Reviews & Analysis

Low-cost, efficient hydrogen production via water electrolysis is expected to be an important part of a future hydrogen economy. Towards this end, new polymers with high stability are demonstrated and paired with low-cost, earth-abundant metal catalysts in alkaline membrane electrolyzers.

Hot carrier solar cells require mechanisms to dramatically reduce the rate at which carriers thermalize in semiconductors. Now, side-valley trapping of hot carriers with long decay lifetimes is shown to increase the chance of extraction of carriers while they are still hot.

Mandatory building energy audits in New York City lead to a modest reduction of energy use of 2.5% and 4.9% for multifamily and office buildings, respectively. This suggests that other approaches besides mandatory audit policies, such as building energy grading and carbon intensity targets, may be needed to achieve sustainability goals.

Despite its prevalence, energy poverty is not formally recognized in the US as a problem distinct from general poverty. This Review of two federally-funded programs focused on reducing high energy bills highlights the limitations of this approach for effectively responding to energy poverty.

In the face of more frequent long-duration power outages, utilities are looking to invest in more resilient infrastructure and solutions. A new study shows that residential customers are willing to pay for increased resilience and will spend extra to support their communities and low-income neighbours.

Understanding the activity and stability of oxygen-evolving anodes is crucial for developing better water splitting electrolysers. Researchers now show the importance of interactions between iron and hydr(oxy)oxide hosts in dynamically-stable electrocatalysts that balance dissolution and deposition of iron present in the electrolyte.

All-solid-state lithium batteries typically suffer from low coulombic efficiencies and lithium dendrite growth at high current densities. Now, a silver–carbon composite anode is demonstrated that mitigates some of these problems, even for a prototype cell with a high energy density of over 900 Wh L^–1.

In the intensive search for higher performance Li-ion cathode materials the spotlight is firmly fixed on Li-rich compounds. Now, a strategy utilizing a fluorinated, disordered LiMn₂O₄ spinel structure shows how ultra-fast Li-ion diffusion and high energy density can be achieved with Mn and O redox.

Non-market effects, such as strategic decisions by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, energy legislation and speculative bubbles, move crude oil prices away from the level implied by supply and demand for extended periods. These effects should be more proactively monitored and regulated to suit national and international objectives.

Production of hydrogen fuel by electrolysis of low-grade or saline water, as opposed to pure water, could have benefits in terms of resource availability and cost. This Review examines the challenges of this approach and how they can be addressed through catalyst and electrolyser design.

Evaluating the impact of renewable energy innovation research funding is important to design more productive research and development programmes. Pless et al. discuss the key challenges in effective evaluation of research funding outcomes and identify solutions.

Community energy groups can raise citizen finance for renewable energy projects at lower interest rates than from commercial lenders, but they often depend on price guarantee schemes. Policies providing price stability and business model innovations are needed to realize the sector’s potential contribution to the zero-carbon energy transition.

If the UK leaves the European Union single market without a suitable trade deal, then electricity trade with its European Union partners could be disrupted. New research estimates the 2030 cost of a hard electricity Brexit to Britain at €300 million per year.

Community energy projects may be pivotal in low-carbon transitions, yet little empirical evidence exists about their financing. Now, research sheds light on the financial mechanisms and performance of community energy projects in the UK.

Perovskite solar cells with an inverted configuration hold great promise for multi-junction applications, but their power conversion efficiency is low. Now, a long-chain alkylamine ligand-assisted strategy has been demonstrated to enable an efficiency of 22.34%.

Energy use occurs in homes, workplaces and communities in which complex webs of social relations already exist. In this Perspective, the authors draw on recent qualitative research to propose a typology of social relations that shape how people engage with and use energy.

Carbon capture typically relies on pressure or temperature swings for uptake and release of CO₂. Researchers now present a device exploiting electrochemistry to drive these processes in an electro-swing approach that grants flexibility for coupling to intermittent energy resources and may have broad applications for carbon capture.

Household energy behaviours are influenced by the behaviour of others. In this Review, the authors review recent findings on social influence in energy consumption and technology adoption and discuss pathways through which social influence can result in peer effects.

Reliability of stability data for perovskite solar cells is undermined by a lack of consistency in the test conditions and reporting. This Consensus Statement outlines practices for testing and reporting stability tailoring ISOS protocols for perovskite devices.

Colloidal perovskite quantum dots offer potential stability advantages for solar cells over bulk perovskites but lag far behind in device efficiency. Now, a modified cation exchange method has been shown to improve the optoelectronic quality of perovskite nanocrystals, improving further the efficiency and stability of quantum dot solar cells.