Explore the vast range of titles available.

Metal suboxides have emerged as a class of promising candidates for many electrocatalytic applications owing to their enhanced electrical conductivity and chemical activities. In this review, we have summarized the recent progress of metal suboxides. We have firstly introduced the discovery of metal suboxides, and their categories according to element tables. Then various metal suboxides synthetic methods have been systematically illustrated involving solid‐state synthesis, high‐temperature synthesis, low‐temperature synthesis and plasma‐driven synthetic methods, etc. In addition, their applications have been demonstrated in the field of water, carbon and nitrogen cycle‐based energy catalysis technologies involving electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, oxygen reduction reaction, carbon dioxide reduction, urea oxidation reaction, methanol oxidation reaction, nitrogen reduction reaction and nitrate reduction reaction, etc. Finally, we make a brief conclusion about the developments of metal suboxides, giving an outlook for future research challenges. These insights are expected to hold promise for developing metal suboxide catalysts toward practical applications.

Unsustainable fossil fuel energy usage and its environmental impacts are the most significant scientific challenges in the scientific community. Two-dimensional (2D) materials have received a lot of attention recently because of their great potential for application in addressing some of society’s most enduring issues with renewable energy. Transition metal-based nitrides, carbides, or carbonitrides, known as “MXenes”, are a relatively new and large family of 2D materials. Since the discovery of the first MXene, Ti 3 C 2 in 2011 has become one of the fastest-expanding families of 2D materials with unique physiochemical features. MXene surface terminations with hydroxyl, oxygen, fluorine, etc., are invariably present in the so far reported materials, imparting hydrophilicity to their surfaces. The current finding of multi-transition metal-layered MXenes with controlled surface termination capacity opens the door to fabricating unique structures for producing renewable energy. MXene NMs-based flexible chemistry allows them to be tuned for energy-producing/storage, electromagnetic interference shielding, gas/biosensors, water distillation, nanocomposite reinforcement, lubrication, and photo/electro/chemical catalysis. This review will first discuss the advancement of MXenes synthesis methods, their properties/stability, and renewable energy applications. Secondly, we will highlight the constraints and challenges that impede the scientific community from synthesizing functional MXene with controlled composition and properties. We will further reveal the high-tech implementations for renewable energy storage applications along with future challenges and their solutions. Graphical Abstract

Solar energy is environmentally friendly technology, a great energy supply and one of the most significant renewable and green energy sources. It plays a substantial role in achieving sustainable development energy solutions. Therefore, the massive amount of solar energy attainable daily makes it a very attractive resource for generating electricity. Both technologies, applications of concentrated solar power or solar photovoltaics, are always under continuous development to fulfil our energy needs. Hence, a large installed capacity of solar energy applications worldwide, in the same context, supports the energy sector and meets the employment market to gain sufficient development. This paper highlights solar energy applications and their role in sustainable development and considers renewable energy’s overall employment potential. Thus, it provides insights and analysis on solar energy sustainability, including environmental and economic development. Furthermore, it has identified the contributions of solar energy applications in sustainable development by providing energy needs, creating jobs opportunities and enhancing environmental protection. Finally, the perspective of solar energy technology is drawn up in the application of the energy sector and affords a vision of future development in this domain.

From September 8th to 12th, 2024, the 19th SDEWES Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water, and Environment Systems was successfully held in Rome. This event drew 700 researchers, scientists, and practitioners from 62 nations across six continents, with 570 participating in person and another 130 joining virtually. A total of seven papers were selected to be published in Energies, and the corresponding literature published in the most recent year is here reviewed. The main topics of the selected papers regard the adoption of district heating and cooling and their integration with renewable energies (such as geothermal or solar, the use of innovative bifacial PV panels, the use of biomass energy for the bio-synthetic natural gas production, the short-term electric load forecasting for industrial applications, and others. The reviewed papers show that several energy measures can be addressed to reach the decarbonization goals of 2050 and that the scientific community continues to find novel, sustainable, and efficient methods for the reduction in energy consumption and related CO2 emissions.

An analysis of the literature data indicates a wide front of research and development in the field of the use of methane–hydrogen mixtures as a promising environmentally friendly low-carbon fuel. The conclusion of most works shows that the use of methane–hydrogen mixtures in internal combustion engines improves their performance and emission characteristics. The most important aspect is the concentration of hydrogen in the fuel mixture, which affects the combustion process of the fuel and determines the optimal operating conditions of the engine. When using methane–hydrogen mixtures with low hydrogen content, the safety measures and risks are similar to those that exist when working with natural gas. Serious logistical problems are associated with the difficulties of using the existing gas distribution infrastructure for transporting methane–hydrogen mixtures. It is possible that, despite the need for huge investments, it will be necessary to create a new infrastructure for the production, storage and transportation of hydrogen and its mixtures with natural gas. Further research is needed on the compatibility of pipeline materials with hydrogen and methane–hydrogen mixtures, safety conditions for the operation of equipment operating with hydrogen or methane–hydrogen mixtures, as well as the economic and environmental feasibility of using these energy carriers.

Inspired by President Dwight D. Eisenhower's \"Atoms for Peace\" speech, scientists at the Atomic Energy Commission and the University of California's Radiation Laboratory began in 1957 a program they called Plowshare. Joined by like-minded government officials, scientists, and business leaders, champions of \"peaceful nuclear explosions\" maintained that they could create new elements and isotopes for general use, build storage facilities for water or fuel, mine ores, increase oil and natural gas production, generate heat for power production, and construct roads, harbors, and canals. By harnessing the power of the atom for nonmilitary purposes, Plowshare backers expected to protect American security, defend U.S. legitimacy and prestige, and ensure access to energy resources. Scott Kaufman's extensive research in nearly two dozen archives in three nations shows how science, politics, and environmentalism converged to shape the lasting conflict over the use of nuclear technology. Indeed, despite technological and strategic promise, Plowshare's early champions soon found themselves facing a vocal and powerful coalition of federal and state officials, scientists, industrialists, environmentalists, and average citizens. Skeptical politicians, domestic and international pressure to stop nuclear testing, and a lack of government funding severely restricted the program. By the mid-1970s, Plowshare was, in the words of one government official, \"dead as a doornail.\" However, the thought of using the atom for peaceful purposes remains alive.

Large language models (LLMs) are gaining attention due to their potential to enhance efficiency and sustainability in the building domain, a critical area for reducing global carbon emissions. Built on transformer architectures, LLMs excel at text generation and data analysis, enabling applications such as automated energy model generation, energy management optimization, and fault detection and diagnosis. These models can potentially streamline complex workflows, enhance decision-making, and improve energy efficiency. However, integrating LLMs into building energy systems poses challenges, including high computational demands, data preparation costs, and the need for domain-specific customization. This perspective paper explores the role of LLMs in the building energy system sector, highlighting their potential applications and limitations. We propose a development roadmap built on in-context learning, domain-specific fine-tuning, retrieval augmented generation, and multimodal integration to enhance LLMs’ customization and practical use in this field. This paper aims to spark ideas for bridging the gap between LLMs capabilities and practical building applications, offering insights into the future of LLM-driven methods in building energy applications.

Carbon-based dual-metal sites catalysts (DMSCs) have emerged as a new frontier in the field of sustainable energy due to their unique coordination environments, electronic structure, and the maximized atom utilization. The reasonable utilization of carbon-based DMSCs provides new possibilities to achieve the outstanding catalytic performance, remarkable selectivity, and recyclability in energy-related catalysis. Based on this, this review intends to summarize the recent breakthroughs in carbon-based DMSCs for the energy catalysis. Firstly, the definition and classifications of DMSCs are proposed, mainly dividing into three types (isolated dual-metal site pairs, binuclear homologous dual-metal sites pairs, and binuclear heterologous dual-metal sites pairs). Subsequently, we discuss the potential of DMSCs targeting on energy conversion reactions, such as electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR), and N 2 reduction reaction (NRR). Finally, we predict the remaining challenges and possible opportunities on the unique carbon-based DMSCs for energy applications in the future.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are emerging as a form of sustainable and renewable technology for harvesting wasted mechanical energy in nature, such as motion, waves, wind, and vibrations. TENG devices generate electricity through the cyclic working principle of contact and separation of tribo-material couples. This technology is used in outstanding applications in energy generation, human care, medicinal, biomedical, and industrial applications. TENG devices can be applied in many practical applications, such as portable power, self-powered sensors, electronics, and electric consumption devices. With TENG energy technologies, significant energy issues can be reduced or even solved in the near future, such as reducing gas emissions, increasing environmental protection, and improving human health. The performance of TENGs can be enhanced by utilizing materials with a significant contrast in their triboelectrical characteristics or by implementing advanced structural designs. This review comprehensively examines the recent advancements in TENG technologies for harnessing mechanical waste energy sources, with a primary focus on their sustainability and renewable energy attributes. It also delves into topics such as optimizing tribo-surface structures to enhance output performance, implementing energy storage systems to ensure stable operation and prolonged usage, exploring energy collection systems for efficient management of harvested energy, and highlighting practical applications of TENG in various contexts. The results indicate that TENG technologies have the potential to be widely applied in sustainable energy generation, renewable energy, industry, and human care in the near future.

As a clean energy source, hydrogen not only helps to reduce the use of fossil fuels but also promotes the transformation of energy structure and sustainable development. This paper firstly introduces the development status of green hydrogen at home and abroad and then focuses on several advanced green hydrogen production technologies. Then, the advantages and shortcomings of different green hydrogen production technologies are compared. Among them, the future source of hydrogen tends to be electrolysis water hydrogen production. Finally, the challenges and application prospects of the development process of green hydrogen technology are discussed, and green hydrogen is expected to become an important part of realizing sustainable global energy development.