Home > Nanotechnology Columns > Alan Shalleck-NanoClarity > Near Term Nanotech Profits from Fuel and Transportation
 |
Alan Shalleck President NanoClarity LLC |
Abstract:
Where do near term profits from nanotech products come? From the transportation sector, nanotech executives! $50 - $100 tanks of gas should spur every nanotech executive to action. In business, follow the money. The money is now in nanotech opportunities to save fuel and energy. We are in a crisis, people. Be creative and aggressive. Anything that will save the car owner, the truck driver or the automobile and truck manufacturers gas or diesel fuel money will sell in our new energy "cost exhaustion" environment.
May 28th, 2008
Near Term Nanotech Profits from Fuel and Transportation
Near Term Nanotech Profits from Fuel and Transportation
By
Alan B. Shalleck
NanoClarity LLC
May 2008
What will bring nanotechnology investors and Wall Street back to nanotechnology companies? Only one thing … near tern profits from nanotech products and services. Few nanotech companies are anywhere near profitability today despite a push by industry mavens to refocus nanotech company efforts on products that sell and generate cash flow.
That the lack of profits affects how the industry is viewed was evident in the attendance at the recent NanoBusiness Alliance Conference in NY City where Wall Street was clearly absent and most of the attendees were at the scientific end or at the operational parts of their companies. PhD's always surrounded me at this conference; not by the usual driving nanotech senior executives or investment bankers … and that was where the industry was years ago. It was a time warp. I was puzzled by the phenomenon and worried that nanotechnology progress has not enough practical power to sustain the promise. Demonstrable profitability is required immediately. Here is a possible quick strategy to nanotech company profits. First, a tale we have recently all experienced.
I was checking out groceries at a local supermarket and the clerk was complaining that he had to spend one day of pay each week on gas just to get to a job that was a low paying job. He talked about fairness, economic viability and government assistance. He is not the only one now spending as much money per week on gas as food. Therein lies a near term nanotech opportunity.
Where do near term profits from nanotech products come? From the transportation sector, nanotech executives! $50 - $100 tanks of gas should spur every nanotech company president to action. In business, follow the money. The money is now in nanotech opportunities to save fuel and energy. We are in a crisis, people. Be creative and aggressive. Anything that will save the car owner, the truck driver or the automobile and truck manufacturers gas or diesel fuel money will sell in our new energy "cost exhaustion" environment.
Where might a nanotech company sell products to a commuter or truck driver? Think increasing miles/gallon. Clearly, one such opportunity is nanotech fuel additives that encourage better combustion and exhaust that is more efficient. In addition, since friction is a cause of lower efficiency and lower gas mileage, nanobased cylinder coatings that smooth "rubbing" surfaces or nanotech-based oil additives that improve cylinder lubricant coating would be other natural opportunities. Many companies have created products for these applications but have yet to put them in play. Are you waiting for $10/gallon gas? Talk to any driver and listen. If you can improve his gas mileage by 10-15% today with a nanotech coating or additive, he is going to buy your product. Sell it to him or her over the Internet … you do not need to stock Pep Boys or the supermarkets. Just put your fuel-conserving product on the market and advertise it on the net. If it works, through guerilla marketing you will be shipping more than you can manufacture. In this environment, customers will line up and profits will miraculously appear.
The bigger nanotech miles/gal increase play is with the car and truck companies. The auto and truck markets have reached a strategic inflection point. They need radically new engines with new lighter, stronger materials and overall weight reduction. Nanoceramic based engine blocks and heads are lighter and stronger with equal lifetimes. In volume production, these new engine blocks will be cost competitive, especially when applied to those inefficient dirty diesels. We have already seen some structural changes based on nanosized ceramic particle strengthening in truck and car frames and bodies. In this new expensive fuel environment, cars and trucks need step function not incremental weight reduction changes. Radical changes in materials are necessary for survival. All manufacturers now are willing to spend extra on lighter and stronger if it results in significantly more miles per gallon. US car manufacturers have to make major design materials changes or they will go out of business. Boeing did that with the 787 under Alan Mullaly. Do you think Mullaly is any less adventurous now that he is head of Ford? Call him.
Transportation is the new nano-market holy grail. Examine your technology and apply it to solve part of our energy problem in the transportation sector. Business is there for the taking and it can revitalize the nanotech industry with profits. If that occurs, Wall Street will notice and return to the table.
Alan B. Shalleck
NanoClarity LLC
www.nanoclarity.com
© NanoClarity LLC 2008
Bookmark:
 |
||
 |
||
| The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
 |
||
|
|
||
| Premium Products | ||
 |
||
|
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
 |
||
|
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||
|
|
||