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The dominance of gasoline vehicles in the automotive market has been attributed to techno-economic factors, though the role of infrastructure development remains understudied. Taalbi and Nielsen quantify the impact of rates of highway and electricity infrastructure development in the technology choice in the early automotive industry
Urea oxidation could be a lower-energy alternative to water oxidation in hydrogen-producing electrolysers, but improved catalysts are required to facilitate the reaction. Geng et al. report nickel ferrocyanide as a promising catalyst and suggest that it operates via a different pathway to that of previous materials.
There are racial and wealth disparities in the adoption of distributed solar energy, although the potential for infrastructure limits to exacerbate these disparities is not well understood. Brockway et al. estimate the potential impact of grid infrastructure limitations on the adoption of distributed energy resources by demographic groups in California.
Public response to energy projects plays a critical role in the development of energy technologies. Fedor Dokshin analyses individually authored comments submitted during a regulatory review of fracking in New York to understand the diversity of public discourse and how it varies with project proximity.
Metal–organic framework membranes may be able to separate mixtures of hydrocarbons in an energy-efficient manner, but high-quality robust membranes are difficult to prepare. Here, Zhou et al. fabricate high-performance continuous metal–organic framework membranes using an electrochemical method.
Highly active oxygen reduction catalysts that are free of platinum group metals would decrease the cost of fuel cells. Here, the authors report on a commercial Fe–N–C-based catalyst that can replace platinum group metal-based catalysts in the cathodes of anion-exchange membrane fuel cells without a severe loss of performance.
Energy system scenarios to meet climate mitigation goals rarely explore the evolution of energy access and equity. Now, Poblete-Cazenave et al. show that, under many baseline and decarbonization scenarios, energy access for people in Africa and South Asia remains insufficient.
The development of aqueous organic redox flow batteries suffers from the limited availability of high-performance catholytes. Here the authors design a metal organic complex catholyte material with a tunable redox potential, which offers promise for high-energy long-lasting flow batteries.
Light-driven catalytic conversion of CO2 to fuels and chemicals presents a way to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, but new strategies are needed to improve performance. Here the authors find that greenhouse effects can be exploited in photothermal catalysts to enhance their ability to produce methane and carbon monoxide.
Algorithms are critical to modern energy systems but their design often overlooks the perspective of key stakeholders. Through an interdisciplinary process, Ransan-Cooper et al. design different algorithms to control neighbourhood-scale batteries that highlight variations in allocation of risk and benefit.
Growth of wind and solar energy share demonstrates different dynamics between the initial phases of adoption as compared with the advanced stages. Cherp et al. study the growth dynamics of renewable energy and show that laggards may continue to struggle to achieve high growth rates despite learning from early adopters’ experience.
Electrochemical reduction of CO2 can generate fuel precursors and additives, yet the set of possible products and overall efficiency are limited. Now, Lee et al. exploit redox-neutral reactions to form dimethyl carbonate from CO2 in methanol with 60% Faradaic efficiency and extend the scheme to diethyl carbonate.
The development of Li metal batteries requires understanding of cell-level electrochemical processes. Here the authors investigate the interplay between electrode thickness, electrolyte depletion and solid–electrolyte interphase in practical pouch cells and demonstrate the construction of high-energy long-cycle Li metal batteries.
Doping CdTe solar cells with group V elements could overcome the limitations in voltage output and device stability of copper doping, yet implementation remains challenging. Now, Li et al. have devised an ex situ doping approach that is based on group V chloride solutions and low-temperature annealing.
Increasing attention is being paid to the electrification of trucks, in particular for short-haul operations. Borlaug et al. simulate depot charging load profiles based on real-world operating schedules to explore future charging requirements and assess the likely distribution substation upgrades needed to support them.
Anode-free batteries offer high-energy prospects but suffer from poor cycling stability due to limited lithium sources. Here, the authors preload lithium oxide onto a high-energy cathode in initial-anode-free cells, which substantially improves the cyclability while maintaining high energy density.
The role of intragrain planar defects in halide perovskite solar cell devices remains elusive. Now, Li et al. tune the composition of the perovskite layer to minimize the planar defect density and observe an improvement in the device performance.
Oxygen release in Li-rich layered oxides is of both fundamental and practical interest in batteries, but a varied mechanistic understanding exists. Here the authors evaluate the extent of oxygen release over extended cycles and present a comprehensive picture of the phenomenon that unifies the current explanations.
Organic solar cells based on non-fullerene acceptors have enabled high efficiencies yet their charge dynamics and its impact on the photovoltaic parameters are not fully understood. Now, Chen et al. provide a general description of non-radiative voltage losses in both fullerene and non-fullerene solar cells.
There have been objections to onshore wind turbines for aesthetic reasons, although a quantitative methodology to provide some assessment of the risk of such public objections has been missing. McKenna et al. develop a method to use geotagged photographs of landscapes to assess potential future public acceptance of projects.