Can nanocrystals stop the climate change?

View Can nanocrystals stop the climate change?

Presenter: Frank Riehle

Published: April 2015

Age: 14-19 and upwards

Views: 2711 views

Tags: nanocrystal;quantum dot;quantum-size effect;CO2 emission;global warming;climate change;fossil resources;biomass;algae;photosynthesis;LED;green energy

Type: Lectures

Source/institution: Sichuan University


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Fossil resources are limited and their CO2 emission strongly contributes to the global warming which is mainly responsible for the increasing appearance of natural catastrophes. Renewable biomass which can be converted into various forms of usable energy such as methane gas, might be a promising alternative to coal, oil and natural gas. CO2 resulting from biomass does not contribute to the global warming because it is part of the carbon cycle. Algae which grow 5 to 10 times faster than plants on land, are the most efficient source for biomass. However, their cultivation in deeper sea areas requires an artificial light system which should be robust, energy-saving and emit in the blue and red spectrum of the light where photosynthesis works most efficiently. The emission color of novel Nanocrystal LEDs or NanoLEDs can be precisely tuned over the whole visible range by just changing the nanocrystal size, an optical phenomenon known as quantum-size effect. Using optimized NanoLEDs might enable plants to grow even faster than under direct sunlight. In the future, traditional off-shore oil rigs could be replaced by CO2 neutral biomass power stations producing green energy from algae and NanoLEDs powered by the abundant energy of wind and sun.

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