Nanotechnology and Global Sustainability

329 Pages·2011·3.554 MB·English

by  Donald Maclurcan, Natalia Radywyl

Electrical Engineering
perspectives in nanotechnology
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The rise of collaborative consumption, peer-to-peer systems, and not-for-profit
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social enterprise heralds the emergence of a new era of human collectivity.
Increasingly, this consolidation stems from an understanding that big-banner a Nanotechnology
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issues—such as climate change—are not the root causes of our present global
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predicament. There is a growing and collective view that issues such as this are
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actually symptoms of a much more vicious, seemingly insurmountable condition: e
Global Sustainability
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our addiction to economic, consumption, and population growth in a world of
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finite resources.
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Nanotechnology and Global Sustainability uses nanotechnology—the
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product of applied scientific knowledge to control and utilize matter at atomic o
and molecular scales—as a lens through which to explore the interrelationship g
between innovation, politics, economy, and sustainability. This groundbreaking y

book addresses how stakeholders can actively reshape agendas to create a
positive and sustainable futures through this latest controversial, cross-sectoral n
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technology. It moves beyond issues of efficiency, productivity, and utility, exploring

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the insights of 22 contributors from around the world, whose work spans the
disciplines of science and the humanities. Their combined knowledge, reinforced l
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with various case studies, introduces an exciting prospect—how we can innovate b
without economic growth. a
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This new volume in the Perspectives in Nanotechnology series is edited by Dr. S
Donald Maclurcan and Dr. Natalia Radywyl. Dr. Maclurcan is a social innovator u
and Honorary Research Fellow with the Institute for Nanoscale Technology at the s
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University of Technology Sydney, Australia. Dr. Radywyl is a social researcher a
and Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Culture and Communication at i
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the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow in
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the Faculty of Life and Social Sciences at Swinburne University of Technology, b
Melbourne. This book is written for a wide audience and will be of particular i
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interest to activists, scholars, policy makers, scientists, business professionals, i
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and others who seek an understanding of how we might justly transition to y
sustainable societies.
Edited by
K12602
Donald Maclurcan • Natalia Radywyl
ISBN: 978-1-4398-5576-8
90000
9 781439 855768
K12602_COVER_final.indd 1 11/7/11 11:34 AM

Nanotechnology and
Global Sustainability
Perspectives in Nanotechnology
Series Editor
Gabor L. Hornyak
Nanotechnology and the Public: Risk Perception and Risk Communication
Susanna Hornig Priest
Medical Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine
Harry F. Tibbals
Nanotechnology: The Business
Michael T. Burke
Nanotechnology: Ethics and Society
Deb Bennett-Woods
Nanotechnology Health and Environmental Risks
Jo Anne Shatkin
Nanotechnology: Legal Aspects
Patrick M. Boucher
Nanotechnology and Global Sustainability
Edited by Donald Maclurcan and Natailia Radywyl
Forthcoming title
Nanotechnology Intellectual Property Rights: Research, Design, and Commercialization
Prabuddha Ganguli and Siddharth Jabade
Nanotechnology
and
Global Sustainability
Edited by
Donald Maclurcan
Natalia Radywyl
Boca Raton London New York
CRC Press is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
LOC Page
Contents
List of Figures .......................................................................................................vii
List of Tables ...........................................................................................................ix
Foreword .................................................................................................................xi
Editors .....................................................................................................................xv
Contributors ........................................................................................................xvii
Acronyms ............................................................................................................xxv
Section I Limits
1 Nanotechnology and Limits to Growth .....................................................3
Donnie Maclurcan and Natalia Radywyl
2 Nanotechnology and the Environment ....................................................21
David J. Hess and Anna Lamprou
3 Nanotechnology and Traditional Knowledge Systems ........................45
Ron Eglash
Section II Capacity
4 Nanotechnology and Geopolitics:
There’s Plenty of Room at the Top ............................................................69
Stephanie Howard and Kathy Jo Wetter
5 Nanotechnology, Agriculture, and Food................................................117
Kristen Lyons, Gyorgy Scrinis, and James Whelan
6 Poor Man’s Nanotechnology—From the Bottom Up (Thailand) ......141
Sunandan Baruah, Joydeep Dutta, and Gabor L. Hornyak
Section III Appropriateness
7 Nanotechnology and Global Health .......................................................157
Deb Bennett-Woods
8 Toward Pro-Poor Nano-Innovation (Zimbabwe, Peru, Nepal) .........175
David J. Grimshaw
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vi Contents
9 Open Source Appropriate Nanotechnology .........................................191
Usman Mushtaq and Joshua M. Pearce
Section IV Governance
10 Nanotechnology and Risk ........................................................................217
Fern Wickson
11 Nanotechnology and State Regulation (India) .....................................241
Nidhi Srivastava and Nupur Chowdhury
12 Nanotechnology and Global Regulation ...............................................261
Diana M. Bowman and Graeme A. Hodge
13 Nanotechnology without Growth ...........................................................281
Donnie Maclurcan and Natalia Radywyl
List of Figures
Figure 3.1 (a) Malaysian sepak ball (b) C fullerene molecule. ..................55
60
Figure 3.2 Design created by a Potawatomi student with the
Anishinaabe Arcs tool. .........................................................................................59
Figure 3.3 Students prepare Maya blue by mixing indigo with
palygorskite clay. ...................................................................................................60
Figure 6.1 Centre of Excellence. .....................................................................144
Figure 6.2 Porous alumina, left and right. ...................................................148
Figure 6.3 Porous alumina (a) and (b). ..........................................................149
Figure 6.4 Super-hydrophobic cotton. ..........................................................151
Figure 8.1 Seven-P framework of new technologies...................................178
Figure 8.2 Holistic picture of the problem situation. .................................182
Figure 8.3 Technology as an enabler. ............................................................185
Figure 11.1 Overview of primary regulatory actors in India ...................252
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