Sergio Kapusta: Nanotechnology’s promise in five, ten, fifteen years, or maybe longer, is that it will allow us to illuminate the reservoir, to illuminate the rocks. What do we mean when we say illuminate the reservoir? It means we can see what’s happening underground from the surface. We can see where the oil is, where the water is, where the gas is, and in doing so, find better ways to produce hydrocarbons.
Erika Montero: You are listening to EarthSky’s podcast, La Clara Voz.
According to Sergio Kapusta, Chief Scientist in Materials for Shell, in terms of energy the world faces three challenges and there is no silver bullet for their solution. However nanotechnology is being implemented in the development of innovations that will help solve this energy challenge.
Erika Montero: Dr. Kapusta, we are talking about the convergence of two powerful forces in the world today. The first one being the increase in energy demand world wide. The second being a technology that many believe has great potential: nanotechnology. What is nanotechnology?
Sergio Kapusta: Erika, I am very glad you’re asking me this question, because a lot of comments have been made on the subject of nanotechnology and because it has received a lot of press in recent years. Nanotechnology refers to the manipulation of matter at the scale of atoms or molecules, which is the distance of a nanometer, and that’s where the name nanotechnology comes from. To give you an idea of what a nanometer is, compare the size of a soccer ball with the size of the Earth. This difference in size is the same relationship that exists between a meter and a nanometer. Nanotechnology refers to this very small size.
Erika Montero: Why does Shell want to use this technology? In you answer could you touch on what Shell calls the energy challenge?
Sergio Kapusta: Yes, at Shell we consider that our world faces an energy challenge which is made up of three elements, so we also called it a ‘trilema’, and the three parts of the trilema are: first, that the worlds energy demand is going to grow and such growth will increase due to the population growth and economic growth.
The second part of this challenge is the fact that the production of easy energy, extraction of easy oil, will not keep pace with the growing demand, that is if it hasn’t already disappeared. Over the years our society was founded in the use of energy that was easy to obtain, on cheap energy based on the use of gas and oil, of hydrocarbons. However these hydrocarbons are becoming increasingly more difficult to find and to produce.
The third part of our trilema is the growing environmental impact that will result from greater demand and increased difficulty in extraction. These are the three components to the energy challenge.
How do we think nanotechnology will help? Well, I believe that nanotechnology will help us obtain more energy and provide more energy to society. It can help us obtain energy from sources where extraction is difficult at this time and therefore improve our capability to obtain more energy. And third, something very important, it can help us solve the environmental problems or at least decrease them.
Erika Montero: Now, what innovations based on nanotechnology are being used currently to help with the decreasing supply of easy oil?
Sergio Kapusta: Yes, for example, we say that nanotechnology as such, is something that has been used for quite some time. Implementation of nanotechnology began ten or twenty years ago, however we’ve used nanotechnology in catalysers for longer than that, in the conversion of oil into gasoline or oil into other products. So, nanotechnology has been used to do this conversion for at least a hundred years and has allowed us to obtain more products and more obtain benefits from a barrel of oil.
Currently, nanotechnology is being used in the construction or manufacture of materials that allow us to reach sources of oil, sources of energy that were unreachable not too long ago due to the lack of these materials. These materials are more robust, more tenacious, they are lighter and allow us to drill deeper wells or to operate in deeper waters. Other things that are being used at this time are, for example, materials resistant to corrosion and materials resistant to dirtiness. These are just some of the examples, there are many more.
Erika Montero: When will these innovations based on nanotechnology begin to create changes in the energy industry?
Sergio Kapusta: The first part of my answer is that, we can’t think that nanotechnology will be the ‘silver bullet’, something that will solve all of our problems immediately or by itself. Nanotechnology will probably and possibly will contribute to the development of other technologies in the oil production industry as well as in the use of other types of energy such a as solar energy. However it will not achieve this on it’s own but by working in collaboration with other technologies
Second, I do not foresee a drastic change and an overnight solution to the energy problems just because of nanotechnology. What will take place is the progressive development of solutions through the years, such as those we see today. There have already been applications of nanotechnology that affect the way we produce energy currently.
What ca we expect? Long term we can expect some of the innovations, previously mentioned such as illuminating the reservoir, acquiring more information about what lies beneath the surface. Maybe we can achieve what is called ‘association of intelligent nano particles’ that could transmit information between them and that do not require human intervention to make a decision. For example, the possible development of materials that will search for oil on their own instead of needing human direction.
Another innovation may be in communications, so that the information we obtain underground can be transmitted to the surface. And finally, in the conversion of energy as I mentioned previously, such as improved combustion, improved conversion of solar energy into chemical energy, better use of energy due to the implementation of materials that are more resistant, lighter and more robust. All these changes, as I said, will be gradual, progressive and will take place in the span of several years.
Erika Montero: What do you think is the most important thing people should know about nanotechnology, in your own words?
Sergio Kapusta: That nanotechnology on it’s own will probably not solve the problems, But it will by working in conjunction with other technologies. As far as the energy challenge, this is a problem, an issue that society as a whole will have to solve. To do so, it will require the collaboration from all entities, industry, governments, educational institutions, universities, research centers and society in general. We all need to work together because it is, for me, the fundamental issue, it is one of the greatest challenges that humanity has known and I am convinced that we will solve it, that together we will solve it.
Erika Montero: Our thanks to Sergio Kapusta from Shell. I am Erika Montero and this was La Clara Voz podcast, produced by EarthSky Communications.
