Nature Energy

Journal: Nature Energy

Abbreviation

Nat Energy

Publisher

Nature

ISSN

2058-7546

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Publications 1 - 10 of 44

Techno-economic analysis of renewable fuels for ships carrying bulk cargo in Europe
Stolz, Boris; Held, Maximilian; Georges, Gil; et al. (2022)
Nature Energy
Fossil marine fuels need to be substituted by renewable energy carriers to meet global climate targets. However, a deeper understanding of the technological suitability of carbon-neutral fuels at fleet level is needed. Here we provide a first-order assessment of the techno-economic suitability of hydrogen, ammonia, methane, methanol and diesel—all produced from renewable electricity—to power Europe’s shipping fleet carrying bulk cargo. We compared gravimetric energy density constraints on current operations, the electricity demand for fuel production and total costs of ownership, and found that over 93% of the transport work can be covered with all fuel options when a reduced cargo capacity of less than 3% is allowed for. Compared with Europe’s electricity consumption in 2019, carbon-neutral bulk shipping demands an additional 4–8% thereof. Ammonia emerges as one of the most balanced carbon-free fuels and methanol as one of the most balanced carbonaceous fuels. Using such carbon-neutral fuels could increase the total costs of ownership by a factor of 2–6 in 2030 compared with those of conventional operations.
Dynamic photovoltaic building envelopes for adaptive energy and comfort management
Svetozarevic, Bratislav; Begle, Moritz; Jayathissa, Prageeth; et al. (2019)
Nature Energy
Current efforts to improve building envelopes mostly focus on reducing energy demand by static measures such as insulation, selective glazing and shading. The resulting envelopes are limited in adapting to weather conditions or occupants’ needs and leave vast potentials for energy savings, onsite energy generation and improvement of occupant comfort untapped. In this work, we report on a dynamic building envelope that utilizes lightweight modules based on a hybrid hard/soft-material actuator to actively modulate solar radiation for local energy generation, passive heating, shading and daylight penetration. We describe two envelope prototypes and demonstrate autonomous solar tracking in real weather conditions. The dynamic photovoltaic envelope achieves an increase of up to 50% in electricity gains as compared to a static photovoltaic envelope. We assess energy savings potentials for three locations, six construction periods and two building use types. The envelope is most effective in temperate and arid climates, in which, for the cases analyzed, it can provide up to 115% of the net energy demand of an office room.
Battery-electric passenger vehicles will be cost-effective across Africa well before 2040
Noll, Bessie; Graff, Darius; Schmidt, Tobias; et al. (2026)
Nature Energy
While decarbonizing road transport is crucial for global climate goals, there is limited quantitative evidence on the economic viability and life-cycle emissions of low-carbon passenger vehicles in Africa, where motorization is rising. Here we study the economic cost and life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of low-carbon passenger transport in Africa across six segments in 52 African countries through 2040. Using Monte Carlo and optimization models, we compare the total cost of ownership and life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of battery electric vehicles powered by solar off-grid systems and synthetic fuelled vehicles to that of fossil-fuelled ones, neglecting policy-induced cost distortions. Whereas past reports suggested fossil fuel vehicles would dominate in Africa by mid-century, our results show that battery electric vehicles with solar off-grid chargers will have lower costs and negative greenhouse gas abatement costs well before 2040 in most countries and segments. Financing is identified as the key action point for governments and global financial institutions to accelerate Africa’s transition to battery electric vehicles with solar off-grid charging offering a cost-effective, viable solution to electricity infrastructure challenges.
Global greenhouse gas emissions mitigation potential of existing and planned hydrogen projects
Terlouw, Tom Mike; Moretti, Christian; Harpprecht, Carina; et al. (2025)
Nature Energy
Hydrogen will play a critical role in decarbonizing diverse economic sectors. However, given limited sustainable resources and the energy-intensive nature of its production, prioritizing its applications will be essential. Here, we analyse approximately 2,000 (low-carbon) hydrogen projects worldwide, encompassing operational and planned initiatives until 2043, quantifying their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigation potential from a life cycle perspective. Our results demonstrate the variability in GHG emissions of hydrogen applications, depending on the geographical location and hydrogen source used. The most climate-effective hydrogen applications include steel-making, biofuels and ammonia, while hydrogen use for road transport, power generation and domestic heating should be discouraged as more favourable alternatives exist. Planned low-carbon hydrogen projects could generate 110 MtH2 yr⁻¹, emit approximately 0.4 GtCO2e yr⁻¹, and potentially reduce net life cycle GHG emissions by 0.2–1.1 GtCO2e yr⁻¹ by 2043, depending on the substituted product or service. Addressing the current hydrogen implementation gap and prioritizing climate-effective applications are crucial for meeting decarbonization goals.
Fuels and energy carriers from single-site catalysts prepared via surface organometallic chemistry
Copéret, Christophe (2019)
Nature Energy
The petrochemical industry relies on catalysts for hydrocarbon conversions that often contain ill-defined active metal sites, hampering rational improvement. Surface organometallic chemistry (SOMC) has enabled the design of catalysts with tailored metal sites, often referred to as single sites. In this Perspective, I consider how SOMC has opened routes to synthesis of fuels and energy carriers not possible via traditional approaches and led to the discovery of alkane homologation processes, by giving access to a large proportion of low coordinated and highly reactive surface sites. While challenges lie ahead, particularly with respect to the improvement of catalyst activity and lifetime, as well as further control and characterization of active/surface site structure, SOMC is effective for increasing molecular level understanding of catalytic events as found in related industrial systems. Furthermore, single-site catalysts can also be used to provide molecular level precision in complex systems such as supported nanoparticles where dopant and support effects are ubiquitous, but poorly understood.
Africa needs context-relevant evidence to shape its clean energy future
Mulugetta, Yacob; Sokona, Youba; Trotter, Philipp A.; et al. (2022)
Nature Energy
Aligning development and climate goals means Africa's energy systems will be based on clean energy technologies in the long term, but pathways to get there are uncertain and variable across countries. Although current debates about natural gas and renewables in Africa are heated, they largely ignore the substantial context specificity of the starting points, development objectives and uncertainties of each African country's energy system trajectory. Here we-an interdisciplinary and majority African group of authors-highlight that each country faces a distinct solution space and set of uncertainties for using renewables or fossil fuels to meet its development objectives. For example, Ethiopia is headed for an accelerated green-growth pathway, but Mozambique is at a crossroads of natural gas expansion with implicit large-scale technological, economic, financial and social risks and uncertainties. We provide geopolitical, policy, finance and research recommendations to create firm country-specific evidence to identify adequate energy system pathways for development and to enable their implementation.
The next phase of the energy transition and its implications for research and policy
Markard, Jochen (2018)
Nature Energy
Reducing the cost of capital to finance the energy transition in developing countries
Calcaterra, Matteo; Aleluia Reis, Lara; Fragkos, Panagiotis; et al. (2024)
Nature Energy
Climate stabilization requires the mobilization of substantial investments in low- and zero-carbon technologies, especially in emerging and developing economies. However, access to stable and affordable finance varies dramatically across countries. Models used to evaluate the energy transition do not differentiate regional financing costs and therefore cannot study risk-sharing mechanisms for renewable electricity generation. In this study, we incorporated the empirically estimated cost of capital differentiated by country and technology into an ensemble of five climate-energy-economy models. We quantified the additional financing cost of decarbonization borne by developing regions and explored policies of risk premium convergence across countries. We found that alleviating financial constraints benefits both climate and equity as a result of more renewable and affordable energy in the developing world. This highlights the importance of fair finance for energy availability, affordability and sustainability, as well as the need to include financial considerations in model-based assessments.
Towards carbon-neutral and clean propulsion in heavy-duty transportation with hydroformylated Fischer–Tropsch fuels
Voelker, Simon; Groll, Niklas; Bachmann, Marvin; et al. (2024)
Nature Energy
Clean transport requires tailored energy carriers. For heavy-duty transportation, synthetic fuels are promising but must fulfil the key challenges of achieving carbon neutrality while reducing air pollution and ensuring scalability through compatibility with existing infrastructure. Here we show that hydroformylated Fischer–Tropsch (HyFiT) fuels composed of optimized alkane–alcohol blends simultaneously address these challenges. First, the design of the HyFiT fuel process flexibly closes the carbon cycle by employing biomass or carbon dioxide as feedstock, while being scalable through mature technologies. Second, fuel testing shows that HyFiT fuels comply with global fuel standards. Material compatibility is demonstrated for two standard sealing materials, enabling the retrofit of today’s vehicle fleets. Third, vehicle testing shows that HyFiT fuels substantially reduce combustion-induced particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. Fourth, a well-to-wheel life cycle assessment finds that HyFiT fuels enable the transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, showing simultaneously a favourable profile in other environmental parameters. HyFiT fuels can thus complement electrification for heavy-duty transportation.
Understanding and accounting for the effect of exchange rate fluctuations on global learning rates
Lilliestam, Johan; Melliger, Marc; Ollier, Lana; et al. (2020)
Nature Energy

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