Pub Date : 2024-07-25DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01398-4
Kajsa Resare Sahlin, Line J. Gordon, Regina Lindborg, Johannes Piipponen, Pierre Van Rysselberge, Julia Rouet-Leduc, Elin Röös
The production and consumption of animal-source foods must be transformed to mitigate negative environmental outcomes, including greenhouse gas emissions and land-use change. However, livestock are also key for food production and for livelihoods in some settings, and they can help preserve biodiversity and certain ecosystems. Previous studies have not yet fully explored sustainability limits to the use of grazing lands for food production in the context of biodiversity. Here we explore ‘biodiversity limits’ to grassland ruminant production by estimating the meat and milk production from domestic ruminants limited to grazing areas and stocking densities where livestock can contribute to the preservation or restoration of biodiversity. With biodiversity-friendly grazing intensities at 0–20% biomass removal depending on aridity, this take on biodiversity limits corresponds to 9–13% and 26–40% of the current grassland-based milk and meat production, respectively. This equals only 2.2 kg of milk and 0.8 kg of meat per capita per year, globally, but altered management and moving from meat-specialized to meat-and-dairy systems could increase the potential production while still remaining within this approach to biodiversity limits. Grazing lands make important contributions to society, including meat and milk, but there are sustainability limits to their use for production. This study explores milk and meat production from grazing ruminants within biodiversity limits.
{"title":"An exploration of biodiversity limits to grazing ruminant milk and meat production","authors":"Kajsa Resare Sahlin, Line J. Gordon, Regina Lindborg, Johannes Piipponen, Pierre Van Rysselberge, Julia Rouet-Leduc, Elin Röös","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01398-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01398-4","url":null,"abstract":"The production and consumption of animal-source foods must be transformed to mitigate negative environmental outcomes, including greenhouse gas emissions and land-use change. However, livestock are also key for food production and for livelihoods in some settings, and they can help preserve biodiversity and certain ecosystems. Previous studies have not yet fully explored sustainability limits to the use of grazing lands for food production in the context of biodiversity. Here we explore ‘biodiversity limits’ to grassland ruminant production by estimating the meat and milk production from domestic ruminants limited to grazing areas and stocking densities where livestock can contribute to the preservation or restoration of biodiversity. With biodiversity-friendly grazing intensities at 0–20% biomass removal depending on aridity, this take on biodiversity limits corresponds to 9–13% and 26–40% of the current grassland-based milk and meat production, respectively. This equals only 2.2 kg of milk and 0.8 kg of meat per capita per year, globally, but altered management and moving from meat-specialized to meat-and-dairy systems could increase the potential production while still remaining within this approach to biodiversity limits. Grazing lands make important contributions to society, including meat and milk, but there are sustainability limits to their use for production. This study explores milk and meat production from grazing ruminants within biodiversity limits.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 9","pages":"1160-1170"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-024-01398-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141802943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-24DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01405-8
The sustainability community is increasingly calling for transformation, but action to transform is too slow. Nature Sustainability and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation have convened an expert panel to address the issue and recommend a way forward.
{"title":"Tackling resistance to change","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01405-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01405-8","url":null,"abstract":"The sustainability community is increasingly calling for transformation, but action to transform is too slow. Nature Sustainability and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation have convened an expert panel to address the issue and recommend a way forward.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 7","pages":"835-835"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-024-01405-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141808281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-23DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01394-8
Yaovi Holade, Srabanti Ghosh, Teko W. Napporn
Green production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) with a sunlight-driven or renewable-energy-powered electrochemical process provides a path to its decentralized production and sustainable end-use. Here, we discuss how to develop a fairer basis for performance evaluation of (photo)electrosynthesis of H2O2.
{"title":"Best practices for hydrogen peroxide (photo)electrosynthesis","authors":"Yaovi Holade, Srabanti Ghosh, Teko W. Napporn","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01394-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01394-8","url":null,"abstract":"Green production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) with a sunlight-driven or renewable-energy-powered electrochemical process provides a path to its decentralized production and sustainable end-use. Here, we discuss how to develop a fairer basis for performance evaluation of (photo)electrosynthesis of H2O2.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 9","pages":"1085-1087"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141810171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-23DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01402-x
Tonghuan Yang, Kun Zhang, Yuxuan Zuo, Jin Song, Yali Yang, Chuan Gao, Tao Chen, Hangchao Wang, Wukun Xiao, Zewen Jiang, Dingguo Xia
Nickel-rich layered transition metal oxides are leading cathode candidates for lithium-ion batteries due to their increased capacity, low cost and enhanced environmental sustainability compared to cobalt formulations. However, the nickel enrichment comes with larger volume change during cycling as well as reduced oxygen stability, which can both incur performance degradation. Here we show an ultrahigh-nickel cathode, LiNi0.94Co0.05Te0.01O2, that addresses all of these critical issues by introducing high valent tellurium cations (Te6+). The as-prepared material exhibits an initial capacity of up to 239 milliampere-hours (mAh) per gram and an impressive capacity retention of 94.5% after 200 cycles. The resulting Ah-level lithium metal battery with silicon-carbon anode achieves an extraordinary monomer energy density of 404 watt-hours (Wh) per kilogram with retention of 91.2% after 300 cycles. Advanced characterizations and theoretical calculations show that the introduction of tellurium serves to engineer the particle morphology for a microstructure to better accommodate the lattice strain and enable an intralayer Te–Ni–Ni–Te ordered superstructure, which effectively tunes the ligand energy-level structure and suppresses lattice oxygen loss. This work not only advances the energy density of nickel-based lithium-ion batteries into the realm of 400 Wh kg−1 but suggests new opportunities in structure design for cathode materials without trade-off between performance and sustainability. Increasing the Ni content to replace Co can increase the capacity and sustainability of cathode for batteries but leads to performance degradation issues. Here the authors address the structural and oxygen instabilities of Ni-rich cathodes by doping with tellurium.
{"title":"Ultrahigh-nickel layered cathode with cycling stability for sustainable lithium-ion batteries","authors":"Tonghuan Yang, Kun Zhang, Yuxuan Zuo, Jin Song, Yali Yang, Chuan Gao, Tao Chen, Hangchao Wang, Wukun Xiao, Zewen Jiang, Dingguo Xia","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01402-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01402-x","url":null,"abstract":"Nickel-rich layered transition metal oxides are leading cathode candidates for lithium-ion batteries due to their increased capacity, low cost and enhanced environmental sustainability compared to cobalt formulations. However, the nickel enrichment comes with larger volume change during cycling as well as reduced oxygen stability, which can both incur performance degradation. Here we show an ultrahigh-nickel cathode, LiNi0.94Co0.05Te0.01O2, that addresses all of these critical issues by introducing high valent tellurium cations (Te6+). The as-prepared material exhibits an initial capacity of up to 239 milliampere-hours (mAh) per gram and an impressive capacity retention of 94.5% after 200 cycles. The resulting Ah-level lithium metal battery with silicon-carbon anode achieves an extraordinary monomer energy density of 404 watt-hours (Wh) per kilogram with retention of 91.2% after 300 cycles. Advanced characterizations and theoretical calculations show that the introduction of tellurium serves to engineer the particle morphology for a microstructure to better accommodate the lattice strain and enable an intralayer Te–Ni–Ni–Te ordered superstructure, which effectively tunes the ligand energy-level structure and suppresses lattice oxygen loss. This work not only advances the energy density of nickel-based lithium-ion batteries into the realm of 400 Wh kg−1 but suggests new opportunities in structure design for cathode materials without trade-off between performance and sustainability. Increasing the Ni content to replace Co can increase the capacity and sustainability of cathode for batteries but leads to performance degradation issues. Here the authors address the structural and oxygen instabilities of Ni-rich cathodes by doping with tellurium.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 9","pages":"1204-1214"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-024-01402-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141811346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-22DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01373-z
Wei Liu, Yukun Wu, Aikaterini Vriza, Cheng Zhang, Hyocheol Jung, Shiyu Hu, Yuepeng Zhang, Du Chen, Peijun Guo, Benjamin T. Diroll, Glingna Wang, Richard D. Schaller, Henry Chan, Jianguo Mei, Sihong Wang, Jie Xu
Luminescent polymers are of great interest in a number of photonic technologies, including electroluminescence, bioimaging, medical diagnosis, bio-stimulation and security signage. Incorporating depolymerizability and recyclability into luminescent polymers is pivotal for promoting their sustainability and minimizing their environmental impacts at the end of the product lifecycle, but existing strategies often compromise the light-emitting efficiencies. Here we develop a strategy that utilizes cleavable moiety to create depolymerizable and recyclable thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) polymers without compromising their high light-emitting efficiencies. The electroluminescent devices based on the TADF polymers achieved a high external quantum efficiency of up to 15.1 %. The TADF polymers can be depolymerized under either mild acidic or heating conditions, with precise control of the kinetics, and the obtained pure monomers can potentially be isolated and repolymerized for subsequent life applications. This work promotes the end-of-life environmental friendliness and circularity of luminescent materials, paving the way to a sustainable photonic industry. Developing depolymerizable and recyclable polymers with high light-emitting efficiencies is of vital importance for sustainable photonic technologies, but remains challenging. Here the authors design a strategy to develop such polymers based on the use of controllable cleavable moiety.
{"title":"Depolymerizable and recyclable luminescent polymers with high light-emitting efficiencies","authors":"Wei Liu, Yukun Wu, Aikaterini Vriza, Cheng Zhang, Hyocheol Jung, Shiyu Hu, Yuepeng Zhang, Du Chen, Peijun Guo, Benjamin T. Diroll, Glingna Wang, Richard D. Schaller, Henry Chan, Jianguo Mei, Sihong Wang, Jie Xu","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01373-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01373-z","url":null,"abstract":"Luminescent polymers are of great interest in a number of photonic technologies, including electroluminescence, bioimaging, medical diagnosis, bio-stimulation and security signage. Incorporating depolymerizability and recyclability into luminescent polymers is pivotal for promoting their sustainability and minimizing their environmental impacts at the end of the product lifecycle, but existing strategies often compromise the light-emitting efficiencies. Here we develop a strategy that utilizes cleavable moiety to create depolymerizable and recyclable thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) polymers without compromising their high light-emitting efficiencies. The electroluminescent devices based on the TADF polymers achieved a high external quantum efficiency of up to 15.1 %. The TADF polymers can be depolymerized under either mild acidic or heating conditions, with precise control of the kinetics, and the obtained pure monomers can potentially be isolated and repolymerized for subsequent life applications. This work promotes the end-of-life environmental friendliness and circularity of luminescent materials, paving the way to a sustainable photonic industry. Developing depolymerizable and recyclable polymers with high light-emitting efficiencies is of vital importance for sustainable photonic technologies, but remains challenging. Here the authors design a strategy to develop such polymers based on the use of controllable cleavable moiety.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 8","pages":"1048-1056"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141816885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-18DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01401-y
Youxun Xu, Chao Wang, Xiyi Li, Lunqiao Xiong, Tianyu Zhang, Liquan Zhang, Qinghua Zhang, Lin Gu, Yang Lan, Junwang Tang
The oxidation of methane to value-added chemicals provides an opportunity to use this abundant feedstock for sustainable petrochemistry. Unfortunately, such technologies remain insufficiently competitive due to a poor selectivity and a low yield rate for target products. Here we show a photon–phonon-driven cascade reaction that allows for methane conversion to formaldehyde with an unprecedented productivity of 401.5 μmol h−1 (or 40,150 μmol g−1 h−1) and a high selectivity of 90.4% at 150 °C. Specifically, with a ZnO catalyst decorated with single Ru atoms, methane first reacts with water to selectively produce methyl hydroperoxide via photocatalysis, followed by a thermodecomposition step yielding formaldehyde. Single Ru atoms, serving as electron acceptors, improve charge separation and promote oxygen reduction in photocatalysis. This reaction route with minimized energy consumption and high efficiency suggests a promising pathway for the sustainable transformation of light alkanes. Sustainable methane oxidation has the potential to green the petrochemical industry. Here the authors demonstrate a cascade catalysis process involving photoconversion and then thermal decomposition at mild temperatures to form formaldehyde with a high selectivity and a high yield rate.
{"title":"Efficient methane oxidation to formaldehyde via photon–phonon cascade catalysis","authors":"Youxun Xu, Chao Wang, Xiyi Li, Lunqiao Xiong, Tianyu Zhang, Liquan Zhang, Qinghua Zhang, Lin Gu, Yang Lan, Junwang Tang","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01401-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01401-y","url":null,"abstract":"The oxidation of methane to value-added chemicals provides an opportunity to use this abundant feedstock for sustainable petrochemistry. Unfortunately, such technologies remain insufficiently competitive due to a poor selectivity and a low yield rate for target products. Here we show a photon–phonon-driven cascade reaction that allows for methane conversion to formaldehyde with an unprecedented productivity of 401.5 μmol h−1 (or 40,150 μmol g−1 h−1) and a high selectivity of 90.4% at 150 °C. Specifically, with a ZnO catalyst decorated with single Ru atoms, methane first reacts with water to selectively produce methyl hydroperoxide via photocatalysis, followed by a thermodecomposition step yielding formaldehyde. Single Ru atoms, serving as electron acceptors, improve charge separation and promote oxygen reduction in photocatalysis. This reaction route with minimized energy consumption and high efficiency suggests a promising pathway for the sustainable transformation of light alkanes. Sustainable methane oxidation has the potential to green the petrochemical industry. Here the authors demonstrate a cascade catalysis process involving photoconversion and then thermal decomposition at mild temperatures to form formaldehyde with a high selectivity and a high yield rate.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 9","pages":"1171-1181"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-024-01401-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141826389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-16DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01393-9
Tao Liu, Tiantian Dong, Mengying Wang, Xiaofan Du, Youlong Sun, Gaojie Xu, Huanrui Zhang, Shanmu Dong, Guanglei Cui
Silicon (Si) anode is widely viewed as a game changer for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its much higher capacity than the prevalent graphite and availability in sufficient quantity and quality. Most Si anode designs are nanostructured to overcome the large volume variation during cycling, but this comes at the expense of manufacturability, cost advantage and other merits. Here we demonstrate that micro-sized Si (μm-Si) recycled from photovoltaic waste can serve as anode material, exhibiting an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.94% and retaining 83.13% of its initial capacity after 200 cycles through the rational electrolyte design. With a formulated ether electrolyte of 3 M LiPF6 in 1,3-dioxane (DX)/1,2-diethoxyethane (DEE), NCM811||μm-Si pouch cells survive 80 cycles and deliver an energy density of 340.7 Wh kg−1 even under harsh conditions. Responsible for the impressive electrochemical performance is a unique SEI chemistry where the flexible polymer-dominated outer layer well holds fractured Si particles together and the rigid Li2O/LiF-rich inner layer serves to facilitate ionic conduction and suppress side reactions. Our work not only suggests a more sustainable supply source for Si particles but also addresses the major problems facing μm-Si anode materials. Silicon (Si) has emerged as a promising next-generation anode material. Here the authors recycle photovoltaic waste for micro-sized Si that can pair with high-voltage cathode for high-performance Li-ion pouch cells.
{"title":"Recycled micro-sized silicon anode for high-voltage lithium-ion batteries","authors":"Tao Liu, Tiantian Dong, Mengying Wang, Xiaofan Du, Youlong Sun, Gaojie Xu, Huanrui Zhang, Shanmu Dong, Guanglei Cui","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01393-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01393-9","url":null,"abstract":"Silicon (Si) anode is widely viewed as a game changer for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its much higher capacity than the prevalent graphite and availability in sufficient quantity and quality. Most Si anode designs are nanostructured to overcome the large volume variation during cycling, but this comes at the expense of manufacturability, cost advantage and other merits. Here we demonstrate that micro-sized Si (μm-Si) recycled from photovoltaic waste can serve as anode material, exhibiting an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.94% and retaining 83.13% of its initial capacity after 200 cycles through the rational electrolyte design. With a formulated ether electrolyte of 3 M LiPF6 in 1,3-dioxane (DX)/1,2-diethoxyethane (DEE), NCM811||μm-Si pouch cells survive 80 cycles and deliver an energy density of 340.7 Wh kg−1 even under harsh conditions. Responsible for the impressive electrochemical performance is a unique SEI chemistry where the flexible polymer-dominated outer layer well holds fractured Si particles together and the rigid Li2O/LiF-rich inner layer serves to facilitate ionic conduction and suppress side reactions. Our work not only suggests a more sustainable supply source for Si particles but also addresses the major problems facing μm-Si anode materials. Silicon (Si) has emerged as a promising next-generation anode material. Here the authors recycle photovoltaic waste for micro-sized Si that can pair with high-voltage cathode for high-performance Li-ion pouch cells.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 8","pages":"1057-1066"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141644043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-16DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01395-7
Sadeeb S. Ottenburger, Rob Cox, Badrul H. Chowdhury, Dmytro Trybushnyi, Ehmedi Al Omar, Sujay A. Kaloti, Ulrich Ufer, Witold-R. Poganietz, Weijia Liu, Evgenia Deines, Tim O. Müller, Stella Möhrle, Wolfgang Raskob
The impacts of natural hazards on infrastructure, enhanced by climate change, are increasingly more severe emphasizing the necessity of resilient energy grids. Microgrids, tailored energy systems for specific neighbourhoods and districts, play a pivotal role in sustaining energy supply during main grid outages. These solutions not only mitigate economic losses and well-being disruptions against escalating hazards but also enhance city resilience in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11. However, disregarding socioeconomic factors in defining microgrid boundaries risks perpetuating inequalities and impeding progress towards other SDG 11 targets, including fair democratic participation. Our approach integrates social and technical indicators to bolster urban microgrid planning. Through a case study in a US county, we illustrate how integrated microgrid planning effectively intertwines urban resilience, well-being and equity while promoting sustainable development. This study underscores the importance of integrated microgrid planning for sustainable and resilient urban transformation amid environmental and societal challenges. Improving the resilience of energy systems to natural hazards cannot rely only on strengthening technical aspects of energy grids. This study shows how integrating technical and socioeconomic dimensions in the design of microgrids can enhance the resilience and equity of energy systems and promote well-being.
{"title":"Sustainable urban transformations based on integrated microgrid designs","authors":"Sadeeb S. Ottenburger, Rob Cox, Badrul H. Chowdhury, Dmytro Trybushnyi, Ehmedi Al Omar, Sujay A. Kaloti, Ulrich Ufer, Witold-R. Poganietz, Weijia Liu, Evgenia Deines, Tim O. Müller, Stella Möhrle, Wolfgang Raskob","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01395-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01395-7","url":null,"abstract":"The impacts of natural hazards on infrastructure, enhanced by climate change, are increasingly more severe emphasizing the necessity of resilient energy grids. Microgrids, tailored energy systems for specific neighbourhoods and districts, play a pivotal role in sustaining energy supply during main grid outages. These solutions not only mitigate economic losses and well-being disruptions against escalating hazards but also enhance city resilience in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11. However, disregarding socioeconomic factors in defining microgrid boundaries risks perpetuating inequalities and impeding progress towards other SDG 11 targets, including fair democratic participation. Our approach integrates social and technical indicators to bolster urban microgrid planning. Through a case study in a US county, we illustrate how integrated microgrid planning effectively intertwines urban resilience, well-being and equity while promoting sustainable development. This study underscores the importance of integrated microgrid planning for sustainable and resilient urban transformation amid environmental and societal challenges. Improving the resilience of energy systems to natural hazards cannot rely only on strengthening technical aspects of energy grids. This study shows how integrating technical and socioeconomic dimensions in the design of microgrids can enhance the resilience and equity of energy systems and promote well-being.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 8","pages":"1067-1079"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-024-01395-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141643599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-16DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01383-x
Yangdi Niu, Deming Xue, Xianqi Dai, Gaofu Guo, Xiaoli Yang, Lin Yang, Zhengyu Bai
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are an emerging technology that could degrade contaminants and produce electricity simultaneously with the assistance of microorganisms. However, key challenges remain for their practical implementation, including the lack of efficient and cost-effective catalysts at the cathode. Here we take advantage of a sustainable cathode biocatalyst to construct a high-performance MFC that allows fast treatment of sewage and competitive power output. Our catalyst design is built on the Escherichia coli cell, which, upon coupled gene and nano engineering, shows excellent oxygen reduction reaction activity (current density of 3.32 mA cm−2 and onset potential of 0.63 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode) and accelerates the depollution of organic matter in sewage sludge. Remarkably, glucose consumption reaches a level as high as 19.4 mM in 100 h with a maximum power density of 334 μW cm−2. Combined characterizations and theoretical calculations reveal that the enabling chemistry is the unique configuration of the iron centre of intermembranous cytochrome c in cells. Our study not only opens a new path for the rational design of electrocatalysts but also suggests the feasibility of addressing environmental issues using MFCs. This study presents a microorganism electrocatalyst for the cathode of a microbial fuel cell that allows simultaneous electricity generation and treatment of sewage.
微生物燃料电池（MFCs）是一项新兴技术，可在微生物的帮助下降解污染物并同时发电。然而，其实际应用仍面临关键挑战，包括阴极缺乏高效且成本效益高的催化剂。在这里，我们利用一种可持续的阴极生物催化剂，构建了一种高性能的 MFC，既能快速处理污水，又能输出具有竞争力的电能。我们的催化剂设计建立在大肠杆菌细胞的基础上，通过基因和纳米工程耦合，大肠杆菌细胞显示出卓越的氧还原反应活性（相对于可逆氢电极，电流密度为 3.32 mA cm-2，起始电位为 0.63 V），并加速了污水污泥中有机物的去污。值得注意的是，在 100 小时内，葡萄糖消耗量高达 19.4 mM，最大功率密度为 334 μW cm-2。综合表征和理论计算显示，促成这种化学反应的是细胞中膜间细胞色素 c 铁中心的独特构型。我们的研究不仅为合理设计电催化剂开辟了一条新的道路，还表明了利用 MFCs 解决环境问题的可行性。本研究提出了一种用于微生物燃料电池阴极的微生物电催化剂，可同时发电和处理污水。
{"title":"Sustainable power generation from sewage with engineered microorganisms as electrocatalysts","authors":"Yangdi Niu, Deming Xue, Xianqi Dai, Gaofu Guo, Xiaoli Yang, Lin Yang, Zhengyu Bai","doi":"10.1038/s41893-024-01383-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41893-024-01383-x","url":null,"abstract":"Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are an emerging technology that could degrade contaminants and produce electricity simultaneously with the assistance of microorganisms. However, key challenges remain for their practical implementation, including the lack of efficient and cost-effective catalysts at the cathode. Here we take advantage of a sustainable cathode biocatalyst to construct a high-performance MFC that allows fast treatment of sewage and competitive power output. Our catalyst design is built on the Escherichia coli cell, which, upon coupled gene and nano engineering, shows excellent oxygen reduction reaction activity (current density of 3.32 mA cm−2 and onset potential of 0.63 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode) and accelerates the depollution of organic matter in sewage sludge. Remarkably, glucose consumption reaches a level as high as 19.4 mM in 100 h with a maximum power density of 334 μW cm−2. Combined characterizations and theoretical calculations reveal that the enabling chemistry is the unique configuration of the iron centre of intermembranous cytochrome c in cells. Our study not only opens a new path for the rational design of electrocatalysts but also suggests the feasibility of addressing environmental issues using MFCs. This study presents a microorganism electrocatalyst for the cathode of a microbial fuel cell that allows simultaneous electricity generation and treatment of sewage.","PeriodicalId":19056,"journal":{"name":"Nature Sustainability","volume":"7 9","pages":"1182-1189"},"PeriodicalIF":25.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141641129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-10DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01386-8
Jing Meng, Feng Ryan Wang
Electronic, health-care and energy applications largely rely on miniaturized structures, the fabrication of which, although technically beneficial, is energy intensive and requires the use of hazardous chemicals. Now, research shows an effective bioinspired strategy to reduce such environmental impacts while retaining the benefits of microfabrication.
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