Volume 3 Issue 7, July 2018

Nation states need to incentivize negative emissions technologies if they are to take the decarbonization of whole energy systems seriously. This incentivization must account for public values and interests in relation to which technologies to incentivize, how they should be incentivized and how they should be governed once incentivized.

Capturing CO₂ directly from the air could lead to negative emissions, but more efficient technologies are still required. Now, researchers use a multi-stage cycle based on amino acids and organic salts to capture CO₂ from air, which can be released with concentrated solar power.

The effectiveness of fuel taxation towards reducing gasoline usage in vehicles has been a subject of debate. Using data from Sweden, which has one of the highest gasoline taxes in the world, research now demonstrates a potential consumer preference for gasoline even at price parity with ethanol.

The performance of enzymatic biofuel cells is greatly hindered by the poor electron transfer between enzyme catalysts and electrode surfaces. Now, an efficient electrical connection is made by coupling conventional direct and mediated electron transfer mechanisms, leading to much improved power density and stability.

The efficiency of perovskite solar modules is limited by the difficulty in fabricating uniform and high-quality perovskite films. Now, a modified doctor blade method with a surfactant-controlled drying process has been shown to enable high-speed deposition of large-area and uniform perovskite films.

In recent years, Middle Eastern and North African oil-exporting states have begun reforming their energy subsidies. This Perspective argues that a number of trends — both local and global — have offered political cover for the changes, and that the reforms challenge existing governance theory.

Direct air capture of CO₂ could contribute to negative emissions, but more effective technologies to increase its viability are still required. Here, Brethomé et al. demonstrate lab-scale direct air capture using a two-stage capture cycle and concentrated solar power for CO₂ release.

Scaling up perovskite film deposition necessitates controlling the film formation dynamics. Here, Deng et al. use amphoteric choline surfactants to blade-coat well-passivated films, reaching module efficiencies of ~15% for aperture areas up to 57 cm².

Use of wood and crop residue for cooking and heating in rural China is a significant source of carbon emissions and air pollution. Using a survey of more than 34,000 households, researchers show that between 1992 and 2012 usage of these fuels decreased by much more than previous estimates, due primarily to rising incomes.

Enzymatic fuel cells use enzymes for the redox reactions of fuels, and electron transfer is a key process in generating electricity. Here, the authors develop a redox mediator that is able to both immobilize the enzyme and mediate electron transfer, leading to much-enhanced power densities in fuel cells.

Substitution across fuels is hard to study because traditional transport technologies are typically single-fuel. Using Swedish data, this study shows that fuel demand elasticities differ across fuels, and drivers exhibit high preference for fossil fuels, hindering the take-up of alternative fuels.

The scale and nature of energy investments under diverging technology and policy futures is of great importance to decision makers. Here, a multi-model study projects investment needs under countries’ nationally determined contributions and in pathways consistent with achieving the 2 °C and 1.5 °C targets as well as certain SDGs.

The development of Ni-rich layered lithium transition metal oxides is plagued by their voltage and capacity fading on battery cycling. Here, the authors demonstrate an effective approach to treat these problems by infusing a solid electrolyte into the grain boundaries of the secondary particles of these layered materials.