Reviews & Analysis

Historically redlined communities have been disproportionately burdened by multiple environmental and social stressors, related to lower housing values and inequitable access to investments and other resources. New research examines whether redlining was associated with the siting of fossil fuel power plants and how that association changed over time.

Bifaciality allows the harvest of sunlight from both sides of a solar cell and thereby increases power output, but the efficiency of thin-film devices lags behind that of silicon counterparts. Now, researchers demonstrate a bifacial Cu(In,Ga)Se₂-perovskite tandem solar cell with a 28 mW/cm² power output under front and rear illumination.

The growing proportion of renewable energy increases the need to align consumer consumption behaviours with fluctuating energy supply. A new study pairs objective smart meter electricity data with subjective survey data to offer important insights into whether consumers are aware of their own electricity use patterns and thus whether they are prepared for an increasingly dynamic energy system.

Achieving high ionic conductivity at close to room temperature in solid oxide electrolytes is challenging due to the large thermal activation needed for ion transport. Now, a hydrogen-intercalated brownmillerite oxide, SrCoO_2.5, has been shown to function as a high-performance proton conducting electrolyte for fuel cells below 200°C.

One of the biggest hurdles to realise high-performance Li-metal batteries is the instability of Li metal towards all relevant electrolytes. Now, an approach is reported to improve Li cells’ stability by upshifting the Li electrodes’ potential to reduce their voltage gap with the electrolyte electrochemical stability windows.

It is challenging to develop battery cathodes with both high performance and low cost. Now, an amorphous material based on cheap, earth-abundant elements is shown to achieve high capacity by undertaking both the intercalation and conversion reactions reversibly.

Charge generation in organic photovoltaics hinges upon the frontier molecular orbital energies of organic semiconductors, yet their precise determination is not trivial. Now, researchers compare various methods to determine these energies and show the need for an energy level offset to assist charge generation in non-fullerene-based solar cells.

Electrochemical CO₂ capture could potentially avoid large energy inputs typical of approaches based on temperature and pressure swings, but better sorbents are still needed. New research expands the sorbent library using molecules with redox-tuneable sp² nitrogen centres as effective electrochemical CO₂ capture agents.

Lithium-metal batteries offer great energy density improvement over lithium-ion, but understanding their cyclability is a daunting task. Now, an analytical method is reported to quantify lithium in its electrochemically inactive and active forms, enabling insights about the anode reversibility throughout cycling.

Pyroelectric materials have potential applications in sensors and energy harvesters but it is difficult for these materials to deliver energy in the joule range. Now, a pyroelectric harvester made of lead scandium tantalate with a multilayer structure is shown to generate about 4.43 J cm^–3 from each thermodynamic cycle.

It is an important challenge to ensure that battery components such as lithium come from a sustainable source. A Li isotope-based approach is now shown to be a potentially useful tool for tracing the origin of processed Li in Li-ion batteries.

Electroreduction of N₂ to ammonia is a possible alternative to the Haber–Bosch process, but the competing hydrogen evolution reaction typically limits yields. Now, electrochemical protocols combining two molecular catalysts are shown to produce ammonia with adequate selectivity at moderate overpotentials under mild conditions.

Understanding how beliefs about renewable energy sources are influenced by exposure to information is important for the successful implementation of policies to combat climate change. New longitudinal research shows that messages emphasizing specific benefits of renewable energy can exert a lasting impact on partisans’ beliefs.

Development of oxygen reduction catalysts is of key importance to a range of energy technologies; however, the process has long relied on slow trial-and-error approaches. Now, accelerated discovery of perovskite oxides for use as air electrodes in solid-oxide fuel cells is achieved with machine learning.

Understanding what drives household-level decisions to keep cooking with polluting cookstoves and fuels must be grounded in theory for sustained change to occur. New research examines the literature through a behavioural model and finds that affordability, technical aspects, and fuel supply are the main drivers of fuel stacking.

Flexible all-perovskite tandem photovoltaics open up new opportunities for application compared to rigid devices, yet their performance lags behind. Now, researchers show that molecule-bridged interfaces mitigate charge recombination and crack formation, improving the efficiency and mechanical reliability of flexible devices.

In the intensive search for novel battery architectures, the spotlight is firmly on solid-state lithium batteries. Now, a strategy based on solid-state sodium–sulfur batteries emerges, making it potentially possible to eliminate scarce materials such as lithium and transition metals.

One of the key targets for further development of sodium-ion batteries is to improve their cycle life. Now, an electrolyte formulation is proposed to tackle the dissolution of both the solid-electrolyte interphases and the transition metals in cathodes, leading to enhanced cyclability.

Electrification models used to plan future energy systems have become increasingly sophisticated, but typically oversimplify the financial landscape. New research shows that more accurate accounting of the costs of capital significantly changes the least-cost pathway to providing electrification across sub-Saharan Africa.

The UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) on energy access and Goal 5 (SDG 5) on gender equality are inextricably linked. A new study utilizing field-based data from India unpacks how levels of women’s empowerment in households influences their awareness, usage, satisfaction, and preference for energy services.