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  • The chemistry of the discharge products of metal–oxygen batteries is related to the battery's efficiency but knowledge of their formation mechanism is incomplete. Now, the initial discharge product in sodium–oxygen batteries is shown to be sodium superoxide, which undergoes dissolution and then transforms to sodium peroxide dihydrate.

    • Sampson Lau
    • Lynden A. Archer
    News & Views
  • The oxidation of water is essential to the sustainable production of fuels using sunlight or electricity, but designing active, stable and earth-abundant catalysts for the reaction is challenging. Now, a complex containing five iron atoms is shown to efficiently oxidize water by mimicking key features of the oxygen-evolving complex in green plants.

    • Julio Lloret-Fillol
    • Miquel Costas
    News & Views
  • The European Commission's energy security package lays out the EU's commitment to the Energy Union but leaves some doubt about its commitment to the clean energy transition.

    Editorial
  • The transport sector must undergo radical changes if it is to reduce its carbon emissions, calling for alternative vehicles and fuel types. Researchers now analyse the expectation cycles for different fuel technologies and draw lessons for the role of US policy in supporting them.

    • Kornelia Konrad
    News & Views
  • The performance of CdTe solar cells — cheaper alternatives to silicon photovoltaics — is hampered by their low output voltages, which are normally well below the theoretical limit. Now, record voltages of over 1 V have been reported in single-crystal CdTe heterostructure solar cells, which are close to those of benchmark GaAs cells.

    • Jonathan D. Poplawsky
    News & Views
  • Energy modelling has a crucial underpinning role for policy making, but the modelling–policy interface faces several limitations. A reinvention of this interface would better provide timely, targeted, tested, transparent and iterated insights from such complex multidisciplinary tools.

    • Neil Strachan
    • Birgit Fais
    • Hannah Daly
    Comment
  • Could a partnership between a small town and a large utility help to transform the Australian electricity grid?

    • Michael Green
    Feature
  • Solar cells based on CdTe are a promising low-cost alternative to mainstream Si devices, but they usually produce voltages below 900 mV. Burst et al. now show that open-circuit voltages greater than 1 V can be achieved by doping the CdTe with a group V element.

    • J. M. Burst
    • J. N. Duenow
    • W. K. Metzger
    Article
  • Solar cells based on solution-processed colloidal quantum dots are promising alternatives to conventional devices. This Review discusses recent advances and outstanding challenges for the field of quantum dot solar cells towards their commercialization.

    • Mingjian Yuan
    • Mengxia Liu
    • Edward H. Sargent
    Review Article
  • Alternative fuel technologies are crucial to decarbonize transport, but attention has shifted among options over time. This study presents an analysis of media, innovation and funding data for these different options and recommends actions to help move beyond hype to support technology adoption.

    • Noel Melton
    • Jonn Axsen
    • Daniel Sperling
    Analysis
  • Micrometre-sized silicon particles are attractive negative-electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries but are prone to mechanical failure during electrochemical cycling. Now, graphene cages grown conformally around the micro-silicon particles are shown to improve their cycling stability.

    • Thomas F. Fuller
    News & Views