3M forms Renewable Energy Divison to evolve cleantech materials for energy generation and management
February 03 2009 / by Garry Golden / In association with Future Blogger.net
Category: Energy Year: General Rating: 2
The case for investing in a 'New Energy Economy' was just validated by one of the world's leading material solutions companies.
3M has announced the formal creation of its new Renewable Energy Division that will include two divisions dedicated to Energy Generation & Energy Management.
The Energy Generation Division will develop materials for solar, wind, geothermal and biofuel solutions such as films, tapes, coatings, encapsulants, sealants and adhesives to reduce costs and improve performance.
The Energy Management Division will focus on thermal efficiences (e.g. film efficiencies), membranes for energy storage devices (e.g. fuel cells, batteries) and other applications for the Automotive, Commercial Building and Residential market segments.
New Energy Economy depends on Advanced Nanostructured Materials
This is big news for the cleantech sector. Energy is about interactions between light, molecules, metals, and heat. The only way to build a 'green' economy is to advance materials that make these interactions cleaner and lower cost.
3M has the resources to fundamentally change the performance-price points of cleantech materials. And it is a corporate stamp of approval on the idea that we must begin to move beyond extracting ancient stored energy (coal, oil and natural gas) and shift towards producing and storing energy using renewable resources that make clean electrons and clean molecules.
Comment Thread (2 Responses)
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3M is a world class advanced materials Innovation Company. They have already developed, demonstrated and achieved over 7300 hours with their membrane electrode assembly which exceeds the DOE 2010 target for fuel cell durability.
Posted by: dni24405 February 03, 2009
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dni: Thanks for note on the MEA… few people understand the price/performance importance of membranes in fuel cells. Would encourage a post on this if you are so moved!
Agreed they are a world class company!! Garry
Posted by: Garry Golden February 04, 2009
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