Research articles

Billions still lack decent living standards (DLS), yet it is not known how much growth in material stocks for buildings, infrastructure and machinery will be required to meet these needs. This study estimates that increasing the material stocks by 12% would suffice to achieve DLS for all, achievable by 2030.

Safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is a prerequisite for the development of nuclear power but remains challenging. This study reveals the interplay between SNF management strategies and their environmental impacts with a particular focus on iodine-129, a highly mobile, persistent and dominant risk contributor.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) could power sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), but costs and technical hurdles such as gasification hinder its adoption. A study now shows that MSW can be turned into SAF with 80–90% lower lifecycle emissions while offering a 16% reduction in aviation greenhouse gas emissions.

Many of the materials that our everyday lives rely on come with a hidden freshwater cost during production. The embodied water in materials has surged in material production with the potential to exacerbate regional water scarcity.

Building damage and collapse is an emerging problem, particularly in large cities in developing countries. Although engineering shortcomings are often blamed, land subsidence is an underappreciated culprit that could put tens of thousands of buildings at risk across Indian megacities.

The authors demonstrate a Fenton-like chemistry activated by a perovskite catalyst to depolymerize PVC, one of the most widely used synthetic polymers, to value-added hydrocarbons in a stepwise manner.

Analysing the impacts of mining activities is hindered by scarce or incomplete data. Using a machine learning model, this study maps mining sites along the tropical belt from 2016 to 2024 with high accuracy and precision, and provides an approach that can be scaled to other locations and periods.

The origin of precipitation from oceanic or terrestrial moisture sources influences the stability of agricultural rainwater supply. Nearly half of global maize and wheat-growing regions receive a substantial share of rainfall from terrestrial water sources and are at greater risk of water scarcity.

This study examines the relationship between water inventories and price dynamics in California’s surface and groundwater markets over 2010–2022 and shows that price fluctuations in surface water markets are tied to precipitation shocks, whereas prices in groundwater markets remain stable over time.

Glycerol electro-oxidation to valuable chemicals could play an important role in sustainable chemical processes. Here the authors realize near-unity Faradaic efficiency for such reaction at an industrially relevant current density, by introducing a trace amount of copper ions to electrolytes.

One major problem with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power is their intermittent supply. Here the authors present an Earth-abundant manganese oxide electrocatalyst that is resilient to voltage fluctuations and maintains oxygen evolution reaction activities for 2,000 h.

Little is known about the environmental benefits of housing reallocation. This study fills the gap, presenting an information-enabled housing exchange framework that, in the case of Beijing, Munich and Singapore, could substantially reduce the carbon emissions from commuting.

Understanding the emission patterns of chlorinated and brominated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Cl/BrPAHs), a group of persistent organic pollutants, is critical to control them. This study presents a global inventory and source attribution analysis of Cl/BrPAH emissions.

The decarbonization of oil and gas companies may not be as speedy or robust as advertised. This analysis finds that renewable energies make up just a minor fraction of the total energy production by the biggest companies globally.

All-solid-state batteries require external high pressure for good contact between the solid electrolyte and electrodes. Here the authors introduce iodine anions into electrolytes to form interphases that adapt to morphology at the interface, lifting the dependence on high pressure.

Radiative cooling is an emerging technology for cooling with reduced energy consumption. Here the authors present photoluminescent composites that combine subambient cooling with aesthetic colour, hydrophobicity and durability.

This study examines the outcomes of dietary shifts across intrinsic and instrumental conservation perspectives, finding that most conservation benefits already come from a partial shift to healthier, more plant-based diets, whereas greater benefits depend on more targeted conservation action.

Hydropower is a clean energy source but dams trap river sediment, decreasing delivery downstream and to coastlines. In the Mekong River Basin, replacing some hydropower dams with solar, wind and energy storage facilities could maintain energy supply while reducing impact on sediment transport.

Continental shelves have become a substantial sink of anthropogenic mercury since the onset of the Industrial Revolution. However, human activities and climate-related processes can remobilize mercury-bearing sediment, potentially transforming this mercury sink into a marine source.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) electroreduction is a sustainable way to reduce the carbon footprint of producing carbon-based chemicals. This work analyses voltage distributions within CO₂ electrolysers, identifies the sources of inefficiencies and highlights opportunities for system optimization.