Recently, the World Economic Forum and the “Scientific American” magazine jointly released the “Top Ten Emerging Technologies of 2020”. The international expert steering group selected these technologies from 75 technical nominations.
When selecting these ten emerging technologies, experts said that these technologies must have the potential to surpass the present and stimulate social and economic progress in the future. They must also be sufficiently novel (that is, not yet widely used), but they are likely to have a significant impact in the next three to five years.
Two of the top ten technologies this year involve chemistry, namely solar chemistry and green hydrogen energy.
Solar chemistry-turning carbon dioxide into treasure
Fossil fuels are needed to produce many of the chemicals we depend on. But a new method is expected to reduce fossil fuel emissions by using sunlight to convert waste carbon dioxide into useful chemicals. In recent years, researchers have developed photocatalysts that can break the resistant double bond between carbon and oxygen in carbon dioxide. This means that we have taken a crucial first step towards the establishment of a “solar” refinery. The refinery can produce useful compounds from the exhaust gas, including “platform” molecules, which can be used as raw materials for the synthesis of various products such as medicines, detergents, fertilizers and textiles.
Green hydrogen energy-filling a huge gap in renewable energy
When hydrogen is burned, the only by-product is water, and when hydrogen is produced by electrolysis from renewable energy, the hydrogen becomes “green” and pollution-free. Earlier this year, it was predicted that by 2050, the potential market size of the green hydrogen energy industry may approach US$12 trillion. Why? Because it can play a key role in the energy transition by helping to reduce the carbon content of sectors such as transportation and manufacturing, which are difficult to electrify due to the need for high-energy fuels.
Ten emerging technologies also include:
- Microneedle technology and equipment can be used for painless injection and testing;
- Virtual patients can use virtual devices instead of volunteers for clinical trials such as vaccine testing;
- Space computing, cloud computing and lidar technology can be used to digitize people and objects, monitor the target location at any time and optimize its path of action;
- Digital medical care can automatically perform body detection, disease management and medical care for patients;
- Electric aviation, replacing the fuel engine of an airplane with an electric motor;
- Low-carbon concrete, which means optimizing the composition ratio of building materials or adding effective bacteria to develop low-carbon concrete;
- Quantum sensors, improve the accuracy and stability of quantum sensors, and use them in medical and national defense;
- The whole gene is assembled, the genetic sequence is designed using software, and 3D printing technology can be used for biological manufacturing and medical experiments.
