In this issue we report on the role nanomaterials will play in a clean tech future.

The brilliant American architect, Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fullerene, most remembered for the geodesic dome buildings he created, including Spaceship Earth at Walt Disney World Epcot Centre, the Eden Project and the Montreal Biosphere, believed human societies would one day rely mainly on renewable sources of energy and he hoped for an age of “omni-successful education and sustenance of all humanity”.

Harold Craighead, head of the Nanobiotechnology Center at Cornell, is considered to be one of the great international figures of the nanoscience revolution. He talks to Ottilia Saxl of NANO Magazine about Cornell’s early vision for supporting nanoscience research, his own role in realizing a network of national centres to support nanoscience research, his particular commitment to using nanofabrication techniques to support Nanobioscience research, and how this has led to exciting new research directions.

While the media attention on the Copenhagen conference on climate change has subsided and the pressure on politicians of all nations to reach a meaningful emission reduction target may have been taken off the boil, the impact of global warming on our environment and climate keeps mounting.

Climate change, long-term energy supply, clean water and environment are among the top ten challenges humanity is facing in the next century. They are the key drivers for sustainable technologies which are often referred to as “cleantech”.