Nanotechnology as a Tool for Enhanced Renewable Energy Application in Developing Countries

Abstract

EditorialEnergy plays a key role in the socio-economic, technological and political development of any nation. Inadequate supply of energy restricts socio-economic activity, limits technological and hence economic growth and adversely affects the quality of life. In fact, it is widely accepted that there is a strong correlation between socioeconomic development and energy availability of a given nation.Most developing countries are faced with acute energy problems; yet many have vast renewable and non-renewable energy potentials. In particular, energy supply in form of electricity is so poor in many of these countries that industrial and economic activities are seriously retarded. For example, Nigeria, which is a typical example of a developing country, has a total of 14 power plants, consisting of hydro and thermal power stations with an installed capacity of 7,876 MW. The country generates less than 4,000 MW to feed a population of nearly 180 million. This is grossly inadequate and results in massive load shedding which cannot be relied upon for meaningful industrial development expected of a country with such human and materials resources. To ameliorate this problem, industries and household tremendously engage in using generating set to offset this short fall in power supply. Among other problems, this form of energy supply is not reliable for robust industrial and economic activities. It also results in the emission of GHG which helps to worsen the global warming problem. In addition to the inadequate and epileptic power generation, there is also the problem of antiquated transmission lines and poor transmission coverage in the country. This scenario is typical of many developing countries.As pointed out in an earlier editorial, renewable energy, defined as energy that comes from resources which is naturally replenished on a human timescale, is vital to the much needed socio-economic development of the developing countries. Nanotechnology has the potential to provide cleaner, more affordable, more efficient and more reliable ways to harness renewable energy resources. This can help developing countries to overcome their energy supply challenges and move towards energy self-sufficiency while simultaneously reducing dependence on non-renewable, contaminating energy sources.Nanotechnology is the study, design, creation, synthesis, manipulation, and application of functional materials, devices, and systems through control of matter at the scale of 1-100 nm as well as the exploitation of novel phenomena and properties of matter which are known to arise at that scale including physical, chemical, electrical, mechanical, optical and magnetic properties. It is employed to improve the efficiency of energy generation, particularly in form of photovoltaic (PV) cells or to develop new methods to generate energy. It is also utilized for improved wind and geothermal power generation, energy storage, lighting and hydrogen fuel cells among others renewable energy applications.In the area of energy generation, the greatest ...

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“…Energy is an important resource that has a strong correlation between economic growth and development [ 233 ]. Today, the main energy sources are from fossil fuels and hydroelectric sources, which are very harmful to environment because they can cause climate change and global warning as well as ozone layer depletion, pollution, greenhouse gases emission and ecological destruction [ 234 – 236 ].…”

“…Understanding the structural and morphological properties of nanomaterial is essential to obtain the proficiency and sustainability for many applications. The greatest application of nanotechnology in energy generation is solar energy using photovoltaic (PV) cells which focuses on harnessing efficiency [ 233 ]. Consumption of energy generated from this solar cell using natural resources will reduce the usage of fossil fuel and decrease the pollution towards creating environmentally friendly and green energy [ 239 ].…”

“…Nanotechnology has been used in various applications to improve the environment, to solve humanity problems and to produce more efficient and cost-effective energy, such as generating less pollution during products manufacturing, producing solar and fuel cells at a competitive cost, hydrogen production, cleaning up organic chemicals polluting groundwater and overcoming the problem of energy sufficiency, climate change and diseases as well as to reduce the dependency on non-renewable energy sources [ 233 , 235 , 240 ].…”

“…According to Serrano et al [ 234 ] and Hut et al [ 235 ], current photovoltaic (PV) market is based on silicon wafer-based solar cells (first generation) and thin film layers of semiconductor materials (second generation). Current drawback of using solar cells is the cost of manufacturing mainly on the high cost of conventional PV cells with poor energy absorption efficiency (less than 40%) [ 233 ].…”

An overview on the use of nanotechnology in the renewable energy field

“…Nanotechnology has applications in the efficient use, storage and production of energy, as well as in the detection and cleaning of environmental pollutants. It is known that nanotechnology, which provides applications such as providing clean drinking water, improving the quality of the air, developing new energy sources and also removing dangerous and toxic substances from the environment we live in, is effective in creating a sustainable environment [5]. In wind energy, productivity feasible is increased by using light and more resistant nano-products in rotor part.…”