Peter H. Bell: “just after being sworn in as a Member of Congress, I had the privilege of listening to Dr. Richard Smalley, who is a…”

“just after being sworn in as a Member of Congress, I had the privilege of listening to Dr. Richard Smalley, who is a Nobel Laureate who now teaches at Rice University and is recognized as a leader in the area of nanotechnology. During the course of his speech, many of his remarks were directed towards the impact that photoresearch and the area of nanotechnology could have in the area of energy. He pointed out to the crowd assembled that evening how in this particular area regarding energy, nanotechnology could very much change the world in which we live. I am not a scientist, but when people start talking about how something could change the world in a very beneficial manner, those words get my attention. The purpose of the amendment that we present here today is to single out energy, along with the other important areas for research that are already set forth within the bill. Nanotechnology holds the promise to make energy production cheap and relatively pollution-free by reducing the cost of solar and fuel cell technology anywhere from 10 to 100 fold. Nanotech lighting technology could replace incandescent and fluorescent lights with enormous energy cost savings across every sector of the economy.”