Alexander Rieger is a postdoctoral researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) at the University of Luxembourg. His research interests include innovative digital technologies such as blockchain, decentralized digital identities, and artificial intelligence. Alex leads the scientific advisory team for the FLORA blockchain project of Germany’s Federal Office for

Air pollution reduction is one of the most straightforward co-benefits of PV development, but its mechanism is complex. In a recent One Earth paper, Chen et al. analyzed the respective effects of different factors on solar power performance and show that the co-benefits of air pollution control policies for PV over the past decade would be grossly underestimated.

Writing recently in Nature, LaPotin et al. introduce a tandem photovoltaic cell that converts thermal radiation into electricity with efficiencies exceeding 40%, clearly surpassing the thermoelectric efficiency of steam turbines. The cell blurs the lines between solar and thermal photovoltaic technology and could help make solar energy more dispatchable.

Compared with prevailing photovoltaic polymers with complex structures and tedious synthesis, polythiophenes possess a greater commercial promise. However, their photovoltaic performances are rather poor due to mismatched energy levels and unfavorable mixing with state-of-the-art non-fullerene acceptors. In a recent Joule article, Duan and colleagues developed a new series of polythiophene-based donors

In this issue of Joule, Zou et al. studied the lunar soil sample brought back by Chang’E mission 5 for artificial photosynthesis in different approaches, which opens up new possibilities for in situ resource utilization on the moon.

The concept of utilizing anionic redox reactions to achieve high energy batteries has been revived for almost a decade by now; however, both its fundamental mechanism and practical implementation remain elusive and highly debated. In this issue of Joule, Weixin Song, Peter D. Nellist, and co-workers utilized electron ptychography to image the oxygen sublattice distortion of a Li-rich material that

In the April 15, 2022 issue of One Earth, Borodin, Xu, and colleagues introduce a hybrid electrolyte with a supporting salt for rechargeable Zn metal batteries, which helps construct a unique solid electrolyte interphase at the Zn anode through the reaction between additive cations and dissolved CO2 in the electrolyte. The interphase boosts the Zn anode reversibility and cyclability remarkably by taming

Rapid progress has recently been made in the development of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) that are now comparable with those of crystalline Si, the traditional and well-established solar cell technology. Recently in Science, Fang and co-workers reported a PSC in an inverted configuration with a high efficiency of >24% (23.5% certified) and remarkable operational

Conventional phase change materials undergo reduced energy density and power density as transient melt front moves away from heat sources. In Nature Energy, Nenad Miljkovic et al. recently proposed an insightful pressure-enhanced close contact melting approach to realize spatial control of melt-front location of pristine phase change materials, thereby upgrading their effective energy density and power

Beth E. Murdock is a PhD student working across the Chemistry Department and Materials Science Institute at Lancaster University, under the supervision of Dr. Nuria Tapia-Ruiz and Dr. Kathryn Toghill. Her current research is focused on understanding the structure-property relationships in high-voltage substituted spinel cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries using X-ray and neutron diffraction

Technological innovations are creating a larger role for demand-side resources in electric grids. The rise of demand-side resources is occurring alongside the efforts to decarbonize grids. The confluence of these two trends has motivated research on the role of demand-side resources in grid decarbonization. Here, we synthesize the demand-side resource literature to develop a coherent and realistic

Paniz Izadi is a lead scientist for the H2020-funded project VIVALDI at Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Germany. Her current research focuses on developing methods for electrochemical CO2 reduction and its interfacing to microbiology for industrial applications, following her previous research on microbial CO2 reduction in bio-electrochemical systems. She received her PhD in chemical

Download : Download high-res image (540KB) Download : Download full-size imagePiotr Żuk—professor of sociology and president of the Institute for Sustainable Development and Renewable Energy Foundation. His main research interests are social movements (ecological, labor, climate), obstacles to environmental policy in Eastern Europe, energy policy, and energy transition. He analyzes the decarbonization

The low-carbon energy transition sees countries compete about where the low-carbon products are manufactured. In their recent Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews article, Sharma, Surana, and George ask whether imposing unilateral anti-dumping tariffs helps the imposing country move more of the value chain into its own country and answer in the negative. Their analysis raises larger questions about

Recently in iScience, Dioha et al. used a bottom-up energy modeling framework to generate insights on future electric vehicle penetration and their potential contribution to Africa’s energy transition. In this preview, we discuss electric vehicles within the African context and what it means for Africa’s future energy in the midst of a prevailing energy access crisis.

In this new issue of Joule, Xianfeng Li and colleagues demonstrated the pilot scale roll-to-roll synthesis of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) membrane and the scaling up of zinc flow batteries (ZFBs) stack 300–4000 W with membrane area up to 3 m2. Compared to expensive Nafion membranes ($500–1500 m−2), cost analysis demonstrated the significant cost reduction of SPEEK membranes to $12 m−2

Owing to the alkaline environment, anion-exchange membrane fuel cells allow employing cost-efficient components, but also suffer from the electrolyte carbonation induced by the CO2 in the air feed. Recently in Nature Energy, Shi et al. introduced an anion- and electron-conductive membrane for efficient electrochemical CO2 removal, providing a potential solution.

Operando investigations of electrochemical processes using X-rays and other forms of ionizing radiation are widespread and have provided invaluable insight into electrochemical energy storage processes. Writing in ACS Energy Letters, Li et al. highlight that X-ray radiation damage to Li-sulfur batteries can be severe during X-ray fluorescence mapping and demonstrate the importance of determining beam

Dr. John-Paul Jones is a technologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the electrochemical research, technology, and engineering group with research projects in lithium-ion batteries, primary lithium batteries, atomic layer deposition techniques, molten salt batteries, solid oxide fuel cells, electrochemical CO2 reduction, and astrobiology. He is engaged in fundamental research to develop

Perovskite-based tandem cells as clean photovoltaic conversion devices drive the transition to decarbonized energy. Recently in Nature, Tan and co-workers report a certified efficiency of 26.4%, a record-setting efficiency in all-perovskite tandem solar cells. High photocurrent density is achieved by ammonium cation passivation, addressing the short carrier diffusion length in thick mixed Pb-Sn narrow-bandgap

An endothermic solvation reaction coupled with a solar-thermal crystallizer has been proposed as a renewable-energy-driven cooling solution in a recent issue of Energy & Environmental Science. We highlight some challenges that lay ahead if this idea is to be developed into a technology solution.