Here in the US, we tend to equate drought with California.  In recent years, California has made the news time and time again for increasingly strict rules on water usage.  In 2016 the Northeast is also suffering our worst drought in the last 20 years. To most Americans, the idea of water rationing is something that is almost entirely foreign.  Unfortunately, for hundreds of millions of Chinese, water rationing is a fact of life.

With a US population of approximately 320 million people, America has total renewable water resources of 3,069 cubic kilometers.  By contrast, China has a population of 1.37 billion people but only has total renewable water resources of 2,840 cubic kilometers.  This means that the average Chinese has access to less than a quarter of the water resources of the average American.  A full 60% of Chinas 661 cities face seasonal water shortages, while over 100 cities suffer severe water constraints.  Starting in 2013, the Chinese central government began issuing water quotas to every single province in the Peoples Republic.  Many experts predict that China faces a looming water crisis.

Due to the urgent nature of water resource usage in China, both the Chinese government and the Chinese private sector are taking rapid action to address the issue.  The Chinese government is currently constructing a multi-decade infrastructure mega-project called the South-North Water Transfer Project, which upon completion aims to divert 44.8 cubic kilometers of freshwater annually from water-rich Southern China to water-poor Northern China.  Meanwhile, environmentally-conscious corporations such as Alibaba are now building data centers that are cooled by natural bodies of water.

Nevertheless, China still has a long way to go if it wants to use its limited water resources to maximum efficiency, and everyone there knows it.  It is estimated that Chinese capital expenditure on industrial water and wastewater treatment will top $6.8 billion by 2020. Opportunities abound for American water companies with the right technology and the desire to enter the Chinese market.  However, navigating through the complex landscape of the Chinese market can be very difficult, especially without a local Chinese partner.

The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) will hold the next in its series of free webinars addressing challenges in commercializing nanotechnology on Thursday, September 22, 2016, from 1 to 2 PM EDT. This webinar will focus on the insurance industry and the challenges of underwriting nanotechnology and other emerging technologies. NNCO Director Dr. Michael Meador will moderate the webinar discussion.

Free NNCO Webinar: Nanotechnology and the Insurance Industry
Thursday, September 22, 2016, from 1 to 2 PM EDT
REGISTER

SPEAKERS

Allen Gelwick, Executive Vice President of the Lockton Companies. Mr. Gelwick is a leading insurance expert and has been active in the nanotechnology community for over ten years.

Christie Sayes, Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Toxicology at Baylor University. Dr. Sayes is a subject matter expert in nanomaterial-related toxicology and exposure.

David Swatzell, Managing Partner at Knowtional, a management consulting firm. Mr. Swatzell is a business strategy expert in IT and other high-tech industries. Prior to joining Knowtional, he held various senior positions at Hewlett-Packard and other technology firms.

Madhu Nutakki, Digital Chief Technology Officer, Innovation & Mobile Delivery, at AIG. Mr. Nutakki develops digital strategies from concept to implementation at AIG, one of the world’s largest insurance companies.

AUDIENCE
Representatives of the insurance industry, the nanotechnology business community, and interested members of the general public, media, academia, industry, NGOs, and Federal, State, and local governments are encouraged to participate.

WHY
To engage in a dialogue about insurance and risk issues of interest to the nanotechnology and insurance communities through a free, online format.

HOW
Invited speakers will begin the event by providing an overview of their experiences, successes, and challenges in insuring and underwriting products based on nanotechnology and other emerging technologies.

Questions for the panel can be submitted to webinar@nnco.nano.gov from now through the end of the webinar at 2 PM on September 22, 2016.

REGISTRATION
This webinar is free and open to the public with registration on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration is now open and will be capped at 500. To register, visit https://nnco.adobeconnect.com/e2lmvye37yw/event/registration.html

MEDIA CONTACT
Marlowe Newman
NNCO Communications Director
mnewman@nnco.nano.gov
703-292-7128

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NNI REQUEST

NanoBCA strongly recommends that Nanotechnology Community members take the opportunity to comment on the Draft 2016 NNI Strategic Plan.

Draft 2016 NNI Strategic Plan Available for Public Comment
Comments are due by Friday, September 23^rd.

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NANO NEWS

 
NanoBCA Member: NanoMech Wins Contract from U.S. Army to Develop Next-Generation Combat Uniforms

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NANO EVENT

Nano Manufacturing 2016
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering
Greensboro, NC
Register $250

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Once again, NanoBCA recommends your participation in the NNCO’s free webinar on Thursday, September 22^nd.  Also, please take the time to comment on the Draft 2016 NNI Strategic Plan.

The NanoBusiness Commercialization Association (NanoBCA) highly recommends participation in this very important survey.  The NanoBCA is distributing this information on behalf of Matthew D. Wood, US Army Engineer Research & Development Center, Matthew.D.Wood@usace.army.mil.  Any questions or comments should be directed to Matthew D. Wood.

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is developing a web-enabled information and screening tool to help small businesses integrating or developing nanoscale materials address uncertainty related to regulatory compliance and environment, health, and occupational safety (EHOS) risks. To that end, we are conducting a brief survey to identify resources, regulations, and risks that are most important to companies and other organizations involved in product and material development. The insights you provide in this survey will help develop user requirements for a tool that can address future EHOS and regulatory needs in nanotech development for organizations like yours.

The U.S. Army ERDC is an expert in nanomaterial EHOS. It is a member agency of the National Nanotechnology Initiative through its affiliation with the Department of Defense and has produced many tools and publications in this research area.

All responses will be held in confidence by researchers at the U.S. Army ERDC. This survey will take about 10 minutes to complete. Please send us your responses by September 15, 2016.

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2982081/nanoSurvey

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NANO EVENT

Free NNCO Webinar: Nanotechnology and the Insurance Industry
Thursday, September 22, 2016, from 1 to 2 PM EDT
REGISTER

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NANO NEWS

A Brief Guide to Nanotechnology’s History
Gods of Small Things
Slate

EPA Establishes Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals and Seeks Experts to Serve

Continuous Roll-Process Technology for Transferring and Packaging Flexible LSI
National Nanomanufacturing Network Newsletter

Will the Science of Atom-size Objects Reshape the Economy?
CQ Researcher

PEN Inc. Announces Second Quarter 2016 Financial Results
Market Wired

The Nanotechnology Startup Challenge in Cancer Announces 10 Winning Teams to Launch Startups around Promising Inventions
PR Web

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Once again, we ask you to participate in this very important survey.  Thank you for your time and cooperation.

By Vincent Caprio

Hurricane Hermine Misses Northeast, But Drought Remains

We survived Hurricane Hermine!  Actually, the hurricane did not hit the Northeast. That is the good news. The bad news is the Northeast did not get the needed rainfall. We continue to be in the worst drought in the last 10 years. Last year I said the California drought was coming to your neighborhood …  The Drought Comes East: All Water is Local

Summertime in the Northeast is a beautiful season well known for warm weather and backyard barbecues. There is nothing better than grilled fresh corn and local juicy tomatoes bought from your local farm market or produce section of the grocery store. Unfortunately, shoppers have been noticing an increase in prices of their favorite summer produce. This is the first time many people are realizing there is a drought in this country that reaches their own backyard.

I live in a Connecticut town where 20 percent of the area is used for farming. I have the opportunity to eat fresh vegetables and lettuce everyday in the summer. The drought in New England has affected the prices of produce. My favorite fruit is fresh blueberries for my Greek yogurt. Last summer 1 pint was $2.50 – this summer (2016) it is $5.00.

​Ask any farmer or gardener in the Northeast and you will hear the same results; this year has been a tough growing season. Between January 1 and June 29 of this year, the average precipitation levels between NYC and Boston, MA have decreased by about five inches. These changes are not going unnoticed. Residents are seeing brown lawns, pollen levels have increased throughout the region, and we are paying higher prices for locally grown produce. Farmers are watching their crop yields diminish with every dry day that passes by and must raise prices to cover the costs of growing. More and more Northeast farmers have been making the expensive upgrade to drip-irrigation systems to further preserve their water supply, which is becoming exceedingly scarce.

What can be done to reverse the damages from this drought that we are seeing in our own backyards? The answers that our children learn in elementary school such as “take shorter showers” and “don’t excessively water your lawn” are helpful, but are only back-end solutions. When we begin utilizing technology to recycle water for agricultural uses in the Northeast as well as on the West Coast, this drought will not be such a burden on our local farms, nor on our produce budgets. It is time to change the way we value water and take advantage of current innovative water technologies.  Events such as the Water 2.0 Conferences are addressing these issues.