A bizarre 2009 promotional film from the European Copper Institute in Brussels asks viewers to imagine life without its favourite metal, without actually showing how such a life would be any different. Copper probably does not need much promotion anyway. Ever since the first metal workers of antiquity dug the element from a Cyprus hillside and fashioned it into tools, copper has been in high demand. So high, in fact, that researchers in February raised the prospect that international copper production could peak within a few decades. (The original Cypriot copper mine lives on in the chemical symbol Cu, drawn from the Latin name for the island’s metal.)

Nature this week would certainly be poorer without copper. The metal is at the heart of two discoveries reported on our website.

The first describes improvements to the intrinsic catalytic properties of copper that could streamline ethanol production (C. W. Liet al.Naturehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13249;2014). Just as important is the starting material of the chemical reaction that the copper helps along — the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. In theory, better copper catalysts could offer an efficient method to convert carbon dioxide to liquid, carbon-based fuels.

Imagine life with such a better copper catalyst. Intermittent renewable energy such as wind and solar sources could be used to drive the reaction, and would address two major energy and environmental problems at a stroke — what to do with all the carbon dioxide we generate, and how to store and transport renewable energy. A News & Views article lays out the roadmap for making it happen (A. M. AppelNaturehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13226;2014).

The research demonstrates that all is not lost when it comes to the fight against climate change. More research will produce better and more efficient technology, yielding some new and some improved versions of what we already have.

The traditional copper-catalysed conversion of carbon dioxide to liquid fuel proceeds through an intermediate of carbon monoxide. Many catalysts can perform the first step, but only copper can mix the carbon monoxide with water to produce the fuel. Yet its promise is largely theoretical: the efficiency and selectivity of the reaction until now have been too low for practical use.

In the latest study, chemists at Stanford University in California show that the catalytic properties of copper can be boosted by starting with copper oxide, which is then reduced back to the base metal. Their enhanced catalyst produces more ethanol than a conventional copper catalyst. They suggest that the difference might be down to tiny cracks introduced to the metal, which give the catalyst more space to work.

In the second study, scientists describe experiments that show copper is required for tumour growth and signalling in some cancers, specifically those with a common mutation in the oncogene BRAF (D. C. Bradyet al.Naturehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13180;2014). Treatments used to mop up excess copper in the body, already used against copper-accumulation disorders such as Wilson’s disease, seem to block the growth of these cancer cells too. The experiments were done in mice and cultured human cells, but suggest that broader use of ‘copper chelators’ against such cancers could be useful. With apologies to the European Copper Institute, life without (as much) copper for some people could be better, not worse.