Environmental Energy & Engineering

Phase-pure antiperovskite nitrides (A3XN; A = Co, Ni; X = Zn, In, Sn) synthesized via a melamine method were evaluated as cost-effective, high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts. Initial tests in 1 M NaOH electrolyte revealed limited activity, significantly enhanced by reductive electrochemical cycling, attributed to the in situ formation of catalytically active zero-valent Co0 and Ni0 surface species. Comparative studies of isostructural Fe-based nitrides confirmed that these metallic A-site species constitute the active sites. Accelerated stability tests (95 °C, 10 M NaOH) identified Co3ZnN and Ni3ZnN as particularly robust, maintaining intact antiperovskite structures and high catalytic activity (>70 mA cm–2 after 210 h). Partial substitution (Zn for In) further improved stability, notably for Ni3Zn0.25In0.75N. This study highlights the crucial role of compositional tuning and surface activation in optimizing HER performance, emphasizing that systematic stability assessments under industrially relevant conditions (high temperature, concentrated electrolyte) are essential. Antiperovskite nitrides thus offer promising avenues for scalable, green hydrogen production technologies.

Impact factor 2021: 39.714, median time to first decision (peer reviewed articles only): 46 days*. rsc.li/ees Submit your work today rsc.li/energy *Visit rsc.li/metrics-explainer for more information Registered charity number: 207890 Embracing research at the nexus of energy science and sustainability Volker Presser, Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Germany Median time to first decision (peer reviewed articles only): 32 days*.

Biomass has potential as a carbon-neutral alternative to petroleum for chemical and energy products. However, complete replacement of fossil fuel is contingent upon efficient processes to eliminate undesirable characteristics of biomass, e.g., low bulk density, variability, and storage-induced quality problems. Mechanical size reduction via comminution is a processing operation to engineer favorable biomass flowability in handling. Crumbler rotary shear mill has been empirically demonstrated to produce more uniformly shaped particles with higher flowability than hammermilled biomass. This study combines modeling and experimentation to unveil fundamental understandings of the relation between granular particle characteristics and biomass flow behavior, which elucidate underlying mechanisms and guide selection of critical processing parameters. For this purpose, the impact of critical material attributes, including particle size (2–6 mm), particle shape (briquette, chip, clumped-sphere, cube, etc.), and surface roughness, on the angle of repose (AOR) of milled pine chips were investigated using discrete element method (DEM) simulations. Forest Concepts Crumbler rotary shear system is used to produce milled pine particles within the same size range considered in DEM simulations. AOR of different sets of these particles were measured experimentally to benchmark DEM results against experimental data. Specific energy consumption for the comminution of biomass with different particle size and moisture content are measured for technoeconomic analysis. Our results show that the smaller size (2 mm) of pine particle achieves better followability (i.e., smaller AOR) while the energy cost of comminution is significantly higher and bulk density is almost the same as the 6-mm pine particles. For the 2-mm particle size, Crumbles from veneer have better flow properties than Crumbles from chips. Contrarily, no significant difference was observed between the AOR of the two materials for the 6-mm particle size. Furthermore, from DEM simulations, mechanical interlocking between particles was found as a dominant factor in determining AOR of complex-shaped particles such as milled pine, which cannot be accurately captured by using simple particle shapes (e.g., mono-sphere) with a rolling resistance model. Conversely, clumped-sphere model alleviates this limitation without increasing computational cost significantly and can be used for accurate representation of biomass granular particles when simulating free-flow behavior.

<p>Survey evidence has indicated that a significant percentage of the population does not fully embrace the scientific consensus regarding climate change. This paper assesses whether the hourly temperature data support this denial. Specifically, this paper examines the relationship between hourly CO<sub>2</sub> atmospheric concentration levels and temperature using hourly data from the NOAA-operated Barrow observatory in northern Alaska. At this observatory, the average annual temperature over the 2015-2020 period has been about 3.37 <sup>o</sup>C higher than in the 1985-1990 period. A time-series model to explain hourly temperature is formulated using the following explanatory variables: the hourly level of total downward solar irradiance, the hourly CO<sub>2</sub> value lagged by one hour, proxies for the diurnal variation in temperature, proxies for the seasonal temperature variation, and proxies for possible non-anthropomorphic drivers of temperature.  A time-series modeling specification is employed to capture the data’s heteroskedastic and autoregressive nature. The model is estimated using hourly data from 1 Jan 1985 through 31 Dec 2015. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that increases in CO<sub>2 </sub>concentration levels have nontrivial consequences for hourly temperature. The estimated annual contributions of factors exclusive of CO<sub>2</sub> and downward total solar irradiance are very small.  The model was evaluated using out-of-sample hourly data from 1 Jan 2016 through 31 Aug 2017. The model’s out-of-sample hourly temperature predictions are highly accurate, but this accuracy is significantly degraded if the estimated CO<sub>2</sub> effects are ignored.  In short, the results are consistent with the scientific consensus on climate change.</p>

Survey evidence has indicated that a significant percentage of the population does not fully embrace the scientific consensus regarding climate change. This paper assesses whether the hourly temperature data support this denial. Specifically, this paper examines the relationship between hourly CO₂ atmospheric concentration levels and temperature using hourly data from the NOAA-operated Barrow observatory in northern Alaska. At this observatory, the average annual temperature over the 2015-2020 period has been about 3.37 ^oC higher than in the 1985-1990 period. A time-series model to explain hourly temperature is formulated using the following explanatory variables: the hourly level of total downward solar irradiance, the hourly CO₂ value lagged by one hour, proxies for the diurnal variation in temperature, proxies for the seasonal temperature variation, and proxies for possible non-anthropomorphic drivers of temperature. A time-series modeling specification is employed to capture the data’s heteroskedastic and autoregressive nature. The model is estimated using hourly data from 1 Jan 1985 through 31 Dec 2015. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that increases in CO₂concentration levels have nontrivial consequences for hourly temperature. The estimated annual contributions of factors exclusive of CO₂ and downward total solar irradiance are very small. The model was evaluated using out-of-sample hourly data from 1 Jan 2016 through 31 Aug 2017. The model’s out-of-sample hourly temperature predictions are highly accurate, but this accuracy is significantly degraded if the estimated CO₂ effects are ignored. In short, the results are consistent with the scientific consensus on climate change.

The natural environment has always been a source of inspiration for the research community. Nature has evolved over thousands of years to create the most complex living systems, with the ability to leverage inner and outside energetic interactions in the most efficient way. This work presents a flow battery profoundly inspired by nature, which mimics the fluid transport in plants to generate electric power. The battery was ecodesigned to meet a life cycle for precision agriculture (PA) applications; from raw material selection to disposability considerations, the battery is conceived to minimize its environmental impact while meeting PA power requirements. The paper-based fluidic system relies on evaporation as the main pumping force to pull the reactants through a pair of porous carbon electrodes where the electrochemical reaction takes place. This naturally occurring transpiration effect enables to significantly expand the operational lifespan of the battery, overcoming the time-limitation of current capillary-based power sources. Most relevant parameters affecting the battery performance, such as evaporation flow and redox species degradation, are thoroughly studied to carry out device optimization. Flow rates and power outputs comparable to those of capillary-based power sources are achieved. The prototype practicality has been demonstrated by powering a wireless plant-caring device. Standardized biodegradability and phytotoxicity assessments show that the battery is harmless to the environment at the end of its operational lifetime. Placing sustainability as the main driver leads to the generation of a disruptive battery concept that aims to address societal needs within the planetary environmental boundaries.

Community Economic Development (CED) is a popular field of study in the top North American universities. But, this field of study is completely absent in Bangladesh, even not a single course has been found in their course curricula based on their websites. Some courses are under development studies but those are insufficient compared to the required courses offered in foreign universities. Interestingly, CED approach is a countrywide approach practiced by NGOs, specialized bank and corporate houses of Bangladesh. CED approach is highly associated with sustainable development by fulfilling numerous goals successfully. The study aims at to develop urgency of the concerned stakeholders of the higher educational institutions of Bangladesh to design, implement and execute program and courses on CED in order to make the country sustainable and in doing so the paper showed CED professions in Bangladesh and in the world, which considered pragmatic in CED course at the university level. The study considered different CED study programs and courses offered by reputed universities of the world including reasons behind introducing the program in their course curriculum and expected benefits derived from the courses. The paper finally suggests ways of implementing it at the university level of Bangladesh. The study makes the concerned stakeholders aware about CED programs and courses for successful development, implementation and execution.

A growing number of jurisdictions are passing ambitious clean energy policies. Yet few studies have accounted for natural and agricultural land impacts of low-carbon pathways and how environmental siting constraints affect electricity costs and technology choices. To address this gap, we developed an integrated land-energy planning framework to examine the land use trade-offs of renewable energy development required to achieve ambitious clean energy goals, using the state of California as a case study. Using high-resolution ecological and agricultural datasets for 11 Western U.S. states, we modeled environmentally-constrained onshore wind, solar photovoltaic, and geothermal potential and used an electricity capacity expansion model to build generation portfolios for 2050. Here we show that California can meet its targets, but the technology mix, spatial build-out, and system costs are sensitive to land protections and availability of out-of-state renewable resources. Results suggest that failure to consider land availability in energy planning could increase uncertainties, environmental impacts, and risks in meeting subnational climate targets.

A crisis in Dutch school building affects society, in particular primary education. School building appears to be less sustainable than expected, and is not future-proof. A variety of stakeholders involved in school building processes struggle with conflicts of interest and a lot of fragmentation in responsibilities. The different interests between end users, society and the AEC industry lead to school persistent school building problems (e.g. unhealthy indoor climate, disappointing designs and construction quality, and little flexibility). Increasing the budgets for design and operation, developing new quality guides, and adding more technology do not lead to substantial improvements. Current design complexity only increases the problems. The research question was: ‘how to improve Dutch primary school building design from an integrated perspective of interests?’. This question is answered by a fundamental approach of associations between human needs and sustainable development factors, which both are central positioned as two extremes. Within this broad scope of, on the one hand the pupils, and on the other hand social sustainability needs, a theoretical framework has been developed to generate a number of remarkable interrelated patterns. Patterns are recognized between these two system boundaries. The AEC industry and its processes can use these pattern benefits. This research has resulted in a set of 18 guidelines for the design of primary schools. These guidelines provide an integrated approach for usage in the design phase in order to understand the needed balance between the various interests within primary school building, although more fundamental research is still needed.