate change, pollution and resource depletion, nanotechnology has emerged as a supposed savior for these problems. But to date, the technology has failed to make good on its promises. Friends of the Earth’s groundbreaking report, Nanotechnology, climate and energy: over-heated promises and hot air?, rigorously examines the industry claims that nanotechnology will allow for continued economic growth and resource use while minimizing the environmental impact of these activities.

Nanotechnology and Energy Nanotechnology has the potential to transform the way we harness, use and store energy. Research has demonstrated its prospective value in renewable energy, the hydrogen sector, and other areas of energy production. However the report reveals the complications in determining energy savings. Nanotechnology requires large amounts of energy in manufacturing and may not deliver the levels of savings it promises.