With prices for a barrel of oil around $130 and Americans facing $4-a-gallon fuel prices at the pump, people are getting really worried. As well they should be. Here in Spain, a truckers’ strike to protest the rising price of diesel over the last six months resulted in gas stations without fuel and grocery stores with empty shelves within just 3 short days.
But not to worry, technology will fix all this, right? The optimist in me says, “maybe a little.” And the pessimist in me says, “It won’t be nearly enough.”
With this thinking as a backdrop, I came across a recent editorial piece from Allan Shalleck at Nanotech-Now "Near Term Nanotech Profits from Fuel and Transportation". The article basically laments how after years of investment (and I might add, hype) nanotechnology companies are still not producing the kind of profits that would make most businessmen, and in particular Wall Street types, take notice.
Shalleck urges that companies involved in nanotech should really be focusing their efforts in the energy and transportation sectors. If they do, Shalleck reasons, they will be raking in the profits.
Sounds reasonable enough. But the biggest story over the last few years in nano-enabled fuel additives that improve efficiency: Oxonica’s Envirox™, has turned into a legal battle with Neuftec over IP issues, and looks to be causing Oxonica…well let’s call it difficulties.
If Envirox™ is an example of how easy it is to come up with a nano-enabled fuel additive and have people knocking down your door to give you money, then we should expect it to be a bumpy road getting these solutions to market.
I also came across this recent announcement from Industrial Nanotech Inc. that claims its Chinese distributor has begun working with a major Asian automotive manufacturer to trial the company's patented NanoBoost™ automotive parts coating for heat control and increased fuel efficiency.
Ah yes, “the trial”. I guess you have to see if the stuff actually works. This distills what has really been ailing nanotech’s economics: a lack of patience.
But on the positive side, nanotech doesn’t need to worry about being on technology push side of the equation anymore. There is certainly market pull now. Whether it will be able to show economic results fast enough to satisfy Wall Street types almost seems inconsequential in the face of whether it will be able to meet the market demand for fuel savings.
