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An accurate evaluation of lithium-metal battery performance is challenging due to the excessive lithium that is often used at the anode. Here the authors report a methodology to assess the degradation mechanism and cycle life of practical lithium-metal batteries.
Clean hydrogen could play a pivotal role in decarbonization but the paths for different sectors remain to be understood. Yang et al. present detailed scenarios to 2060 to explore options for using clean hydrogen in China’s economy for the sectors of industry and transport that are hard to abate.
The electrification of transport could present problems for power grids if charging is not managed well. Powell et al. model deep electrification scenarios for the western United States to understand how different types of charging control and scenarios of charging infrastructure produce different impacts.
Public funding and institutions for energy innovation are critical to achieving climate goals, but our understanding of their evolution, variation and drivers is limited. Meckling et al. compile funding and institutional data across major economies and examine how they changed after the financial crisis, Mission Innovation and expanded competition with China.
Communication is an important tool in combating climate change and building support for new energy policy. Here Gustafson et al. measure the longitudinal effect of three message frames around the benefits of renewable energy on Democrat and Republican beliefs and support for such technology in the United States.
Green hydrogen is a crucial part of plans to achieve climate targets, yet how quickly supply will scale is unclear. Using a technology diffusion model, Odenweller et al. suggest that even if electrolysis capacity grows as quickly as wind and solar power, green hydrogen supply will suffer from short-term scarcity and long-term uncertainty.
Cobalt-free cathodes are highly desirable for the sustainable development of rechargeable batteries. Here the authors report a high-performance cathode by introducing a small amount of Mo into a layered Li(Ni0.9Mn0.1)O2 material that enables a long-term, high-voltage Li-ion battery.
The slow research cycle of material design, characterization and testing has hampered the development of new cathode materials for solid oxide fuel cells. Here the authors develop a machine-learning approach, which makes use of ionic Lewis acid strength as a descriptor, for discovery of improved perovskite oxide cathodes.
Scaling up all-perovskite tandem solar modules is challenging due to the degradation of the low-bandgap subcell during processing in ambient conditions. Here Dai et al. devise an additive- and hot gas-assisted blade-coating process that enables modules with 21.6% efficiency over an aperture area of 14.3 cm2.
Different policies to decarbonize transport are often enacted at once, such that it can be hard to know whether any particular mix is effective. Koch et al. search for structural breaks in CO2 emissions for European nations as a way of detecting impacts of known and a priori unknown policies.
Manufacturing of perovskite solar cells would benefit from the avoidance of hazardous solvents and multistep processing. Now, Yun et al. report an ethanol-based perovskite precursor solution that does not need an antisolvent step, enabling devices with 25% efficiency.
Solid-state polymers are promising electrolytes for CO2 electrolysers, but when pure water is used as the feed, they typically cannot create a sufficiently alkaline environment to favour multicarbon products. Here the authors use bifunctional ionomers as polymer electrolytes that activate CO2 at the catalyst–electrolyte interface, favouring ethylene synthesis, while running on pure water.
Individual operation of turbines in wind farms results in energy losses from wake interactions. Here Howland et al. report on an experimentally validated model to implement collective operation of turbines, which increases the farm’s energy production.
The near-surface structure of oxide electrocatalysts during the oxygen evolution reaction is key to performance but remains elusive. Here the authors use operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy to track the size-dependent catalytic activity of CoOx(OH)y nanoparticles down to 1 nm and their structural changes under reaction conditions.
The performance of kesterite solar cells is limited by charge carrier losses, and the underlying mechanisms are unclear. By means of an integrated experimental and modelling framework, Li et al. identify the dominant loss mechanism in charge recombination at grain boundaries.
Climate change adaptation policies could influence public decarbonization behaviours positively or negatively, impacting further mitigation and adaptation efforts. This study examines public responses to planned power outages in California and finds that the outages shaped some energy behavioural intentions but did not alter climate or energy policy preferences.
Controlling the crystallization of perovskites is not trivial. Here Wang et al. develop a close-space annealing to improve the structural and optoelectronic quality of perovskite films with different chemical compositions, leading to over 25% efficiency in all-perovskite tandem solar cells.
The maritime shipping industry is heavily energy-consuming and highly polluting, and, as such, is urgently seeking low-emission options. Here the authors examine the feasibility of battery-electric ships and show that the battery price declines could facilitate the electrification of short to medium-range shipping.
All-perovskite tandem photovoltaics hold technological potential yet their upscaling is not trivial. Here Nejand et al. fabricate mini-modules using scalable methods and laser-scribed interconnections, achieving a 19.1% efficiency over an aperture area of 12.25 cm2.
Fe–N–C materials are promising oxygen reduction catalysts for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells but still lack sufficient long-term durability for practical applications. Here the authors fabricate an Fe–N–C material with a thin N–C layer on the surface, leading to a highly durable and active catalyst.