Analyses

Europe’s shift to low-carbon fuels raises concerns about water, land and energy pressures from large-scale hydrogen use. A study now finds that future hydrogen production could overlap with resource and infrastructure constraints, with consequences for the success of a sustainable transition.

This systematic review explores the gender dimensions of cookstove randomized control trials in low- and middle-income countries, published between 2000 and 2024, and highlights the importance of shifting towards more gender-sensitive research designs.

Pretreatment is a prerequisite to recycle spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and advance resource circularity, but its impacts on the overall performance and environmental footprint of LIBs recycling are poorly understood. This study develops unit-level models to address this knowledge gap.

Land-use change, among other anthropogenic factors, has led to increased levels of zoonotic disease transmission. The authors assess how land-use change and restoration activities impact zoonotic disease transmission, providing an online tool useful for One Health-oriented restoration planning.

Global material use is rising unsustainably, but its distribution across individuals remains unclear. A study now reveals deep inequality in household material footprints, especially for non-renewable resources, and suggests that curbing overconsumption among the wealthy is key to sustainability.

Meeting climate mitigation goals requires the early retirement or retrofitting of fossil fuel power plants, creating financial risks from stranded assets. A study now finds that state-owned companies dominate ownership of these risks, with the top 25 of these companies holding up to US$770 billion under a 1.5 °C scenario.

Due to the very low CO₂ content in dilute flue gas emissions, membrane-based carbon capture is typically deemed infeasible. This uncertainty-aware techno-economic analysis suggests that pyridinic-graphene membranes, which perform better as CO₂ concentration decreases, offer a viable solution.

This work assesses the enrichment and organification of tritium by algae and the transfer along the marine food chain, suggesting human health risks and highlighting the importance of radioactive isotope management.

The rapid expansion of AI server installations in the United States poses sustainability challenges in terms of water usage and carbon emissions. A study now quantifies these potential impacts and outlines coordinated mitigation strategies for the AI sector to achieve net-zero.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The effects of including the chemical industry in the existing Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism of the European Union are unclear. A study finds that the current framework covers only half of key chemical emissions, urging the addition of fossil feedstocks and tougher default rules to boost efficacy.

Increasing transparency about firms’ reporting of environmental impacts is especially important in the context of a growing ocean economy. This study analyses the content of sustainability and annual reports from 75 of the largest companies across 8 sectors of the ocean economy.

Developing strategies for reducing carbon emissions in municipal solid waste management is essential to achieve the net-zero target. Here the authors systematically assess strategy options of different countries for achieving net-zero municipal solid waste management.

Cutting emissions from urban buildings is difficult without clear knowledge of how they result from urban design and social factors. Using open data and machine learning, this study shows that planning history, income levels and urban layout all shape emissions across five diverse cities.

Antibiotic use in managed bee populations prevents losses from infectious diseases but can lead to the emergence of antibiotic resistance. Here the authors study the impact of recent regulatory restrictions on antibiotic use, in addition to climate and air pollution, on the beekeeping sector in Canada.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in sustainability-related scholarly work, such as Sustainable Development Goal research, is growing. An analysis now finds that few studies actually use AI to address normative or transformative dimensions of sustainability science, limiting the potential of relevant AI applications.