Articles in 2017

Safety issues have been a long-standing obstacle impeding the large-scale deployment of rechargeable batteries especially for those with organic electrolytes. Here the authors report fire-extinguishing organic electrolytes, which enable long-term cycling Li-ion and Na-ion batteries.

The UN’s Agenda for Sustainable Development has 17 goals with 169 targets for action across a range of issues, with access to sustainable energy for all being Goal 7. This Perspective analyses interlinkages between energy systems, Goal 7 and the other goals at the target level, identifying synergies and trade-offs between them.

Millions of refugees need heat and light, but many barriers prevent its sustainable supply.

A policy sequence for low-carbon policy that is politically effective continues to face challenges of environmental and cost effectiveness. This Perspective outlines ways to address these issues within political constraints.

Hydrogen is mainly produced industrially via steam methane reforming, a multistage process carried out in large plants to minimize energy losses and costs. Here, by exploiting thermal integration in a protonic membrane reformer, the authors produce compressed hydrogen in a single step with high efficiency.

New approaches to collaboration between private and public sectors can speed up innovation, but greater coordination is required to make even greater gains.

For proton-conducting metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) to find application as the electrolyte in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, materials with better stability and conductivity are required. Now, a structurally flexible MOF that is also highly stable is demonstrated to possess high proton conductivity over a range of humidities.

Kesterite solar cells are low-cost alternatives for photovoltaics, based only on abundant metals, but they exhibit limited voltages. A new wide-gap kesterite solar cell provides a much higher voltage at a good efficiency.

Kesterite thin-film solar cells feature abundant non-toxic elements. Here, Antunez et al. present a process to simultaneously optimize the conversion efficiency and voltage over a wide range of light intensities appropriate for small-scale, distributed and indoor applications.

The Eastring gas pipeline intends to connect Slovakia with southern and eastern European states in light of other infrastructural changes in the region. Misik and Nosko argue that neither perceived loss of energy security nor loss of rents from gas transit should be the main drivers behind the project.

Using cheap organic material as the cathode and abundant sodium as the charge carrier is attractive for sustainable battery technologies. Now, highly reversible four-sodium storage in a nano-sized disodium rhodizonate organic cathode is achieved.

Transparency offers integration routes unavailable to opaque photovoltaics. Here, Lunt and co-workers review recent progress in transparent solar technologies, highlight technical challenges and measurement considerations, and review performance requirements for various applications.

Understanding how subsidies affect fossil-fuel investment returns and production is crucial to commencing new reforms. New analysis on the impact of subsidies on US crude-oil producers finds that, at recent oil prices of around US$50 per barrel, tax preferences and other subsidies push nearly half of new oil investments into profitability.

Proton-conducting metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) could be used as the electrolytes in proton exchange membrane fuel cells but chemically stable materials that perform well at low humidity are still sought. Here the authors prepare a stable, structurally flexible MOF that maintains high proton conductivity under a wide range of humidity.