Low-temperature CO₂ electrolysers are often tested at ambient temperature, yet this may not be optimal for larger-scale systems. In this Perspective Pelzer et al. argue that heat generation, due to the energy inefficiency of electrolysers, will favour elevated operating temperatures of 40–70 °C.

From 2003 to 2020, the efficiency of white light-emitting diodes rose from 6% to 39%, while costs fell by 96%. Weinold et al. explore the drivers of such rapid progress to formulate lessons for future clean energy innovation.

Hydrogen system testbeds powered by renewables at kilowatt–megawatt scale reduce technical and financial risk by providing evidence to inform decisions on economic viability for investments at commercial scale. Future-proofing these testbeds to ‘plug and play’ new components or technologies may accelerate low-regret uptake of innovation.

This study on European carbon management shows how H₂ and CO₂ networks influence whether CO₂ is transported to renewable hubs and sequestration sites or H₂ is delivered to industrial sites for producing clean fuels from captured CO₂.

From 2003 to 2020, the efficiency of white light-emitting diodes rose from 6% to 39%, while costs fell by 96%. Weinold et al. explore the drivers of such rapid progress to formulate lessons for future clean energy innovation.

The uneven surfaces of copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar cells pose challenges for depositing the upper layers in flexible perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells. Ying et al. tackle this issue using an antisolvent and seeding strategy, resulting in a certified efficiency of 23.8%.

This study on European carbon management shows how H₂ and CO₂ networks influence whether CO₂ is transported to renewable hubs and sequestration sites or H₂ is delivered to industrial sites for producing clean fuels from captured CO₂.

The efficiency of pure sulfide kesterite solar cells is limited by deep-level defects. Wu et al. develop a heat treatment in an oxygen-rich environment to suppress sulfur vacancies, achieving an 11.51% certified efficiency.

This work quantifies the impact of sound ordinances on the wind energy capacity in the United States. It finds existing sound ordinances reduce the capacity by 8% over standard setbacks and explores impacts of other hypothetical ordinance scenarios.

The electrode–aqueous interface is crucial to designing effective electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction, which occurs in water electrolysers. Here the authors explore the use of organic overlayers on Pt electrodes, enhancing hydrogen evolution activity in alkaline media by up to 50 times.

Nature Energy talks to Sheila Oparaocha (pictured), Director of the ENERGIA International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy, and Magi Matinga, Technical Advisor at ENERGIA, about challenges and opportunities for ensuring gender equality in Africa’s energy transition, and how well aligned the fields of advocacy, policy and research are on this issue.

Salvatore Finamore speaks with Nature Energy about what the Analysis and Research Team at the Council of the European Union does and how they measure impact, while offering insight for researchers looking to reach a policy audience.