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Trending disruptions

As electric power generation is affected by temperature and other meteorological conditions, variations in power production patterns due to climate change should be increasingly observable. Ali Ahmad shows that the rising number of temperature anomalies led to an increase in the number of outages in the nuclear power industry over the last four decades and projects future disruptions.

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Image: Tony Vingerhoets / Alamy Stock Photo. Cover Design: Thomas Phillips.

Comment & Opinion

Comment | 07 June 2021

Achieving just transitions to low-carbon urban mobility

Energy and transportation researchers can contribute to the realization of just transitions to low-carbon mobility in cities across the planet by elaborating and enacting broad conceptions of justice that consider distribution, procedure, recognition and knowledge generation.

• Tim Schwanen

Research Highlights

Research Highlight | 22 July 2021

Switchable ion gate

• Changjun Zhang

Research Highlight | 22 July 2021

Shocked out of consumption

• Fouad Khan

Research Highlight | 22 July 2021

Dopants quick on the uptake

• Giulia Tregnago

Research Highlight | 22 July 2021

Drivers of support

• Nicky Dean

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No synchrotron needed for battery analysis

Lab system with powerful X-ray source shows ion movement during charging and discharging

News & Views

News & Views | 28 June 2021

Finding the right balance

Despite intensive research in the development of lithium-metal batteries, combining high energy density and long cycle life is still a great challenge. Now, a deeper understanding of the degradation mechanisms at play in realistic cells may pave the way for practical applications of these batteries.

• Nicolò Minafra
• Jeremiah A. Johnson
• Yang Shao-Horn

News & Views | 24 June 2021

Doping method with potential

The doping of CdTe solar cells with group-V elements can improve long-term stability of the devices yet the open-circuit voltage is limited. Now, a low-temperature and solution-based doping method relying on group-V chloride salts may lead to new paths for efficiency improvement.

• Gang Xiong

News & Views | 05 July 2021

Climate disruptions are already here

Climate change impacts the production of electricity including power generated from nuclear facilities. New research published in Nature Energy reports an increase in climate-related outages over the past few decades and projects the annual energy loss for the global fleet of nuclear generators decades into the future.

• Peter H. Larsen

News & Views | 08 July 2021

The benefits of cycling

The viability of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction as a pathway for CO2 utilization is contingent on developing selective processes towards high-value carbon-based chemicals. New work demonstrates a strategy to expand the possible products to carbonate esters by sequential redox cycles in a single electrochemical cell.

• Ana Sofía Varela

Reviews

Perspective | 07 June 2021

Integration of theory and experiment in the modelling of heterogeneous electrocatalysis

Theoretical modelling is essential to deepen our understanding of heterogeneous electrocatalytic energy conversion processes, such as water splitting. Here, Sharon Hammes-Schiffer and Giulia Galli offer their perspectives on the best strategies for successfully studying such systems.

• Sharon Hammes-Schiffer
• Giulia Galli

Research

Article | 10 May 2021

Non-topotactic reactions enable high rate capability in Li-rich cathode materials

It is generally believed that fast Li-ion transport in batteries can only be achieved when the host material does not change much with the Li movement. Here the authors show that controlled and reversible changes in host structures upon cycling can actually be used to improve the battery kinetics.

• Jianping Huang
• Peichen Zhong
• Gerbrand Ceder

Article | 24 June 2021

Low-temperature and effective ex situ group V doping for efficient polycrystalline CdSeTe solar cells

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.

• Deng-Bing Li
• Canglang Yao
• Feng Yan

Article | 28 June 2021

Balancing interfacial reactions to achieve long cycle life in high-energy lithium metal batteries

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.

• Chaojiang Niu
• Dianying Liu
• Jun Liu

Article | 08 July 2021

Redox-neutral electrochemical conversion of CO2 to dimethyl carbonate

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.

• Kyu Min Lee
• Jun Ho Jang
• Ki Tae Nam

Article | 19 July 2021

National growth dynamics of wind and solar power compared to the growth required for global climate targets

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.

• Aleh Cherp
• Vadim Vinichenko
• Jessica Jewell

Analysis | 05 July 2021

Increase in frequency of nuclear power outages due to changing climate

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.

• Ali Ahmad

Tales of Invention

Tales of Invention | 22 July 2021

Li-ion battery electrolytes

The electrolyte is an indispensable component in any electrochemical device. In Li-ion batteries, the electrolyte development experienced a tortuous pathway closely associated with the evolution of electrode chemistries.

• Kang Xu

Amendments & Corrections

Publisher Correction | 12 March 2021

Publisher Correction: A systemic approach to mapping participation with low-carbon energy transitions

• Jason Chilvers
• Rob Bellamy
• Tom Hargreaves