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Volume 4 Issue 4, April 2019

Best-laid planning frameworks

Energy systems planning in conflict-affected and fragile countries has appeared futile in the past because of ever-changing socioeconomic and political conditions and violent disruptions. To help overcome this, Spyrou et al. present a planning framework that takes into account uncertainty from multiple sources including conflict and apply it to South Sudan.

See Spyrou et al.

Image: Per Bengston/Alamy Stock Photo. Cover Design: Allen Beattie.

Editorial

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Comment & Opinion

  • New scientific findings cataloguing the need for a rapid renewable energy transition are most often met with calls for innovation. Our failure to address climate change and thereby avoid the socioeconomic crises it foretells will not be attributed to a lack of innovation, however, but rather to a lack of exnovation.

    • Debra J. Davidson
    Comment
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Research Highlights

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News & Views

  • Direct liquid fuel cells are usually impeded by the cross-over of their reactants, which depreciates their performances. An asymmetric bipolar membrane is now shown to effectively separate the anolyte and catholyte of a direct borohydride hydrogen peroxide fuel cell, enabling high power and promising durability.

    • Marian Chatenet
    News & Views
  • Advances in horizontal drilling have significantly increased US oil and gas production, but it is not clear whether the industry is viable if oil prices continue to be low. Researchers now estimate the break-even price for oil and gas from tight formations and analyse the factors that affect investment in drilling rigs.

    • Dawud Ansari
    News & Views
  • In the face of climate change, the transition to a low-carbon energy system has become increasingly urgent. However, the implementation of renewable energy projects is often contested. Now research shows that residents of wind energy communities prefer their local wind project over other means of electricity generation.

    • Marco Sonnberger
    News & Views
  • Many governments use finance mechanisms to deliver energy efficiency retrofits, but there is little understanding as to what makes them effective in stimulating private investment. New research now proposes a typology of finance mechanisms that policymakers can use as a toolkit to guide policy design.

    • Peter Mallaburn
    News & Views
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Reviews

  • New electrolyte materials can offer breakthroughs in the development of next-generation batteries. Here Atsuo Yamada and colleagues review the progress made and the road ahead for salt-concentrated electrolytes, an emerging and promising electrolyte candidate.

    • Yuki Yamada
    • Jianhui Wang
    • Atsuo Yamada
    Review Article
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Research

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Amendments & Corrections

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