Reviews & Analysis

The utilization of porous carbon cathodes in lithium–air batteries is hindered by their severe decomposition during battery cycling. Now, dual redox mediators are shown to decouple the complex electrochemical reactions at the cathode, avoiding cathode passivation and decomposition.

Transition-metal dichalcogenides are appealing catalysts for H₂ generation from water. They tend to rely on scarce edge sites, rather than the more abundant basal-plane sites, to drive catalysis. Now, guided by computation, H-TaS₂ and H-NbS₂ are proposed as highly basal-plane-active catalysts that improve with electrochemical cycling.

Typically, the allocation of renewable power sources is determined by a desire to maximize output and reduce generation costs in order to satisfy the preferences of a small number of stakeholders. A new model broadens this perspective by considering societal equity and acceptability, with the aim of improving the siting process.

Thermal effects on batteries, both due to external variations and internal fluctuations, significantly impact their performance. Ajayan and colleagues survey recent advances in understanding the thermal effects on individual battery components.

Wind turbines have been a go-to technology for addressing climate change, but they are increasingly a source of frustration for all stakeholders. While community ownership is often lauded as a panacea for maximizing turbine acceptance, a new study suggests that decision-making involvement — procedural fairness — matters most.

Distributed energy resources will play a fundamental role in providing low-carbon electricity in a smart, flexible way. A new study develops a cross-disciplinary planning tool showing that ‘going distributed’ always pays.

Perovskite solar cells are developing fast but their lifetimes must be extended. Now, large-area printed perovskite solar modules have been shown to be stable for more than 10,000 hours under continuous illumination.

Renewable energy policies enjoy greater support compared to policies focused explicitly on climate change, and thus present a politically plausible path toward carbon emission reduction. However, new research shows that renewable energy policy support declines when people are informed about the policy costs for home energy bills.

Electrically controlled windows require power to switch between transparent and tinted states. Now, an ultraviolet light-harvesting solar cell can power smart windows without compromising their control over heat and light.

Concentrating solar power had a difficult market start compared to other renewable technologies, leading to a total global capacity of only 5 GW today after more than a decade of deployment. A comprehensive global empirical study identifies distinct deployment phases, with high learning rates exceeding 25% over the past 5 years.

Conventional Li–S batteries have a non-compact cathode structure containing low areal loading of active materials. Now, a strategy of burning Li foils in a CS₂ vapour is presented, which leads to the formation of highly compact Li₂S nanoparticles as a lithiated sulfur cathode, offering promising battery performance.

Heterostructures with alternating layers of different 2D materials are finding increasing attention in energy applications. Pomerantseva and Gogotsi survey the opportunities and challenges of both developing the heterostructures and their implementation in energy storage devices.

Methane is an abundant energy source that is used for power generation in thermal power plants via combustion, but direct conversion to electricity in fuel cells remains challenging. Now, a microbial fuel cell is demonstrated to efficiently convert methane directly to current by careful selection of a consortium of microorganisms.

As storage technology progresses it offers a range of solutions and services to users and the electricity industry. A new study explores whether or not this will eventually lead to self-sufficient consumers and spell the end of the networks as we know them.

The environmental impact of electric vehicles depends on the kind of energy used to charge them. They are typically charged at peak times, when extra fossil fuels are needed to meet energy demands. A study shows that e-mails targeting electric vehicle charging for new owners can be effective for promoting greener charging behaviours.

Multiple exciton generation, in which two electron–hole pairs are generated from the absorption of one high-energy photon, has been demonstrated to improve efficiency in quantum-dot-based solar cells. Now, a photoelectrochemical system using PbS quantum dots is shown to drive hydrogen evolution with external quantum efficiency over 100%.

Silicon-based photovoltaics dominate the market. A study now sets a new record efficiency for large-area crystalline silicon solar cells, placing the theoretical efficiency limits within reach.

Publically funded energy technology research is critical for a successful low–carbon energy transition, but future uncertainty means decision–making is difficult. This Review explores the role of expert elicitations, integrated assessment models and decision frameworks in informing energy technology policy.

The presence of polysulfides in Li–S batteries significantly affects battery operation, but their presence and reaction mechanisms are not well understood. Now, an operando X-ray diffraction approach is used to directly observe these polysulfides, offering insights on their formation and evolution.

Oil and gas extraction via hydraulic fracturing is controversial, with government support but mixed public opinion. Deliberative research shows that securing public support may be difficult because citizens in the United States and United Kingdom are sceptical of government and industry motives.