Featured
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Article
| Open Access
Truck platooning reshapes greenhouse gas emissions of the integrated vehicle-road infrastructure system
Truck platooning allows for trucks to travel synchronously in close proximity to improve fuel efficiency. Here, authors evaluate the decarbonization effects of platooning on the vehicle-road system at a large-scale road network level revealing a trade-off between emission reduction and cost rise.
- Huailei Cheng
- , Yuhong Wang
- & Tian Jin
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Article
| Open Access
Carbon reduction technology pathways for existing buildings in eight cities
Here, the authors perform analysis of technology pathways for existing buildings using urban building energy models developed with cities, showing that shallow and deep retrofits along with onsite photovoltaic and grid decarbonization can help achieve carbon reduction targets.
- Yu Qian Ang
- , Zachary Michael Berzolla
- & Christoph F. Reinhart
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Article
| Open Access
Eliminating the need for anodic gas separation in CO2 electroreduction systems via liquid-to-liquid anodic upgrading
In the electrified conversion of CO2 to multicarbon products, CO2 crossover to the O2-rich anodic stream adds a further, energy-intensive, chemical separation step. Here, the authors demonstrate a strategy that eliminates the separation requirement.
- Ke Xie
- , Adnan Ozden
- & Edward H. Sargent
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Article
| Open Access
Anisotropic nanocrystal superlattices overcoming intrinsic light outcoupling efficiency limit in perovskite quantum dot light-emitting diodes
Controlling the transition-dipole-moment orientation in quantum dot solids at device level has not been achieved before. Here, the authors demonstrated intrinsic light out-coupling enhancement approach to boost the external quantum efficiency up to 25% by using the colloidal lead halide perovskite anisotropic nanocrystals.
- Sudhir Kumar
- , Tommaso Marcato
- & Chih-Jen Shih
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Article
| Open Access
Carbon footprint of global natural gas supplies to China
The carbon footprints of natural gas supplies at the field level are unclear. Here the authors analysed the GHG intensities of gas supplies from 104 fields and show that their GHG intensities range from 6.2 to 43.3 g CO2eq MJ-1.
- Yu Gan
- , Hassan M. El-Houjeiri
- & Michael Wang
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Article
| Open Access
Stretchable fabric generates electric power from woven thermoelectric fibers
Despite recent advances in flexible thermoelectric generators for wearable devices, current designs are unable to efficiently harvest heat flowing from human body. Here, the authors report high thermoelectric performance and stretchability in interlocked fiber-based modules for wearable devices.
- Tingting Sun
- , Beiying Zhou
- & Gerald Jeffrey Snyder
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Perspective
| Open Access
The role of artificial intelligence in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more and more common in people’s lives. Here, the authors use an expert elicitation method to understand how AI may affect the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Ricardo Vinuesa
- , Hossein Azizpour
- & Francesco Fuso Nerini
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Article
| Open Access
Nanocomposite electrodes for high current density over 3 A cm−2 in solid oxide electrolysis cells
High-temperature solid oxide electrolysis cells are a promising technology for energy conversion, but higher current density is needed to increase efficiency. Here the authors design nanocomposite electrodes to improve electronic and ionic conductivity to achieve a high current density.
- Hiroyuki Shimada
- , Toshiaki Yamaguchi
- & Yoshinobu Fujishiro
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Article
| Open Access
Planning for sustainable cities by estimating building occupancy with mobile phones
Building retrofits offer enormous potential for energy reduction and must be designed with occupancy in mind. Here, the authors developed a method for estimating building occupancy at urban scale using mobile phone traces and they find that energy saving estimates differ by +1 to −15% for residential buildings and by −4 to −21% for commercial buildings.
- Edward Barbour
- , Carlos Cerezo Davila
- & Marta C. González
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Article
| Open Access
Energy use and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of drones for commercial package delivery
The use of drones to deliver commercial packages is poised to become a new industry. Here the authors show that replacing truck delivery by drones can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy use when the drone size and additional warehousing requirements are limited.
- Joshuah K. Stolaroff
- , Constantine Samaras
- & Daniel Ceperley
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Article
| Open Access
In situ wrapping of the cathode material in lithium-sulfur batteries
To suppress the polysulfide shuttling effect in Li-S batteries, here the authors report a carbon/sulfur composite cathode with a wrapping layer that overcomes the trade-off between limiting polysulfide diffusion and allowing electrolyte infiltration, and affords extraordinary cycling stability.
- Chenji Hu
- , Hongwei Chen
- & Liwei Chen
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Article
| Open Access
Energy efficiency to reduce residential electricity and natural gas use under climate change
Climate change may alter building energy demand. Here, the authors quantify changes in residential electricity and natural gas demand in Los Angeles County and find that rising temperatures may increase electricity demand by 41–87% between 2020 and 2060, but improved efficiency could lower this increase to 28%.
- Janet L. Reyna
- & Mikhail V. Chester
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Article
| Open Access
Displacement efficiency of alternative energy and trans-provincial imported electricity in China
Alternative energy is widely believed to proportionally displace fossil fuels. Here, the authors analyse displacement values for China between 1995 and 2014 and show that alternative energy, primarily hydropower, displaced ∼1/4 of a unit of fossil electricity, twice the global average.
- Yuanan Hu
- & Hefa Cheng
Feasible supply of steel and cement within a carbon budget is likely to fall short of expected global demand