4. Conclusion

Energy is the lifeblood of the economy, for without energy there can be no life, no movement, and therefore no economy. With the world's population now so large and its needs ever greater, limited energy resources are increasingly coveted. The devices needed to harness and use them are increasingly dependent on mineral resources. Nanotechnologies often make it possible to reduce the quantities of mineral resources while achieving better performance. Nanotechnologies have been gradually introduced into the energy sector, and as we have shown with a few examples, this is usually a natural and silent evolution, but it leads to significant results in terms of efficiency, performance and new functionalities. We therefore expect nanotechnologies to penetrate the energy sector on an ever-increasing scale.