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Many socioeconomic growth and low-emission energy scenarios do not consider impacts on clean cooking access and have yet to account for the COVID pandemic. Pachauri et al. now examine how clean cooking access evolves under various scenarios post COVID and find the need for policy focused on increasing access more urgent.
Techno-economic studies of photovoltaic solar cells recycling and reuse often do not take into account the impact of social factors. Walzberg et al. use an agent-based model to estimate the quantitative impact of behavioural choices on photovoltaic recycling efficacy.
Behavioural interventions can reduce energy consumption and hence carbon emissions among households. Khanna et al. compare the effectiveness of different types of monetary and non-monetary household interventions using a machine learning-assisted meta-analysis, and examine the situations where each is most useful.
The impact of extreme weather events driven by climate change is increasingly disrupting energy assets and services. Using operational data of nuclear reactors, Ali Ahmad identifies how disruptions in nuclear power production have increased over the years with increasing temperature anomalies, and projects future loss of output.
Costs of renewable energy generation have fallen rapidly in recent years, often faster than predicted. Wiser et al. undertake an expert elicitation survey to project wind power costs to 2050, finding substantial continued cost reductions, and compare back to a previous survey to understand what has changed.
Current battery electric vehicles cannot meet all daily travel needs on a single charge. Wei et al. use travel survey data to model charging infrastructure scenarios under a range of battery sizes to find the best suite of charging options and use of supplemental vehicles to electrify personal vehicle transport.
City-scale emission scenarios are critical for transport and energy sector policy making. Using a model that accounts for building stock and transportation fleets, Isik et al. visualize emission changes in the transport sector in New York City under various electric vehicle adoption and grid decarbonization scenarios.
The concentration of rooftop solar photovoltaics among high-income households limits deployment and access to benefits. Here the authors find that some policy interventions and business models increased photovoltaic adoption equity in existing markets and shifted deployment to underserved communities.
As the cost of variable renewable energy generation has fallen and its proportion in power mixes has increased, discussion of its integration costs has intensified. Heptonstall and Gross systematically review the literature on these costs and asses the range of impacts it is shown to have.
Nuclear and renewable energy are considered two of the most important technologies towards decarbonization though it is not clear how their adoption relates to national emission reductions. Sovacool et al. look at data from 123 countries to examine emission reductions associated with nuclear- or renewable energy-focused strategies.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy aims to fund high-risk high-reward clean energy technology in the United States, but evaluating its impact is difficult. Goldstein et al. compare startups that won Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy funding to other cleantech startups, and find that Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy awardees tend to gain more patents but that more is needed to help them overcome the valley of death.
Clean energy technology manufacturing relies on global value chains, yet the patterns of these chains are poorly understood, obscuring the underlying drivers. Surana et al. analyse data on wind power global value chains to assess how technology complexity shapes the location of suppliers and evolves over time.
To meet climate goals, electric utilities should be decarbonizing their power production, but historical analyses of this process are scarce. Using machine learning and data from more than 3,000 utilities globally, Galina Alova shows that even utilities that prioritize renewable energy continue to grow their fossil fuelled generation capacity.
Climate change may affect energy systems by altering energy consumption patterns and production potential, with varying levels of impact across regions. This review synthesizes key findings of climate impact studies in regional and global scenarios and sets the stage for future multi-model assessments to support energy planning.
Carbon emission reduction measures have widely differing energy consumptions that have not been systematically compared. Babacan et al. estimate comparable energy use per unit emission reduction of various emission reduction measures, from efficiency improvements to renewable electricity generation to carbon removal.
Considering the interdependence of performance measures and the lack of a basic reference system for all-solid-state batteries, Jürgen Janek and co-workers analyse literature performance data for major types of all-solid-state batteries and benchmark them against minimalistic reference cells.
Community energy is a promising alternative to large-scale energy provision that could support decarbonization efforts. This study analyses business models, financing mechanisms and the financial performance of community energy projects in the UK to understand what is needed to better support the sector.
Although solar photovoltaic use grows rapidly in China, comparison with grid prices is difficult as photovoltaic electricity prices depend on local factors. Using prefecture-level data, Yan et al. find that 100% of user-side systems can achieve grid parity, while 22% can produce electricity cheaper than coal-based power plants.
Maximizing energy gain and minimizing life-cycle emissions from wastes and biomass residues requires a holistic assessment of alternative energy recovery pathways. Liu and Rajagopal estimate that the United States can generate up to 3.2 EJ of net energy and reduce up to 178 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent GHG emissions from 29 different waste streams combined.
India’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is a programme that seeks to transition poor households away from unclean cooking fuels. In this Analysis, the authors use liquefied petroleum gas sales data to assess the adoption of cooking gas and the impact of this programme in a district of rural Karnataka.