Graphene Revolution

Graphene has unique physical properties. It may be one of the strongest substances ever identified.

On that score, we’re still in the very early innings of understanding the technology that could come out of graphene. There’s plenty more to come from the world of graphene and future investment opportunities that we’ll discover over time.

Even early in the game this “super substance” represents an amazing opportunity for resource investors, considering the fantastic technical applications.

Will graphene replace silicon in computer chips? Yes, and it won’t take too long.

Graphene is thin, strong and electrically conductive. You can etch it. You can stack it and build whatever transistor you want to design.

“It is not only the thinnest material in the world,” says The New York Times, “but also the strongest: a sheet of it stretched over a coffee cup could support the weight of a truck bearing down on a pencil point.”

It’s not overstating the case to say that silicon is becoming obsolete. Somebody ought to tell the chip makers. OK, I’m just kidding — sort of. The chip makers know this. Indeed, you’ll eventually see graphene technology in common items like hand-held devices.

Can you add graphene to metal or plastic and make materials much stronger? I’m glad you asked, because you sure can. You can actually add graphene to molten metal and when it cools, the graphene crystals will align within the metallic crystal structure. It helps that graphene doesn’t even begin to break down until over 3,000 degrees Celsius — hotter than the melting point of almost any metal. So now you can have graphene-strengthened supermetals.

In fact, the head chemist for one company I’ve been following showed me a piece of boring old polystyrene plastic that he re-extruded and impregnated just with nanotubes — not even graphene. The stuff was nearly unbreakable. “This was just to prove up the extrusion process,” he said. “Now imagine how strong that’ll be when we add actual graphene.”

Using graphene, we’re talking about an entire new generation of supermaterials, with Star Trek qualities. In one back-of-the envelope calculation, we figured that a graphene-strengthened piece of plastic or steel just a fraction of an inch thick could offer the same protection as 8 inches of armor plate.

What else? How about alternative energy applications? Imagine graphene coatings on windows that, in effect, create solar panels with efficiencies over twice what people are currently getting from the best panels. Think in terms of solar cells with 75% efficiency and more. Maybe we really will see solar-powered skyscrapers.

From: http://dailyreckoning.com/graphene/

Solar Power Revolution Documentary

This takes the edge off the myths and dis-information about the solar industry and shows that a solar economy is much closer than we think. Next year, there are already rolling Giga Watts of solar cells on the conveyor belt. The industry has mastered the technology and the machines.

If it were up to the sun, we would have no energy problem. Every half hour on the Earth’s surface, there is more than enough light to provide energy needs for the whole world in a year. We don’t have an energy problem, we have a conversion problem. If we are able to harvest sunlight in smart way, then we can prevent a global energy crisis.