Articles

Rice is a staple crop for much of the world’s population, but its production can be a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Supplemental nano iron oxides application can halve these emissions while boosting crop yield.

Carbon neutrality complicates the transition to sustainability due to potential adverse effects on employment and the prosperity of high-emitting sectors. This study simulated the Hungarian economy and tested various strategies for reducing CO₂ emissions, revealing that decarbonization-induced economic and job losses can be substantially limited by considering the firm-level network of supply chains.

Cement is a ubiquitous material in modern construction, but produces substantial carbon emissions. Emerging technologies exist that can reduce cement’s carbon footprint, but the right strategies must be implemented ambitiously and synergistically to be effective.

Evaluating the sustainability impacts of housing policies for low- and moderate-income households is challenging. This study links observations of housing programme participation and utility consumption to quantify the benefits of locally administered housing policies in a typical community in the American Southeast.

This work shows an integrated device that could harvest osmosis energy at one side and then drive efficient production of green hydrogen from seawater at the other side.

With a sustainable carbohydrate core, the proposed polyamide plastic design here can compete with fossil-based alternative in terms of both performance and cost.

The impacts of the war in Ukraine on global food systems have multiple sustainability implications that are yet to be examined. This study simulates the potential war-induced cropland expansion worldwide and presents a biodiversity impact assessment, showing the most affected countries.

Sustainable end-of-life management strategies for fibre-reinforced plastics are urgently needed from a sustainability perspective. Here the authors develop a solvent-free flash upcycling method, enabling ultrafast and efficient upcycling of fibre-reinforced plastics to fulfil such a need.

Urea is an essential fertilizer; however, its production is carbon and energy intensive. This work shows a pulsed co-electrolysis strategy that turns carbon dioxide and nitrate to urea directly utilising a molecular electrocatalyst.

Rechargeable zinc–air batteries are a sustainable energy storage system, but their performance is not yet competitive. Now a mesoporous single-atom catalyst steers the sluggish four-electron oxygen reduction reaction pathway to a faster two-electron process and enables highly reversible zinc–air batteries.

Understanding the forces behind the successful governance of common-pool resources is crucial to sustainable development. This study reveals the importance of establishing and enforcing ‘access rights’ in the face of intergroup conflicts over resources to facilitate the evolution of sustainable ‘use rights’.

Extreme rainfall events, amplified by climate change, can stress public health, but efforts to assess health impacts have been fragmented so far. A study now analyses the relation between extreme rainfall and mortality from respiratory diseases across urban environments in East Asia.

The poor structural stability of cathode materials is responsible for the rapid capacity loss of sodium-ion batteries during cycling. This work addresses the instability by introducing vacancies into the transition metal layers and realize long-life pouch cells.

The authors manipulate two categories of cathodes for sodium-ion batteries for a rational design that combines high energy density with high power density and long cycling life.

Biological ammonia-to-nitrite conversion (nitritation) in mainstream municipal wastewater is environmentally desirable but hard to stabilize. This study presents an effective loading rate switch strategy that enables stable nitritation in mainstream sewage.

Optimal risk management involves maintaining formal and informal risk instruments, which is difficult under increasing climate risks. A study now investigates the issue and finds that policies cultivating moderate altruism and solidarity can help farmers better manage climate risks.

Although air pollution may play a role in shaping suicide risk, the link has been difficult to estimate so far. This study quantifies the role of air quality improvements in the decline of suicide rates in China over the period 2013–2017, uncovering a causal link between particulate pollution and suicide.

This work shows a delicate titanium suboxide-based anode design for electrolysis of seawater, delivering selective production of active chlorine for on-site disinfection.

Renewable-energy-powered electrolysis of seawater provides a sustainable means of mass production of hydrogen, a critical fuel for tomorrow’s energy mix. Here the layered double hydroxide (LDH) electrocatalyst design enables ultrastable seawater splitting at industry-compatible current densities.

Rapid urbanization poses several challenges but can offer opportunities for cities to become more sustainable by, for example, reducing transport demand and its associated emissions. This study shows how this can be achieved and quantifies the co-benefits for climate, energy use, air quality and human health.