Articles in 2021

The building envelope is the interface between a building and its surrounding environment, and has a substantial impact on energy efficiency and aesthetic appeal. Here the authors present a coloured low-emissivity film design that could work year-round to save energy.

Although the clean residential heating transition has been proceeding rapidly in China, the climate, air-quality and health impacts as well as the household costs of various heaters are not well known. This study analyses air-quality–health–carbon interdependencies and costs of alternative heating options at the provincial level across northern China.

Synthetic fibres derive from petrochemicals that are not renewable and cannot be recycled. Here, the authors show a top-down synthetic strategy that allows for the production of high-performance natural macrofibres from bamboo.

Aqueous potassium-ion batteries have emerged as a more sustainable technology to complement lithium-ion counterparts. Ge et al. engineer the surface of a potassium manganese hexacyanoferrate cathode material, achieving unprecedented electrochemical performance in full K-ion cells.

Agricultural trade challenges resource management domestically and globally. This study finds that up to 26% of global phosphorus fertilizer use is tied to export crops and livestock commodities, suggesting trade partners will need to coordinate to buffer domestic food supplies from phosphorus shortages.

The fertility transition, expressed through falling birth rates and increased well-being for women and children, is a function of many social and economic changes. This paper examines the role of access to electricity and modern cooking fuels on fertility rates, suggesting that cleaner energy and ending energy poverty contribute to gender equality and the achievement of other Sustainable Development Goals.

Sustainability calls often for knowledge to be co-produced between academics and non-academics, but little is known about whether and how such knowledge scales up. Focusing on co-produced climate-driven decision support tools for farmers, this study examines how efforts to disseminate the tools influenced their use.

Existing methods to help decision-makers capture the interactions across Sustainable Development Goals do not incorporate the experience of the intended users. Using the case of Sweden, this study shows that most methods largely align with what decision-makers require for their application but show low performance on some critical features.

Ecosystems worldwide are increasingly threatened. Using an approach applicable to coral reefs globally, including data-poor regions, this study finds coral reef ecosystems in the Western Indian Ocean at risk of collapse.

Aqueous Zn batteries offer safety, but the Zn anodes are vulnerable to dendrite failure and side reaction. Here the authors show a low-cost electrolyte that involves hydrate salt and organic solvent but proves inflammable. The Zn battery cell delivers excellent performance even at a low temperature of −30 °C.

Favoured cathodes for batteries should include abundant and redox-active elements, such as manganese. Here the authors report a Na_0.6Li_0.2Mn_0.8O₂ cathode design featuring a unique layer stacking sequence that provides topological protection to oxygen redox to overcome the performance fading.

The vast amount of uranium in seawater is driving a shift from the use of mined ore to seawater extraction. Here the authors describe an adsorbent design based on polymers of intrinsic microporosity that adopts a bioinspired structure and allows efficient uranium capture.

Tropical forests are threatened worldwide. This study finds Indigenous Lands reduce deforestation and degradation throughout the tropics at rates comparable to protected areas and at higher rates in Africa.

Methanotrophic bacteria can capture waste greenhouse gas emissions and feed fish, reducing the need for wild captures. An economic analysis shows great potential for this approach to replace aquaculture feed at competitive prices.

Phosphorous is limited in many tropical soils. This study finds that, despite such limitation, sub-Saharan Africa is on track to nearly doubling productivity on smallholder farms while some regions will require almost 40% more phosphorous applied between 2015 and 2030.

Soil fungi can form beneficial associations with plant roots. This study finds that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can increase crop uptake of nitrogen derived from common trees in African smallholder maize fields, sustainably enhancing these agroecosystems.

Avoiding catastrophic climate change requires that we avoid losing key natural carbon reserves. This study maps such irrecoverable carbon globally and finds a third of the remaining managed by Indigenous peoples and local communities and nearly a quarter in protected areas.

Historical dynamics show that no country has achieved minimum social thresholds within biophysical boundaries between 1992 and 2015, and a projection indicates that no country is on the path to achieve them.

A cost–benefit analysis of land restoration in the African Great Green Wall shows that, under a range of assumptions, the investment makes economic sense at a regional level, despite the differences across countries and biomes.

China’s coasts have become more populous and urbanized. This study finds a rebound in the area of coastal wetlands, reflecting recent conservation and restoration, with large losses between 1984 and 2011 followed by increases in saltmarsh area and stabilization of tidal flats.