Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Volume 3 Issue 9, September 2018

Conscious de-coupling

Cooling in thermal power production has always been a water-intensive process, leading to a coupling between electricity production growth and water withdrawal. Research now shows that, through active policy measures including deployment of more efficient plants, China may have managed to grow thermal electricity production while decreasing freshwater withdrawal for cooling overall.

See Zhang et al.

Image: xijian/iStock/Getty Images Plus. Cover Design: Lauren Heslop.

Editorial

  • Behavioural interventions are an important instrument in the energy-policy toolkit. However, researchers and policymakers should consider their own bounded rationality in these efforts.

    Editorial

    Advertisement

Top of page ⤴

Comment & Opinion

  • The ability to collect fine-grained energy data from smart meters has benefits for utilities and consumers. However, a proactive approach to data privacy is necessary to maximize the potential of these data to support low-carbon energy systems and innovative business models.

    • Carissa Véliz
    • Philipp Grunewald
    Comment
  • The lack of electrification in parts of the world leaves many healthcare facilities with inadequate power provision for even basic services. Pilot projects show that solar power can overcome this but, to expand further, more careful trials measuring health outcomes and better integration of energy and health policy are required.

    • Hem H. Dholakia
    Comment
Top of page ⤴

Research Highlights

Top of page ⤴

News & Views

  • Renewable portfolio standards in the United States are widely recognized as a significant state-level instrument to catalyse growth in renewables. Comprehensive analysis now shows that the effectiveness of these standards depends on their stringency, with more demanding standards leading to higher renewable penetration.

    • Nikolay Anguelov
    News & Views
  • Harsh operating conditions, such as high temperatures, hinder the grid-scale application of liquid metal batteries (LMBs). Now, their operating temperature is shown to be substantially lowered thanks to a lithium-ion-conducting solid-state electrolyte.

    • Guosheng Li
    News & Views
  • Electricity production has traditionally required extensive water use, so growing economies such as China are expected to increase their freshwater withdrawal and consumption to meet growing electricity demand. Research shows, however, that through restructuring the electricity sector and increasing efficiency, China may have broken this coupling.

    • Evan G. R. Davies
    News & Views
  • Passivating contact technologies have enabled new record efficiencies in crystalline silicon photovoltaics, but they are still far from implementation into mainstream manufacturing. Now, a passivation approach has been shown that exploits the quick firing step currently employed in industrial fabrication by rethinking material design.

    • Pietro P. Altermatt
    News & Views
Top of page ⤴

Reviews

Top of page ⤴

Research

Top of page ⤴

Search

Quick links