Reviews & Analysis

Carbon emissions from the iron and steel, cement and primary chemical sectors are hard to abate. This Perspective discusses approaches that are being developed and deployed to reduce emissions and factors impacting their deployment.

Energy-storage technologies are needed to support electrical grids as the penetration of renewables increases. This Review discusses the application and development of grid-scale battery energy-storage technologies.

Organic batteries, incorporating more abundant materials, are possible alternatives to lithium-ion batteries. This Review examines the fundamentals, practical metrics and applications of organic batteries and proposes future development guidelines to help achieve commercialization.

District heating can reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by building heating and hot water consumption. This Review outlines trends and developments in technology for designing and operating district heating and cooling in clean energy systems.

Consumer adoption of clean technologies is needed to reduce emissions and meet climate targets, but psychological and contextual barriers slow and even prevent uptake. This Review examines these barriers and discusses the effectiveness of interventions in overcoming them.

Transparent solar cells are desirable for installation in buildings and on agricultural land, and designing them to be wavelength-selective can enhance their suitability for power generation in these locations. This Review surveys the mechanisms and performance of key wavelength-selective technologies and summarizes application-specific metrics for the comparison of these technologies.

The transition to a low-carbon energy system is expected to have both pollution and health impacts, across multiple scales. This Perspective provides an overview of the factors that determine the scale and distribution of these impacts and outlines potential approaches to including health benefits in decision-making about energy transitions.

Excessive heat generation in batteries can result in thermal runaway and fires incidents. This Perspective examines thermal runaway characteristics and propagation and proposes thermal management strategies and fire protection measures for effective and safe battery operation.

Pumped storage hydropower stores energy and provides services for the electrical grid. This Review discusses the types, applications and broader effects of this form of grid-scale energy storage.

The electrosynthesis of H₂O₂ is a potential alternative to the traditional, energy-intensive anthraquinone process. This Review describes the electrochemical production of H₂O₂ using membrane electrode assembly (MEA) cells and examines core components, different MEA configurations, alternative anode oxidation reactions and cascade catalytic systems.

Electrochromic smart windows can be low-power routes to control building temperatures. This Review describes the working modes, assembly protocols and implementation of these windows.

Separating the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions in water electrolysis in time and/or space can make hydrogen production safer. This Review discusses the benefits and drawbacks of different redox mediator strategies, a membraneless electrolyser architecture and the challenges of scaling.

Incorporating solar panels into the built environment prevents land-use competition, but aesthetic concerns can prevent widespread uptake. This Review describes advances in solar cell technology and building design to enable seamless integration of photovoltaic modules into building envelopes.

Recycling mixed plastic waste approaches must be able to selectively separate and recycle different components. This Review explores catalytic technologies for integrated, synergistic and sequential co-recycling of mixed plastics as well as co-recycling of plastics and CO₂ and spent batteries.

Hydrogen has been proposed as a fuel for widespread use since the 1970s, but uptake has repeatedly fallen below projections, primarily due to high costs. This Perspective considers hydrogen’s potential in relation to rapidly improving competitor technologies, and outlines steps for prioritising roles for clean hydrogen within the energy transition.

3D printing of concrete structures can reduce the materials and labour required to construct infrastructure and buildings relative to widely used formwork-based methods. This Review describes the use of 3D concrete printing, its application in sustainable building strategies and its implementation, limitations and impacts.

Polymer membrane electrolysers can convert CO₂ into other carbon-based products. This Review discusses different polymer-membrane-based CO₂ electrolyser configurations, including anion exchange membranes, proton exchange membranes, bipolar membranes, porous solid electrolytes and tandem systems, and outlines their techno-economic viability.

Radiative cooling is a passive cooling approach that could reduce reliance on air conditioning. This Review outlines the challenges, progress and opportunities for the application of radiative cooling technologies for the thermal control of buildings, people and solar cells.

Zero liquid discharge and minimal liquid discharge are brine management approaches that recover water and minimize the amount of brine that must be disposed of from industrial activities. This Review discusses the applications of these approaches, the technologies that enable them and potential strategies to make them more efficient and economical.

Combining solar energy with water and air remediation technologies can improve their efficiency. This Review discusses the mechanisms and scalability of photo-assisted technologies for water treatment, including Fenton oxidation, persulfate activation, ozonation and electrochemical oxidation, and photo-assisted thermal technologies for air purification.