Nanotechnologies & Environment.

In 2050, developing countries will account for 60% of world GHG emissions. In fact, these countries are expected to go into a long-run industrialization process. Thus, it is important to integrate them in future negotiations. However, if these countries adhere to international treaties for GHG emission reduction they will bear much of the costs. Officials of these countries argue that they do not want be penalized for their development. As mentioned in previous posts (16-12-05 and 20-02-06) Tunisia has signed the Kyoto protocol, but what is the cost of the signing this agreement? Are there any cost effective alternatives for our country? The answer is affirmative and it seems that this is going to be one of the newest trends for solving environmental problems. According the EPA, reducing pollution at the source "is fundamentally different and more desirable" than managing waste and controlling pollution. One way to do this is to use nanotechnologies. David Rejeski, director of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, said that "Nanotechnology holds tremendous potential for pollution prevention and sustainability, especially in the areas of clean water, energy and efficient sensors". What is “Nanotechnology”?

Wikipedia defines Nanotechnology as any technology which exploits phenomena and structures that can only occur at the nanometer scale, which is the scale of several atoms and small molecules. The United States National Nanotechnology Initiative defines it as follows: "Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 nanometers, where unique phenomena enable novel applications." Emerging Nanotechnologies hold great promise for creating new means of detecting pollutants, cleaning polluted waste streams, recovering materials before they become wastes, and expanding available resources. Like all emerging technologies with great promise, the Nanotechnology and Nanochemistry industries will present new challenges in ensuring that environmental risks are properly managed (more details). Green chemistry means designing chemical products and processes in a way that reduces or eliminates hazardous substances from the beginning to end of a chemical product's life cycle. However, there are risks associated with Nanotechnologies. According to the findings of researchers in this field (more details) there are three main threats at the following levels (i) exposure, environmental fate, and transport, (ii) toxicity, and (iii) global impact and life cycles. Examples: - Biotechnology offers the promise of more resistant crops, medicines grown in genetically modified plants, and designer bacteria capable of cleaning up oil spills. However, the implications of these genetically modified organisms for existing ecosystems and human health are unclear. - Membrane technologies can be used to desalinate water, and remove trace quantities of toxic substances from drinking water. Conversely, the manufacture of these membranes may expose workers to solvents, concentrated streams of waste materials may be generated by membrane facilities, and large quantities of un-degradable waste may result from membrane disposal.

We would like to thank Slaim for the article that he sent us on Nanotechnologies: U.S. Regulators, Experts Launch "Green" Nanotechnology Effort.