Nature Energy最新文献

{"title":"Improving calculations of energy return on investment","authors":"Charles A. S. Hall, Graham Palmer","doi":"10.1038/s41560-024-01696-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01696-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Maintaining energy supply is a critical challenge as we strive to transition away from fossil fuels. Energy return on investment (EROI) is a tool widely used by energy analysts to help understand the efficiency with which we extract, deliver and use energy. Initial research in this area focused on the EROI of extracting energy from nature, using direct energy costs where available and deriving indirect energy costs from economic data to infer relatively comprehensive energy cost assessments^1,2. More recent studies have increasingly expanded the boundaries of the denominator by including additional energy required to refine and deliver energy to its final point of use^3,4. Such studies, sometimes called harmonization studies, attempt to ensure consistent comparisons across different energy sources^5,6, and conclude that the EROI of renewables surpasses that of fossil fuels. We find this conclusion surprising, as it is opposite to earlier studies. While we agree on the importance of accounting for all costs associated with energy technologies and applaud the efforts of such studies to “compare apples with apples”⁶, we believe that there are at least five ways in which these assessments could be improved.</p><p>First, the most common approach to measuring EROI for renewable technologies is life cycle assessment (LCA). While this approach is usually regarded as accurate within its defined boundary, it is subject to two important types of truncation error⁷. The first is sideways truncation, where many small but collectively significant processes — such as service activities — are excluded because they are individually minor and too numerous to measure. Established LCA cut-off rules often lead to their exclusion, yet they can account for about half of the total energy costs, as demonstrated by more comprehensive environmentally extended input–output analyses (EEIOA) or energy intensities of financial activity^7,8. This truncation could halve the EROI of technologies like solar photovoltaics. The second is downstream truncation, where system-level processes that lie beyond the electrical busbar or inverter — such as storage, firming, and transmission — are typically omitted. These system-level processes are critical for understanding energy transition but are difficult to capture within the scope of an LCA-based EROI study. To address these limitations, studies must expand their boundaries of analysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":56.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142961636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Accelerating green shipping with spatially optimized offshore charging stations","authors":"Ran Li, Hao Li, Wentao Huang, Hanqi Tao, Weiwu Xu, Nengling Tai, Canbing Li","doi":"10.1038/s41560-024-01692-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01692-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The decarbonization of marine transport is a global challenge due to the range and capacity limitations of renewable ships. Offshore charging stations have emerged as an innovative solution, despite increased investment and extended voyage durations. Here we develop a route-specific model for the optimal placement and sizing of offshore charging stations to assess their economic, environmental and operational impacts. Analysing 34 global and regional shipping routes, we find that offshore charging stations can reduce the cost for electric ships by US$0.3–1.6 (MW km)⁻¹ and greenhouse gas emissions by 1.04–8.91 kg (MW km)⁻¹ by 2050. The economic cruising range for 6,500 20-foot equivalent unit electric ships can increase from 3,000 km to 9,000 km. Voyage time costs for these enhancements vary between a 0% and 30% grace period of the original delivery time frame. We further investigate power-to-ammonia offshore refuelling stations as a proxy for e-fuels, which could potentially replace heavy fuel oil ships for routes over 9,000 km with only a 5% grace period.</p>","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":56.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142937188","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Self-assembled bilayer for perovskite solar cells with improved tolerance against thermal stresses","authors":"Bitao Dong, Mingyang Wei, Yuheng Li, Yingguo Yang, Wei Ma, Yueshuai Zhang, Yanbiao Ran, Meijie Cui, Ziru Su, Qunping Fan, Zhaozhao Bi, Tomas Edvinsson, Zhiqin Ding, Huanxin Ju, Shuai You, Shaik Mohammed Zakeeruddin, Xiong Li, Anders Hagfeldt, Michael Grätzel, Yuhang Liu","doi":"10.1038/s41560-024-01689-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01689-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The adoption of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) requires improved resistance to high temperatures and temperature variations. Hole-selective self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) have enabled progress in the performance of inverted PSCs, yet they may compromise temperature stability owing to desorption and weak interfacial contact. Here we developed a self-assembled bilayer by covalently interconnecting a phosphonic acid SAM with a triphenylamine upper layer. This polymerized network, formed through Friedel–Crafts alkylation, resisted thermal degradation up to 100 °C for 200 h. Meanwhile, the face-on-oriented upper layer exhibited adhesive contact with perovskites, leading to a 1.7-fold improvement in adhesion energy compared with the SAM–perovskite interface. We reported power conversion efficiencies exceeding 26% for inverted PSCs. The champion devices demonstrated less than 4% and 3% efficiency loss after 2,000 h damp heat exposure (85 °C and 85% relative humidity) and over 1,200 thermal cycles between −40 °C and 85 °C, respectively, meeting the temperature stability criteria outlined in the International Electrotechnical Commission 61215:2021 standards.</p>","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":56.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142929696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Electrolyte tank costs are an overlooked factor in flow battery economics","authors":"David Reber","doi":"10.1038/s41560-024-01677-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01677-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The economic viability of flow battery systems has garnered substantial attention in recent years, but technoeconomic models often overlook the costs associated with electrolyte tanks. This work challenges the commonly assumed insignificance of electrolyte tank costs in flow battery research and demonstrates their substantial impact on overall system economics. Using prices quoted by globally distributed tank manufacturers, it is shown that tank costs in most published technoeconomic models are severely underestimated, if not entirely neglected. Back-of-the-envelope calculations show that electrolyte tanks may constitute up to 40% of the energy component (tank plus electrolyte) costs in MWh-scale flow battery systems. Standardization of flow battery components and the development of high-voltage chemistries are highlighted as paths towards decreasing costs and achieving greater market penetration.</p>","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":56.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142917329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cycling under real-word conditions increases battery lifetime","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41560-024-01688-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01688-3","url":null,"abstract":"An ageing study of lithium-ion batteries reveals that dynamic cycling representative of electric vehicle driving increases battery lifetime by up to 38% compared with constant current cycling conventionally adopted for laboratory testing. This finding highlights the need for realistic load profiles in battery testing to capture ageing mechanisms relevant to real-word applications.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"74 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":56.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142917181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gradient bandgaps in sulfide kesterite solar cells enable over 13% certified efficiency","authors":"Kang Yin, Jinlin Wang, Licheng Lou, Fanqi Meng, Xiao Xu, Bowen Zhang, Menghan Jiao, Jiangjian Shi, Dongmei Li, Huijue Wu, Yanhong Luo, Qingbo Meng","doi":"10.1038/s41560-024-01681-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01681-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Sulfide kesterite Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS)—a non-toxic and low-cost photovoltaic material—has always faced severe charge recombination and poor carrier transport, resulting in its cell efficiency record stagnating at around 11% for years. The implementation of gradient bandgaps is a promising approach to relieving these issues, but it has not been effectively realized in kesterite solar cells due to challenges around controlling the elemental distribution. Here, based on Cd-alloyed CZTS, we propose a pre-crystallization strategy to reduce the intense vertical mass transport and Cd rapid diffusion in the film growth process, thereby realizing a Cd-gradient CZTS absorber. This absorber, exhibiting a downward-bent conduction band structure, effectively enhances the bulk carrier transport and additionally improves the interface properties of the CZTS/CdS heterojunction. These benefits significantly enhance the photoelectric conversion performance of the cell and help in achieving a certified total-area cell efficiency of about 13.2% with obviously reduced voltage loss, realizing a substantial step forward for the pure-sulfide kesterite solar cell.</p>","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":56.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142917250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Author Correction: Global scenarios for significant water use reduction in thermal power plants based on cooling water demand estimation using satellite imagery","authors":"Alena Lohrmann, Javier Farfan, Upeksha Caldera, Christoph Lohrmann, Christian Breyer","doi":"10.1038/s41560-024-01700-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01700-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Correction to: <i>Nature Energy</i> https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0501-4, published online 25 November 2019.</p>","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":56.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142866983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fifty years of change in the energy sector","authors":"Giulia Tregnago","doi":"10.1038/s41560-024-01690-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01690-9","url":null,"abstract":"The International Energy Agency (IEA) is an intergovernmental organization that provides analysis, data, and policy recommendations on the energy sector. This year marks the 50th anniversary of its establishment. Laura Cozzi — IEA’s Director of Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks — talks to Nature Energy about progress so far and the challenges ahead.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"85 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":56.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142832535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Large-scale estimation of the potential of battery power for maritime transport in the USA","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41560-024-01687-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01687-4","url":null,"abstract":"Maritime transportation is often considered a ‘hard to abate’ sector, meaning it is difficult to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Using high-resolution data on ship activity, a techno-economic analysis indicates that electrifying US domestic ships of lower than 1,000 gross tonnage to reduce emissions could become cost effective, if a small percentage of long trips are excluded.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"45 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":56.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142825202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Advancing perovskite and organic photovoltaics","authors":"Giulia Tregnago","doi":"10.1038/s41560-024-01686-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01686-5","url":null,"abstract":"Academic and industrial researchers have gathered in Nanjing to discuss recent progress in perovskite and organic solar cells and to identify research gaps that need to be addressed to advance the maturity of these technologies.","PeriodicalId":19073,"journal":{"name":"Nature Energy","volume":"200 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":56.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142809617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}