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January 7th, 2010
Top Five Innovations to Watch in the Coming Decade
Abstract:
The next decade will see the realization of many of the buzzwords of the last decade. The combination of the information era, the biotechnology revolution, and materials breakthroughs will drive new medical and cleantech inventions that will change our lives. The future of innovation in the United States is promising at its core and we will win unless policy makers accidentally harm innovation. They seem to be trying to do just that, in spite of their rhetoric, by doubling capital gains taxes on investors who fund job-creating cleantech and medical breakthroughs, proposing revised patent laws to penalize innovations, and accidentally constraining capital markets for high-tech with onerous regulations.
Still, here are the five innovations to watch in the coming decade:
1. The Return of Nanotechnology. Although much maligned as a "bubble," this fundamental set of materials technologies than can unlock new physical properties and combinations of materials, has been percolating away. Look for major innovations in solar energy that can produce electricity at 6 cents per kilowatt hour and which will compete with conventional power without subsidy. These are in the field now and will blow away the current big names in solar thermal, concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) and thin film solar. New battery innovations on flexible substrates and new form factors that are 2-5 times more efficient than current lithium ion batteries will emerge from the laboratory.
Source:
xconomy.com
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