A recent report by the U.S. Energy Information Agency indicates that global energy consumption has increased by approximately 40% over the past 15 years, due in large part to advances in information technology and increased energy demand in residential and commercial buildings. Tackling such a looming challenges is going to require innovation and scientific discovery. Nanotechnology will be an important aspect of this process. In particular, carbon nanomaterials (e.g. 1-dimensional carbon nanotubes and 2-dimensional graphene) show great potential for the development of energy efficient nanoelectronics and thermal management materials. This is attributed to their inherent low-dimensions, high carrier mobility, and large thermal conductivity. The ability to tune these intrinsic properties by introducing defects or engineering external influences creates interesting fundamental challenges and new opportunities. In this talk I will discuss the role of such defects on reliability, power dissipation, and thermal transport in carbon nanotube and graphene based devices and films.