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Behavioural interventions targeting children can influence the whole family, making them attractive for energy-saving schemes. Boudet et al. use 30 Girl Scout groups to test interventions on residential and food and transport energy behaviours and find they have potential for increasing energy saving.
A third of the world's installed wind energy capacity is in China, but technological and policy challenges need to be addressed to make the most of the country's wind resources.
The electronic properties of halide perovskites vary significantly between crystalline grains, but the impact of this heterogeneity on solar cell performance is unclear. Now, this variability is shown to limit the photovoltaic properties of solar cells, and its origins are linked to differing properties between crystal facets.
A common problem for thick electrodes in lithium-ion batteries is slow ionic transport. Here, the authors present a particle-alignment method that uses a low magnetic field and show that the lithium diffusion path is improved for an aligned thick graphite electrode, leading to a better rate capability.
The photovoltaic properties of hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites are sensitive to the local microstructure, but difficult to quantify at the nanoscale. Leblebici et al. use conductive atomic force microscopy to map the local short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage, finding heterogeneity within individual grains.
The major obstacle in the development of Li–S batteries is the undesired dissolution of polysulfide intermediates produced during electrochemical reactions. Now, a metal–organic framework-based separator is shown to mitigate the problem, leading to stable long cycles.
The conversion of low-grade waste heat into electrical energy is an attractive opportunity to harvest a sustainable energy resource. A thermo-osmotic energy conversion process that uses Earth-abundant materials has now been shown to convert waste heat into electrical energy from sources at temperatures as low as 40 °C.
One of the major problems in Li–S batteries is the undesired shuttling of lithium polysulfides between electrodes. Here the authors present a metal–organic framework-based separator to mitigate the shuttle effect, leading to stable long cycles.
The efficiency of organic solar cells depends on the timescale of charge separation, with fast separation achieved through large driving forces. Liu et al. show that non-fullerene organic blends exhibit fast charge separation and efficiency of 9.5% even in the presence of only small driving forces.
Heat recovery from sources with temperatures below 100 ∘C can provide a significant amount of energy, but it is difficult to achieve with current technologies. Straub et al. devise a thermo-osmotic energy conversion process that can generate power from heat sources at temperatures as low as 40 ∘C.
Persistent and significant curtailment has cast concern over the prospects of wind power in China. A comprehensive assessment of the production of energy from wind has identified grid-integrated wind generation potential at 11.9–14% of China's projected energy demand by 2030.
Energy storage offers potential to support a changing electricity sector, but investors remain uncertain about its attractiveness. Analysis now shows that this can be overcome for battery technology by providing more than one storage service in a single facility.
The framing of funding programmes can sustain existing ways of conceptualizing particular problems, as well as create new ones. Yet, without more prominent roles for social sciences and humanities, the techno-economic conceptualization of energy consumers could hinder long-term low-carbon aspirations.
Increasing generation of clean energy from wind resources will help China meet its 2030 energy-mix target and combat climate change. Davidson et al. model the wind energy generation potential of China, estimating a grid-integrated potential of 2.6 PWh per year in 2030.
The grain boundaries in thin-film perovskite solar cells are responsible for non-radiative carrier recombination, which is deleterious for the optoelectronic performance. Son et al. show how to passivate the grain boundaries by using excess CH3NH3I in the precursor solution, achieving efficiencies of 20.4%.
Batteries are promising to support energy systems based on intermittent renewable energy, yet their investment attractiveness remains low. Using a techno-economic model, Stephan et al. find that returns can be increased and risks reduced if batteries are used for multiple stationary applications.
