Featured
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Nature Index |
The national and institutional connections driving research in affordable and clean energy
A broad and narrow look at the collaborations in the field.
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Nature Index |
Solving the energy crisis
Research collaboration and a diversified approach to generation could pay dividends.
- Bec Crew
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Nature Index |
Data are key to proving green-energy benefits
Scientists are working with poorer communities worldwide to improve access to clean and safe energy sources.
- Gemma Conroy
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Nature Index |
Exploring small nuclear to plug the energy gaps
Scaled-down modular reactors could provide a more affordable, site-specific solution.
- Michael J. D. Rushton
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Nature Index |
Three scientists at the cutting edge of new energy solutions
Technology to produce, convert and store energy is central to these researchers’ efforts.
- Chris Woolston
- & Sandy Ong
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Nature Index |
The search for perovskite durability
Solar energy’s promising new technology is cheap to make but can researchers find a form that lasts?
- James Mitchell Crow
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News & Views |
Declining crop yields limit the potential of bioenergy
Global-warming projections that rely on bioenergy strategies to offset carbon dioxide emissions could be unduly optimistic, according to a study that accounts for how climate change affects crop yields.
- Gernot Wagner
- & Wolfram Schlenker
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Spotlight |
Why France’s nuclear industry faces uncertainty
No other country produces more nuclear power per capita. But climate change, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and French politics could change that.
- Benjamin Plackett
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Article |
Tandem electrocatalytic N2 fixation via proton-coupled electron transfer
Using a molecular catalyst and a proton–electron transfer mediator in tandem delivers efficient electroreduction of nitrogen to ammonia at modest potentials, an approach that could be used to improve other important reactions.
- Pablo Garrido-Barros
- , Joseph Derosa
- & Jonas C. Peters
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Article |
Fast-charging aluminium–chalcogen batteries resistant to dendritic shorting
An aluminium–chalcogen battery operating with a molten-salt electrolyte composed of NaCl–KCl–AlCl3 is presented, which allows rapid charging at up to 200C for hundreds of cycles, and is scalable, fire-resistant and low cost.
- Quanquan Pang
- , Jiashen Meng
- & Donald R. Sadoway
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Where I Work |
Unconventional materials that do more with light
Dinesh Kabra is working with the next generation of optoelectronic materials for solar cells and display technologies.
- James Mitchell Crow
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Spotlight |
How technology can help make urban transport work for people
A data-driven approach helps Lynette Cheah to tackle concerns about self-driving buses and delivery-truck congestion.
- Andy Tay
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Correspondence |
Energy security: step up the search for clean-energy minerals
- Mitali Das
- , Hailey Ordal
- & Samuel Kuersteiner
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Correspondence |
Europe’s energy crisis — climate community must speak up
- Haris Doukas
- & Alexandros Nikas
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News |
Scientists welcome ‘enormous’ US climate bill — but call for stronger action
Biden signs historic legislation to pour billions into fighting climate change as the global temperature continues to rise.
- Gayathri Vaidyanathan
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Where I Work |
Dumpster diver: how I find rare-earth metals in industrial landfill
PhD student Gianluca Torta contributes to green recycling by extracting rare-earth metals from industrial landfill for reuse in electric motors.
- Virginia Gewin
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News |
Twisted graphene, climate bill — the week in infographics
Nature highlights three key graphics from the week in science and research.
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News |
AI’s carbon footprint and a DNA nanomotor — the week in infographics
Nature highlights three key graphics from the week in science and research.
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News |
Exclusive: Laser-fusion facility heads back to the drawing board
US scientists evaluate their options after failing to replicate record-setting experiment from 2021.
- Jeff Tollefson
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Research Highlight |
Batteries could help container ships sail to a greener future
Current prices for lithium batteries mean that electrified vessels would be economical along short shipping routes.
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Correspondence |
Small lakes at risk from extensive solar-panel coverage
- Regina Nobre
- , Stéphanie Boulêtreau
- & Julien Cucherousset
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Research Highlight |
A compound that tames sodium batteries’ hazardous habits
A new charge-carrying material produces a high-performance battery that won’t explode or catch fire.
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Comment |
To end coal, adapt to regional realities
Four broad categories capture countries’ political and economic barriers to quit coal. Use these to tailor solutions.
- Jan C. Steckel
- & Michael Jakob
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World View |
Nuclear power can help the democratic world achieve energy independence
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the need to improve energy security.
- Nicolas Mazzucchi
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News |
Saving energy, monkeypox’s march — the week in infographics
Nature highlights three key graphics from the week in science and research.
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Comment |
Fuel crisis: slash demand in three sectors to protect economies and climate
Global dependence on Russian gas, oil and coal can be cut by 20–60% and greenhouse-gas emissions by 2.9% within one year, with the right policy support.
- Felix Creutzig
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Research Briefing |
Lattice strain blights lithium-ion batteries
The performance of lithium-ion batteries fades over time, but the underlying causes are not fully understood. Analysis of lithium- and manganese-rich cathodes now reveals how the lattice of atoms in these materials becomes strained, which releases oxygen and leads to battery failure. Resolving these lattice-strain problems should provide strategies to improve the performance of cathode materials.
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Comment |
Floating solar power could help fight climate change — let’s get it right
Covering 10% of the world’s hydropower reservoirs with ‘floatovoltaics’ would install as much electrical capacity as is currently available for fossil-fuel power plants. But the environmental and social impacts must be assessed.
- Rafael M. Almeida
- , Rafael Schmitt
- & Peter B. McIntyre
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Book Review |
Ukrainian nuclear historian chronicles six disasters
From explosions to meltdowns, history provides key context in the search for alternative energy sources amid decarbonization.
- Alexandra Witze
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Correspondence |
Russia: could cryptocurrency mining exploit unsold fuel?
- Jintao Lu
- & Wadim Strielkowski
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Correspondence |
Three ways Europe could limit Russian oil and gas revenues
- Axel Ockenfels
- , Simone Tagliapietra
- & Guntram Wolff
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Editorial |
The EU can simultaneously end dependence on Russia and meet climate goals
Nations that relinquish reliance on Russia’s fossil fuels should quickly transition to clean energy.
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Spotlight |
The microbiologist working to understand how oceans absorb carbon dioxide
Theories about how carbon is sequestered in seawater could influence the development of capture and storage systems.
- Sarah O’Meara
- & Yvaine Ye
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Spotlight |
By the numbers: China’s net-zero ambitions
Data on green technologies show China is working towards a greener world — but that it has a long way to go to become carbon neutral.
- Andy Tay
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Spotlight |
Turning industrial CO2 into battery fuel
Chemist Jie Zeng hopes his research will contribute to tackling climate change.
- Sarah O’Meara
- & Yvaine Ye
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News Feature |
What the war in Ukraine means for energy, climate and food
Russia’s invasion has caused a short-term spike in prices, but could prompt a long-term shift towards sustainability.
- Jeff Tollefson
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News Feature |
The race to upcycle CO2 into fuels, concrete and more
Companies are scrambling to turn the greenhouse gas into useful products — but will that slow climate change?
- Mark Peplow
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Spotlight |
Four research teams powering China’s net-zero energy goal
Energy researchers are helping to pivot the country to carbon-neutral power by 2060, using both large and small-scale projects.
- Sarah O’Meara
- & Yvaine Ye
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World View |
The geopolitics of fossil fuels and renewables reshape the world
To navigate the long road to net zero, energy researchers must grapple with the lessons of history.
- Helen Thompson
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News |
Nuclear-fusion reactor smashes energy record
The experimental Joint European Torus has doubled the record for the amount of energy made from fusing atoms — the process that powers the Sun.
- Elizabeth Gibney
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Nature Podcast |
How can battery-powered aircraft get off the ground?
Getting electric planes to take off, and the latest from the Nature Briefing.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Nick Petrić Howe
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Correspondence |
Put defence money into planetary emergencies, urge Nobel winners
- Matteo Smerlak
- & Carlo Rovelli
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News |
What Biden’s $2-trillion spending bill could mean for climate change
Research models shed light on how the Build Back Better bill might reshape the US energy landscape.
- Jeff Tollefson
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Nature Podcast |
Audio long-read: The chase for fusion energy
A host of private companies are promising commercial fusion reactors in the next decade.
- Philip Ball
- & Benjamin Thompson
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News |
China creates vast research infrastructure to support ambitious climate goals
Carbon-neutrality institutes, and other initiatives to support a pledge to achieve net zero by 2060, are popping up like mushrooms across China.
- Smriti Mallapaty