Views expressed in this Energy Focus are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the ACS. The authors declare no competing financial interest. This article has not yet been cited by other publications.

Renewable power-to-X (P2X) is emerging as a viable platform for storing excess renewables for subsequent dispatch for end-use as well as providing a low capital-intensive decarbonization pathway to produce green fuel and chemicals.(1,2) In P2X, “excess” and underutilized solar and wind resources are used to power technologies that are capable of converting available abundant molecules such as water

Rechargeable batteries, regarded as one of the most efficient energy storage technologies, have experienced tremendous research interest over the past decades.(1,2) The simple configuration with basic components of cathode, anode, electrolyte, separator, and current collectors makes them easy to manufacture and use, where the success of Li-ion batteries (LIBs) is the best example. However, most research

Cesium lead halide perovskite nanocrystals, with formula CsPbX3 (X = Cl, Br, I), have received enormous attention in the last five years because of their efficient, narrow, and tunable light emission.(1) They crystallize in structures characterized by a three-dimensional network of corner-sharing [PbX6]4– octahedra (either the perfectly cubic α, or the slightly distorted orthorhombic γ and tetragonal

Climate change will continue unabated in the coming years unless we rapidly reduce consumption of fossil fuels. The COVID pandemic will provide temporary reductions in overall energy consumption, but this will not last. In the United States, for example, in the first six months of 2020 there was a 5% reduction in electricity and 8.5% reduction in total energy use reported by the U.S. Energy Information

A recent news release from Washington State University (WSU) heralded(1) that “WSU and PNNL (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) researchers have created a sodium-ion battery that holds as much energy and works as well as some commercial lithium-ion battery chemistries, making for a potentially viable battery technology out of abundant and cheap materials”. Naturally this news created a lot of excitement

By the end of 2019, more than 0.5 terawatts (TW) peak power was converted cumulatively by all photovoltaics (PVs) installed on this planet, the largest value in recorded human history.(1) Simultaneously, the total global power consumption surpassed 18 TW,(2) also the largest ever value to date. Continued expansion of PVs at a sufficiently accelerated rate to bridge this supply/demand gap in the near