Energy and climate change最新文献

{"title":"Green hydrogen production via a photocatalyst-enabled optical fiber system: A promising route to net-zero emissions","authors":"Han Fu ,&nbsp;Zhenhua Pan ,&nbsp;Yen-Jung Sean Lai ,&nbsp;Jirapat Ananpattarachai ,&nbsp;Michael Serpa ,&nbsp;Nora Shapiro ,&nbsp;Zhe Zhao ,&nbsp;Paul Westerhoff","doi":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100175","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100175","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Achieving zero emissions is a critical goal in combating climate change. Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier contributing to this objective. Green hydrogen production via photocatalytic (PC) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is promising due to its potential to utilize renewable energy (direct solar, photovoltaics, wind, hydropower). However, current PC and PEC water splitting systems face challenges such as low light utilization efficiency and high operational costs related to both catalyst selection and reactor designs. This study presents a novel photocatalytic hydrogen production system, POF-STO, by attaching a modified strontium titanate (STO) onto thin polymer optical fibers (POF). Light launched from 365 nm LED into the POF lumen is side-emitted and excites STO in a porous layer on the POF surface. This PC system improves upon our previous PEC-POF-ITO/g-C₃N₄ system, which required dual nanoparticles of indium tin oxide (ITO) to make the POF optoelectrodes conductive plus graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) photocatalysts. Our innovative inside-out light delivery mechanism with the POF ensures efficient photon confinement and energy transfer to the STO surface, maximizing light utilization. The chemically stable STO with up to 7-fold H₂ production rates than the PEC-POF-ITO/g-C₃N₄ system was observed. Our POF-STO system produced stable H₂ production rates in both acidic and alkaline environments, with &lt;10 % reduction in hydrogen generation when using tap water and seawater. Eliminating complex electrical setups, potentiostats, electrodes, and aqueous electrolytes significantly reduces system costs. Using bundles with multiple POF-STOs and utilizing heat from LEDs allowed operation at higher water temperatures, further increasing H₂ production efficiency. Compared with other reactor designs, the POF-STO emerges as an innovative approach with potential to achieve ambitious global net-zero emission goals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72914,"journal":{"name":"Energy and climate change","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100175"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143137842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Navigating the selection of renewable energy trading partners: A multi-objective optimization approach","authors":"Erik Jansen ,&nbsp;Mile Mišić ,&nbsp;Kai Schulze ,&nbsp;Michèle Knodt ,&nbsp;Marc E. Pfetsch","doi":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100197","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100197","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Decarbonizing economies and energy systems is urgently needed in order to meet current climate change mitigation targets. However, many countries, particularly in Europe, will not be able to meet their rapidly growing demand for renewable energy by expanding domestic production alone in the near future. Consequently, these countries are planning to import renewable energy using chemical carriers such as hydrogen and metals. This raises the question of which countries to partner with for renewable energy trade. Selecting the appropriate trading partners is a complex task that requires balancing several potentially conflicting objectives, including cost-efficiency, sustainability, governance, and security of supply. In this article, we present a novel approach to selecting partner countries in the presence of such trade-offs. Our approach uses empirical indicators, abstract selection rules, and the epsilon constraint method to combine these objectives into a single objective optimization problem with additional constraints. We demonstrate our approach by examining the case of Germany as an importer of renewable energy using iron as an energy carrier. Our approach identifies the optimal set of potential trading partners and their respective shares of supplied renewable energy by minimizing costs while meeting the added constraints. For instance, under the most stringent sustainability and security constraints, the model identifies Australia, the United States, Brazil, Spain, Canada, and Chile as potential trading partners for Germany. Relaxing these constraints adds more countries such as Morocco and Oman. Our approach is the first to identify trade networks, i.e., concrete sets of partner countries, that can bridge gaps in renewable energy supply, offering valuable guidance for developing trading partnerships.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72914,"journal":{"name":"Energy and climate change","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100197"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144548637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A broader view of carbon pricing: The role of general energy taxes in emission reductions","authors":"Ilya Stepanov ,&nbsp;Johan Albrecht","doi":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100214","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100214","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Carbon pricing is a key element of climate policy, but carbon taxes and emissions trading currently cover less than a quarter of global emissions. By contrast, economy-wide general energy taxes (e.g., motor fuel taxes), although not originally designed for climate purposes, can also contribute to emission reductions. Based on European tax statistics and emissions data, this paper compares explicit carbon pricing with general energy taxes, which also place a price on carbon, albeit indirectly. We apply a two-way fixed effects panel regression to a sample of 31 countries over the period 2002–2018. The results indicate that a 1% increase in explicit carbon prices and general energy taxes has, on average, led to a 0.6% and 0.9% reduction in emissions, respectively, with no statistically significant difference between their estimated impacts. Our findings confirm the importance of explicit carbon pricing, which directly targets the carbon content of fuel use and encourages a shift toward cleaner energy sources. Although less frequently discussed in the climate policy context, general energy taxes have a comparable impact on emissions, owing to their wide application and their role in promoting more efficient energy use.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72914,"journal":{"name":"Energy and climate change","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100214"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145465324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Towards net-zero petrochemicals: Assessment of technology options and policy for decarbonizing steam cracking in India","authors":"Duttatreya Das","doi":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100220","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100220","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The petrochemical sector is a cornerstone of modern industry, producing essential chemicals that form the basis of everyday products such as plastics, pharmaceuticals, and solvents. However, its reliance on energy-intensive processes and carbon-intensive feedstocks makes it a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Decarbonizing this sector is critical for achieving global climate goals and fulfilling national and corporate carbon neutrality commitments. This paper evaluates technology options for reducing emissions from petrochemical production in India, focusing on the CO₂ abatement potential of various solutions through a marginal abatement cost framework. The analysis identifies blue hydrogen substitution in steam cracking furnaces as the most economically viable deep decarbonization option for the petrochemical sector, both in the short and long term, even under sensitivity scenarios involving cost reductions of competing technologies. An integrated pathway combining energy efficiency measures with blue hydrogen can achieve emissions reductions of up to 88 %, with only a minimal increase in the cost of production. While green hydrogen and large-scale process electrification are frequently cited as key long-term solutions in policy papers, this study highlights the significant techno-economic barriers that constrain their applicability within the petrochemical sector. The study also examines near-term measures such as energy efficiency improvements and demand-side interventions like plastic recycling. The paper also reviews India’s existing policy landscape for various abatement technologies important for petrochemical decarbonization, identifying key gaps in policy design and scope for action in a structured manner.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72914,"journal":{"name":"Energy and climate change","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100220"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145465323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Robust pathway analysis of electricity investments under net-zero uncertainties","authors":"Erin Baker ,&nbsp;John Bistline ,&nbsp;Nexus Attiogbe","doi":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100204","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100204","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Policy-makers and planners are looking to make robust power system investments under deep uncertainty and conflicting objectives. This paper presents a robust pathway approach to address a range of uncertainties and multiple objectives and provides a proof-of-concept applied to U.S. electric sector decisions under deep decarbonization. Results show the importance of considering a range of criteria: considering cost alone or CO₂ alone resulted in just two non-dominated pathways in each case; adding in the consideration of co-pollutants increased the number of non-dominated pathways to six of the nine considered. This analysis highlights the importance of considering fuel price uncertainty and, in particular, the possibility of high natural gas prices, which can lead to high co-pollution in otherwise low-polluting pathways. Results illustrate trade-offs between emissions and costs; as well as between CO₂ and co-pollutants, which is largely due to carbon removal use. The robust pathway framework is illustrative; we discuss how future work with harmonized multi-model outputs and spatially explicit pollutant metrics can provide additional insights.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72914,"journal":{"name":"Energy and climate change","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100204"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144587671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trust in scientists, researchers, and environmental organizations associated with policy support for energy transition","authors":"Runa R. Das ,&nbsp;Reuven Sussman ,&nbsp;Richard Carlson","doi":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100179","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100179","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Energy transition, shifting away from fossil fuel use, is fundamental to addressing climate change. To explore public support for energy transition policies, we surveyed a representative sample of residents in Canada's largest province, Ontario, (<em>N</em> = 1620), and conducted regression analyses to examine how support varies with trust in the actors communicating these policies. Ontarians prefer ‘carrot’ policies—those offering direct benefits to households—over ‘stick’ policies. The most supported policies include the development of renewable natural gas, interest-free energy efficiency loan programs, and funding for low-income energy efficiency programs, while the least supported policies are a carbon tax, continued oil sands development, and the electrification of heating.</div><div>Ontarians have low to moderate levels of trust in governments at all levels, utilities, media, oil and gas companies, and to some extent in renewable energy companies. However they demonstrate consistently high trust in scientists, researchers, and non-profit organizations. Public support for policies in Ontario is influenced by trust in stakeholders and policymakers, with the relationship varying across different policies. We find Ontarians’ trust in scientists, researchers, and non-profit organizations is positively associated with supporting ‘emerging’ energy transition policies, such as the development of renewable natural gas and hydrogen.</div><div>Our findings suggest that policymakers seeking to advance energy transition policies can strengthen both effectiveness and public acceptance by engaging with trusted actors, such as scientists and non-profits, and leveraging their credibility. Furthermore, adopting inclusive and participatory planning processes that reflect public values and address equity concerns is crucial to fostering long-term trust and policy stability amidst the challenges of the energy transition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72914,"journal":{"name":"Energy and climate change","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100179"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143520256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"US economy-wide decarbonization: Sectoral and distributional impacts","authors":"Jonathon Becker ,&nbsp;Maxwell Brown ,&nbsp;Morgan Browning ,&nbsp;Yongxia Cai ,&nbsp;Daden Goldfinger ,&nbsp;James McFarland ,&nbsp;Sergey Paltsev ,&nbsp;Shane Weisberg ,&nbsp;Mei Yuan","doi":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100181","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100181","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the sectoral and distributional welfare impacts of reaching net-zero CO₂ emissions in the US by 2050. We simulate several net-zero projections using a CGE model linked with an electricity capacity expansion model to try to understand what a transition to net-zero might look like and the role played by different policies and technologies. Reaching net-zero leads to high carbon prices in 2045 and 2050, which drives deployment of direct air capture (DAC) technology. The electricity sector reaches negative emissions by 2050. Electrification is the predominant means for decarbonizing the buildings and transportation sectors, whereas industrial sectors are assumed to have limited electrification potential and prefer carbon management. The negative emissions in the power sector are primarily achieved through biomass-fired electricity generation with carbon capture and storage. In our scenarios, decarbonization is progressive (i.e., burden increases with income) due to our modeling assumption of lump-sum recycling of carbon permit revenues. In 2050, we find a break in the progressive trend when capital-intensive DAC technology enters, as permit revenue distributions that benefit the lowest income groups are directly substituted for returns to capital from DAC deployment that benefit the highest income groups. Our other non-CCS and non-DAC technology improvement cases in the buildings, transportation, and industrial sectors led to a more evenly distributed benefit across households as these mitigation channels are less capital intensive. When the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is included, the net-zero emissions limit does not bind as early, the need for DAC is reduced, and industrial CCS investment occurs earlier and in greater amounts. These effects highlight the importance of considering interactions between technologies, policies, and fiscal decisions when prescribing net-zero pathways around a distributional goal.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72914,"journal":{"name":"Energy and climate change","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100181"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143593067","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Incentivizing hydrogen: A perspective review of lifecycle analysis methodology disparities affecting hydrogen incentives in policy frameworks","authors":"Santiago Gonzalez Hernandez,&nbsp;Abby Kirchofer","doi":"10.1016/j.egycc.2024.100172","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.egycc.2024.100172","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hydrogen is anticipated to play a pivotal role in decarbonizing the global energy supply chain, and governments worldwide are implementing policies and incentives to foster the adoption of low-carbon hydrogen technologies. However, the divergent lifecycle carbon intensity (CI) calculation methodologies and sustainability requirements at federal and state levels may inadvertently promote certain low-carbon hydrogen technologies over others due to the CI variability arising from the calculation methodologies. This perspective focuses on key sustainable hydrogen technologies favored by industry leaders for commercial deployment. It offers a comprehensive review of the applicability, challenges, and opportunities associated with these technologies under relevant government incentive programs. The study evaluates published lifecycle CI data for hydrogen production methods including low-temperature water electrolysis, high-temperature water electrolysis, biomass gasification, and steam methane reforming of natural gas with carbon capture and sequestration. Methodologies and requirements from prominent programs such as the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), the US federal clean hydrogen production tax credit (45V), and the EU's renewable energy directive (RED) are compared by the authors. This perspective's analysis contributes valuable insights to the discourse on life cycle assessment (LCA) modeling for low-CI hydrogen. It highlights the discrepancies between key government incentives for hydrogen technologies deemed critical to meeting the world's climate goals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72914,"journal":{"name":"Energy and climate change","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100172"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143137841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Perspectives of electrochemical and photocatalytic technologies for the water-energy nexus potential of water splitting of brines","authors":"Andrea N. Arias-Sanchez,&nbsp;Kenneth Flores,&nbsp;Han Fu,&nbsp;Thais Betoni,&nbsp;Paul Westerhoff,&nbsp;Sergi Garcia-Segura","doi":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100176","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100176","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The economic, environmental, technological and social development of society are linked with two crucial resources: energy and water. The increasing energy costs and the scarcity of fresh water have caused concern across the globe due to limited access to these resources. Consequently, academia and industry are combining efforts to enhance technological processes, optimize resources, and valorize waste management by improving the water-energy nexus. In this context, brine waters from ocean, brackish groundwater and industrial desalination have been identified as potential waste from which value-added products can be sourced. In this perspective paper, firstly, an overview of the main current treatment methods for brines and their chemical composition is presented. Most processes solely focus on the recovery of water, being over 70 %, with energy consumption from 2 to 100 kWh/m³. The high variability is based upon disposal costs of concentrated brines – with the highest associated with zero liquid discharge (ZLD) plus salt disposal. The salinity, concentration of ions, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of brines differ depending on their respective sources. Second, the water-energy potential nexus of the water splitting of brines was contextualized. The perspective proposed herein is based on the integration of the production of H₂ through water splitting using renewable energy and the subsequent H₂ oxidation in a fuel cell to produce energy (recirculated within the process) and water (for drinking or industrial use). Finally, the prospects of electrochemical and photocatalytic technologies for water splitting of brines are outlined. Reactor designs and the influence of brine composition are considered the main aspects to be compared, identifying important advantages and challenges for a sustainable water-energy nexus in the treatment of brines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72914,"journal":{"name":"Energy and climate change","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100176"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143137843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A multi-model assessment of carbon neutrality pathways for Korea’s power sector","authors":"Cheolhung Cho ,&nbsp;Jiyong Eom ,&nbsp;Young-Hwan Ahn ,&nbsp;Dong Gu Choi ,&nbsp;Yohan Choi ,&nbsp;Hanwoong Kim ,&nbsp;Yong-Gun Kim ,&nbsp;Hyeonjin Lee ,&nbsp;Jineon Moon ,&nbsp;Chan Park","doi":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100193","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.egycc.2025.100193","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In October 2021, Korea announced its mid-century carbon mitigation target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, reaffirming its commitment by enhancing its 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). This study employs six energy-economic and integrated assessment models to explore net-zero emission pathways and strategies for Korea’s power sector, while assessing the associated costs and challenges. The findings underscore the complexity and urgency of this transition, with the power sector playing a pivotal role in balancing the dual challenges of rapidly growing electricity demand and full decarbonization. A shift toward a renewable-dominated power sector emerges as a robust strategy, though it poses unprecedented technological and economic challenges. Large-scale low-carbon technologies, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and nuclear power, are identified as crucial solutions to reduce reliance on variable renewable energy sources and mitigate associated costs. Additionally, the study finds that current energy and climate policies are insufficient to meet the mid-century mitigation target, highlighting the urgent need for policy enhancements to bridge the gap and ensure the feasibility of Korea’s carbon neutrality goal.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":72914,"journal":{"name":"Energy and climate change","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100193"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143929354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}