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More effective climate policy could be developed if we can understand the difference in well-to-refinery emissions and net energy between different types of crude oil. Masnadi et al. compile the well-to-refinery emissions and net energy profile of China’s varied crude supply and find high heterogeneity in carbon emissions, stressing the utility of replacing high-emission, low net-energy supplies towards achieving climate targets.
A set of new and updated policies have recently been launched at the Nature Research journals to try to increase the reproducibility and transparency of the research we publish.
The sustainability of biomass production for energy depends on site-specific biophysical and socio-economic conditions. New research using high-resolution ecosystem process modelling shows the trade-offs between economic and environmental performance of biomass production for an ethanol biorefinery.
Documenting the emissions and net energy of a crude supply could be essential to meeting national emission and energy security targets. Using data from hundreds of fields worldwide, a well-to-refinery study presents a high-granularity profile of China’s crude oil supply in terms of emissions and energy return on input.
Protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) are a potential alternative to solid oxide fuel cells at temperatures below 600 °C, but they suffer from low power output and poor chemical stability. Now, PCFCs with a power density of over 500 mW per cm2 at 500 °C and long-term stability are demonstrated using optimized perovskite-based electrolyte and electrodes.
In current solar cells, any photon energy exceeding the semiconductor bandgap is lost before being collected, limiting the cell performance. Hot carrier solar cells could avoid these losses. Now, a detailed experimental study and analysis shows that this strategy could lead to an improvement of the photoconversion efficiency in practice.
Energy planning models enable assessments of how energy systems may evolve in the future under different scenarios. Historically, they originate from developed nations. This Review analyses 34 models and explores the gaps that need to be addressed for their application in developing contexts.
Catalysts are required to increase the rate of H2 evolution over silicon photocathodes, but their presence can lead to parasitic light absorption. Here, the authors explore the contributions of catalysts and light absorption to the overall performance of Si microwires, depositing Ni–Mo catalysts spatioselectively to optimize efficiency.
Electrification of transport offers many benefits for the energy transition but introduces a number of complexities around the electric system. This study undertakes modelling of residential power demand and electric vehicle use to understand the impact of uncoordinated vehicle charging on the electricity load.
Protonic ceramic fuel cells use oxide electrolytes with high protonic conductivity but suffer from low power densities due to sluggish oxygen reduction kinetics and high contact resistances. Here the authors integrate a PrBa0.5Sr0.5Co1.5Fe0.5O5+δ cathode and a BaZr0.4Ce0.4Y0.1Yb0.1O3 electrolyte, achieving exceptional power density and stability.
Dedicated energy crops are an important feedstock for bioenergy systems, but uncertainties remain over how best to integrate them into agricultural landscapes. Here, the authors use high-resolution ecosystem modelling to explore how selection of the soils cultivated and fertilizer application rates affects feedstock costs and emissions footprints.
As the world’s largest energy consumer, China’s crude-oil supply needs to be studied in high granularity. Here, the authors compile the carbon intensity and net energy profile of China’s crude-oil supply drawing on data from 20 countries and 146 fields.
A great deal of effort in tackling the Li dendrite issues in Li-metal batteries is ongoing, but stresses caused by Li plating are often overlooked. Here, the authors study the stress-driven dendrite growth mechanism and propose using soft substrates for Li deposition to mitigate Li dendritic growth.
Hot carrier solar cells promise efficiencies above the thermodynamic limit but the hot carrier effects remain elusive so far. Here, Nguyen and Lombez et al. quantify the hot carrier contribution to the voltage and current of a micrometre-scale solar cell operating at room temperature, with an efficiency up to ~11%.