UEXdo/OpenDataHub huggingface dataset:
Controlled synthesis of various Fe2O3 morphologies as energy storage materials
Authors: Hang, B.; Anh, T.
Journal: Scientific Reports (2021)

AbstractAir pollution from vehicle emissions is a major problem in developing countries. Consequently, the use of iron-based rechargeable batteries, which is an effective method of reducing air pollution, have been extensively studied for electric vehicles. The structures and morphologies of iron particles significantly affect the cycle performance of iron-based rechargeable batteries. The synthesis parameters for these iron materials also remarkably influence their structures, shapes, sizes, an
Geomechanical simulation of energy storage in salt formations
Authors: Ramesh Kumar, K.; Makhmutov, A.; Spiers, C.; Hajibeygi, H.
Journal: Scientific Reports (2021)

AbstractA promising option for storing large-scale quantities of green gases (e.g., hydrogen) is in subsurface rock salt caverns. The mechanical performance of salt caverns utilized for long-term subsurface energy storage plays a significant role in long-term stability and serviceability. However, rock salt undergoes non-linear creep deformation due to long-term loading caused by subsurface storage. Salt caverns have complex geometries and the geological domain surrounding salt caverns has a vas
Energy budget and carbon footprint in a wheat and maize system under ridge furrow strategy in dry semi humid areas
Authors: Li, C.; Li, S.
Journal: Scientific Reports (2021)

AbstractThe well-irrigated planting strategy (WI) consumes a large amount of energy and exacerbates greenhouse gas emissions, endangering the sustainable agricultural production. This 2-year work aims to estimate the economic benefit, energy budget and carbon footprint of a wheat–maize double cropping system under conventional rain-fed flat planting (irrigation once a year, control), ridge–furrows with plastic film mulching on the ridge (irrigation once a year, RP), and the WI in dry semi-humid
Wild meat consumption in tropical forests spares a significant carbon footprint from the livestock production sector
Authors: Nunes, A.; Peres, C.; Constantino, P.; Fischer, E.; Nielsen, M.
Journal: Scientific Reports (2021)

AbstractWhether sustainable or not, wild meat consumption is a reality for millions of tropical forest dwellers. Yet estimates of spared greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from consuming wild meat, rather than protein from the livestock sector, have not been quantified. We show that a mean per capita wild meat consumption of 41.7 kg yr−1 for a population of ~ 150,000 residents at 49 Amazonian and Afrotropical forest sites can spare ~ 71 MtCO2-eq annually under a bovine beef substitution scenario, bu
Adaptive optimal allocation of water resources response to future water availability and water demand in the Han River basin, China
Authors: Tian, J.; Guo, S.; Deng, L.; Yin, J.; Pan, Z.
Journal: Scientific Reports (2021)

AbstractGlobal warming and anthropogenic changes can result in the heterogeneity of water availability in the spatiotemporal scale, which will further affect the allocation of water resources. A lot of researches have been devoted to examining the responses of water availability to global warming while neglected future anthropogenic changes. What’s more, only a few studies have investigated the response of optimal allocation of water resources to the projected climate and anthropogenic changes.
Spin photovoltaic effect in magnetic van der Waals heterostructures
Authors: Song, T.; Anderson, E.; Tu, M.; Seyler, K.; Taniguchi, T.
Journal: Science Advances (2021)


            Spin-photovoltaic effect in 2D magnet CrI
            3
            exhibits interplay between magneto-excitons, photon energy, and light helicity.
Large historical carbon emissions from cultivated northern peatlands
Authors: Qiu, C.; Ciais, P.; Zhu, D.; Guenet, B.; Peng, S.
Journal: Science Advances (2021)


            When a peatland is drained and cultivated, it behaves as a notable source of CO
            2
            . However, we lack temporally and spatially explicit estimates of carbon losses from cultivated peatlands. Using a process-based land surface model that explicitly includes representation of peatland processes, we estimate that northern peatlands converted to croplands emitted 72 Pg C over 850–2010, with 45% of this source having occurred before 1750. This source surpassed the c
Calcification-driven CO
                    <sub>2</sub>
                    emissions exceed “Blue Carbon” sequestration in a carbonate seagrass meadow
Authors: Van Dam, B.; Zeller, M.; Lopes, C.; Smyth, A.; Böttcher, M.
Journal: Science Advances (2021)


                    Rigorous carbon accounting shows that calcification-driven CO
                    2
                    emissions can exceed seagrass “Blue Carbon” storage.
A harmonised, high-coverage, open dataset of solar photovoltaic installations in the UK
Authors: Stowell, D.; Kelly, J.; Tanner, D.; Taylor, J.; Jones, E.
Journal: Scientific Data (2020)

AbstractSolar photovoltaic (PV) is an increasingly significant fraction of electricity generation. Efficient management, and innovations such as short-term forecasting and machine vision, demand high-resolution geographic datasets of PV installations. However, official and public sources have notable deficiencies: spatial imprecision, gaps in coverage and lack of crucial meta data, especially for small-scale solar panel installations. We present the results of a major crowd-sourcing campaign to
A synthetic energy dataset for non-intrusive load monitoring in households
Authors: Klemenjak, C.; Kovatsch, C.; Herold, M.; Elmenreich, W.
Journal: Scientific Data (2020)

AbstractResearch on smart grid technologies is expected to result in effective climate change mitigation. Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) is seen as a key technique for enabling innovative smart-grid services. By breaking down the energy consumption of households and industrial facilities into its components, NILM techniques provide information on present appliances and can be applied to perform diagnostics. As with related Machine Learning problems, research and development requires a suff
A 2015 inventory of embodied carbon emissions for Chinese power transmission infrastructure projects
Authors: Wei, W.; Wang, M.; Zhang, P.; Chen, B.; Guan, D.
Journal: Scientific Data (2020)

AbstractThe spatial mismatch of energy resources and electricity demand in China drives the large-scale construction of power transmission infrastructure, which consumes a large amount of carbon-intensive products. However, a systematic accounting framework for the carbon emissions of power transmission infrastructure has not yet been established. This study for the first time compiles an embodied carbon emissions inventory covering 191 typical power transmission infrastructure projects in China
Developing reliable hourly electricity demand data through screening and imputation
Authors: Ruggles, T.; Farnham, D.; Tong, D.; Caldeira, K.
Journal: Scientific Data (2020)

AbstractElectricity usage (demand) data are used by utilities, governments, and academics to model electric grids for a variety of planning (e.g., capacity expansion and system operation) purposes. The U.S. Energy Information Administration collects hourly demand data from all balancing authorities (BAs) in the contiguous United States. As of September 2019, we find 2.2% of the demand data in their database are missing. Additionally, 0.5% of reported quantities are either negative values or are
Version 4 of the CRU TS monthly high-resolution gridded multivariate climate dataset
Authors: Harris, I.; Osborn, T.; Jones, P.; Lister, D.
Journal: Scientific Data (2020)

Abstract
                  CRU TS (Climatic Research Unit gridded Time Series) is a widely used climate dataset on a 0.5° latitude by 0.5° longitude grid over all land domains of the world except Antarctica. It is derived by the interpolation of monthly climate anomalies from extensive networks of weather station observations. Here we describe the construction of a major new version, CRU TS v4. It is updated to span 1901–2018 by the inclusion of additional station observations, and it will be up
Estimation of global tropical cyclone wind speed probabilities using the STORM dataset
Authors: Bloemendaal, N.; de Moel, H.; Muis, S.; Haigh, I.; Aerts, J.
Journal: Scientific Data (2020)

AbstractTropical cyclones (TC) are one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters. To mitigate the impact of such disasters, it is essential to know extreme exceedance probabilities, also known as return periods, of TC hazards. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of the STORM dataset, containing synthetic TCs equivalent of 10,000 years under present-day climate conditions, for the calculation of TC wind speed return periods. The temporal length of the STORM dataset allows us to empirical
Impacts of solar intermittency on future photovoltaic reliability
Authors: Yin, J.; Molini, A.; Porporato, A.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractAs photovoltaic power is expanding rapidly worldwide, it is imperative to assess its promise under future climate scenarios. While a great deal of research has been devoted to trends in mean solar radiation, less attention has been paid to its intermittent character, a key challenge when compounded with uncertainties related to climate variability. Using both satellite data and climate model outputs, we characterize solar radiation intermittency to assess future photovoltaic reliability.
Solar photovoltaic interventions have reduced rural poverty in China
Authors: Zhang, H.; Wu, K.; Qiu, Y.; Chan, G.; Wang, S.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractSince 2013, China has implemented a large-scale initiative to systematically deploy solar photovoltaic (PV) projects to alleviate poverty in rural areas. To provide new understanding of China’s targeted poverty alleviation strategy, we use a panel dataset of 211 pilot counties that received targeted PV investments from 2013 to 2016, and find that the PV poverty alleviation pilot policy increases per-capita disposable income in a county by approximately 7%-8%. The effect of PV investment
Unraveling the influence of non-fullerene acceptor molecular packing on photovoltaic performance of organic solar cells
Authors: Ye, L.; Weng, K.; Xu, J.; Du, X.; Chandrabose, S.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractIn non-fullerene organic solar cells, the long-range structure ordering induced by end-group π–π stacking of fused-ring non-fullerene acceptors is considered as the critical factor in realizing efficient charge transport and high power conversion efficiency. Here, we demonstrate that side-chain engineering of non-fullerene acceptors could drive the fused-ring backbone assembly from a π–π stacking mode to an intermixed packing mode, and to a non-stacking mode to refine its solid-state pro
Entropy and interfacial energy driven self-healable polymers
Authors: Hornat, C.; Urban, M.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractAlthough significant advances have been achieved in dynamic reversible covalent and non-covalent bonding chemistries for self-healing polymers, an ultimate goal is to create high strength and stiffness commodity materials capable of repair without intervention under ambient conditions. Here we report the development of mechanically robust thermoplastic polyurethane fibers and films capable of autonomous self-healing under ambient conditions. Two mechanisms of self-healing are identified:
Renewable energy production will exacerbate mining threats to biodiversity
Authors: Sonter, L.; Dade, M.; Watson, J.; Valenta, R.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractRenewable energy production is necessary to halt climate change and reverse associated biodiversity losses. However, generating the required technologies and infrastructure will drive an increase in the production of many metals, creating new mining threats for biodiversity. Here, we map mining areas and assess their spatial coincidence with biodiversity conservation sites and priorities. Mining potentially influences 50 million km2 of Earth’s land surface, with 8% coinciding with Protec
The critical role of humidity in modeling summer electricity demand across the United States
Authors: Maia-Silva, D.; Kumar, R.; Nateghi, R.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractCooling demand is projected to increase under climate change. However, most of the existing projections are based on rising air temperatures alone, ignoring that rising temperatures are associated with increased humidity; a lethal combination that could significantly increase morbidity and mortality rates during extreme heat events. We bridge this gap by identifying the key measures of heat stress, considering both air temperature and near-surface humidity, in characterizing the climate
Electricity-powered artificial root nodule
Authors: Lu, S.; Guan, X.; Liu, C.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractRoot nodules are agricultural-important symbiotic plant-microbe composites in which microorganisms receive energy from plants and reduce dinitrogen (N2) into fertilizers. Mimicking root nodules using artificial devices can enable renewable energy-driven fertilizer production. This task is challenging due to the necessity of a microscopic dioxygen (O2) concentration gradient, which reconciles anaerobic N2 fixation with O2-rich atmosphere. Here we report our designed electricity-powered bi
Regional impacts of electricity system transition in Central Europe until 2035
Authors: Sasse, J.; Trutnevyte, E.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractAchieving current electricity sector targets in Central Europe (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland and Switzerland) will redistribute regional benefits and burdens at sub-national level. Limiting emerging regional inequalities would foster the implementation success. We model one hundred scenarios of electricity generation, storage and transmission for 2035 in these countries for 650 regions and quantify associated regional impacts on system costs, employment, greenhouse gas and p
Anomalous supply shortages from dynamic pricing in on-demand mobility
Authors: Schröder, M.; Storch, D.; Marszal, P.; Timme, M.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractDynamic pricing schemes are increasingly employed across industries to maintain a self-organized balance of demand and supply. However, throughout complex dynamical systems, unintended collective states exist that may compromise their function. Here we reveal how dynamic pricing may induce demand-supply imbalances instead of preventing them. Combining game theory and time series analysis of dynamic pricing data from on-demand ride-hailing services, we explain this apparent contradiction.
Drought and climate change impacts on cooling water shortages and electricity prices in Great Britain
Authors: Byers, E.; Coxon, G.; Freer, J.; Hall, J.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractThe risks of cooling water shortages to thermo-electric power plants are increasingly studied as an important climate risk to the energy sector. Whilst electricity transmission networks reduce the risks during disruptions, more costly plants must provide alternative supplies. Here, we investigate the electricity price impacts of cooling water shortages on Britain’s power supplies using a probabilistic spatial risk model of regional climate, hydrological droughts and cooling water shortag
Grid cells are modulated by local head direction
Authors: Gerlei, K.; Passlack, J.; Hawes, I.; Vandrey, B.; Stevens, H.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractGrid and head direction codes represent cognitive spaces for navigation and memory. Pure grid cells generate grid codes that have been assumed to be independent of head direction, whereas conjunctive cells generate grid representations that are tuned to a single head direction. Here, we demonstrate that pure grid cells also encode head direction, but through distinct mechanisms. We show that individual firing fields of pure grid cells are tuned to multiple head directions, with the prefe
Image quality guided smart rotation improves coverage in microscopy
Authors: He, J.; Huisken, J.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractFluorescence microscopy is an essential tool for biological discoveries. There is a constant demand for better spatial resolution across a larger field of view. Although strides have been made to improve the theoretical resolution and speed of the optical instruments, in mesoscopic samples, image quality is still largely limited by the optical properties of the sample. In Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM), the achievable optical performance is hampered by optical degradation
India’s potential for integrating solar and on- and offshore wind power into its energy system
Authors: Lu, T.; Sherman, P.; Chen, X.; Chen, S.; Lu, X.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractThis paper considers options for a future Indian power economy in which renewables, wind and solar, could meet 80% of anticipated 2040 power demand supplanting the country’s current reliance on coal. Using a cost optimization model, here we show that renewables could provide a source of power cheaper or at least competitive with what could be supplied using fossil-based alternatives. The ancillary advantage would be a significant reduction in India’s future power sector related emissions
A wind-albedo-wind feedback driven by landscape evolution
Authors: Abell, J.; Pullen, A.; Lebo, Z.; Kapp, P.; Gloege, L.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractThe accurate characterization of near-surface winds is critical to our understanding of past and modern climate. Dust lofted by these winds has the potential to modify surface and atmospheric conditions as well as ocean biogeochemistry. Stony deserts, low dust emitting regions today, represent expansive areas where variations in surficial geology through time may drastically impact near-surface conditions. Here we use the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model over the western Gobi
Global resource potential of seasonal pumped hydropower storage for energy and water storage
Authors: Hunt, J.; Byers, E.; Wada, Y.; Parkinson, S.; Gernaat, D.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractSeasonal mismatches between electricity supply and demand is increasing due to expanded use of wind, solar and hydropower resources, which in turn raises the interest on low-cost seasonal energy storage options. Seasonal pumped hydropower storage (SPHS) can provide long-term energy storage at a relatively low-cost and co-benefits in the form of freshwater storage capacity. We present the first estimate of the global assessment of SPHS potential, using a novel plant-siting methodology bas
High density mechanical energy storage with carbon nanothread bundle
Authors: Zhan, H.; Zhang, G.; Bell, J.; Tan, V.; Gu, Y.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractThe excellent mechanical properties of carbon nanofibers bring promise for energy-related applications. Through in silico studies and continuum elasticity theory, here we show that the ultra-thin carbon nanothreads-based bundles exhibit a high mechanical energy storage density. Specifically, the gravimetric energy density is found to decrease with the number of filaments, with torsion and tension as the two dominant contributors. Due to the coupled stresses, the nanothread bundle experie
Mapping global carbon footprint in China
Authors: Yang, Y.; Qu, S.; Cai, B.; Liang, S.; Wang, Z.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractDeveloping localized climate mitigation strategies needs an understanding of how global consumption drives local carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions with a fine spatial resolution. There is no study that provides a spatially explicit mapping of global carbon footprint in China―the world’s largest CO2 emitter―simultaneously considering both international and interprovincial trade. Here we map CO2 emissions in China driven by global consumption in 2012 at a high spatial resolution (10 km × 10 k
Carbon footprint of global natural gas supplies to China
Authors: Gan, Y.; El-Houjeiri, H.; Badahdah, A.; Lu, Z.; Cai, H.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractAs natural gas demand surges in China, driven by the coal-to-gas switching policy, widespread attention is focused on its impacts on global gas supply-demand rebalance and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Here, for the first time, we estimate well-to-city-gate GHG emissions of gas supplies for China, based on analyses of field-specific characteristics of 104 fields in 15 countries. Results show GHG intensities of supplies from 104 fields vary from 6.2 to 43.3 g CO2eq MJ−1. Due to the incr
Improved estimates on global carbon stock and carbon pools in tidal wetlands
Authors: Ouyang, X.; Lee, S.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractTidal wetlands are global hotspots of carbon storage but errors exist with current estimates on their carbon density due to the use of factors estimated from other habitats for converting loss-on-ignition (LOI) to organic carbon (OC); and the omission of certain significant carbon pools. Here we show that the widely used conversion factor (LOI/OC = 1.724) is significantly lower than our measurements for saltmarsh sediments (1.92 ± 0.01) and oversimplifies the polynomial relationship betw
Vicinal difunctionalization of carbon–carbon double bond for the platform synthesis of trifluoroalkyl amines
Authors: Béke, F.; Mészáros, Á.; Tóth, Á.; Botlik, B.; Novák, Z.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractRegioselective vicinal diamination of carbon–carbon double bonds with two different amines is a synthetic challenge under transition metal-free conditions, especially for the synthesis of trifluoromethylated amines. However, the synthesis of ethylene diamines and fluorinated amine compounds is demanded, especially in the pharmaceutical sector. Herein, we demonstrate that the controllable double nucleophilic functionalization of an activated alkene synthon, originated from a trifluoroprop
Energy consumption and cooperation for optimal sensing
Authors: Ngampruetikorn, V.; Schwab, D.; Stephens, G.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractThe reliable detection of environmental molecules in the presence of noise is an important cellular function, yet the underlying computational mechanisms are not well understood. We introduce a model of two interacting sensors which allows for the principled exploration of signal statistics, cooperation strategies and the role of energy consumption in optimal sensing, quantified through the mutual information between the signal and the sensors. Here we report that in general the optimal
Global consumption and international trade in deforestation-associated commodities could influence malaria risk
Authors: Chaves, L.; Fry, J.; Malik, A.; Geschke, A.; Sallum, M.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

Abstract
                  Deforestation can increase the transmission of malaria. Here, we build upon the existing link between malaria risk and deforestation by investigating how the global demand for commodities that increase deforestation can also increase malaria risk. We use a database of trade relationships to link the consumption of deforestation-implicated commodities in developed countries to estimates of country-level malaria risk in developing countries. We estimate that about 20% of
Prefrontal reinstatement of contextual task demand is predicted by separable hippocampal patterns
Authors: Jiang, J.; Wang, S.; Guo, W.; Fernandez, C.; Wagner, A.
Journal: Nature Communications (2020)

AbstractGoal-directed behavior requires the representation of a task-set that defines the task-relevance of stimuli and guides stimulus-action mappings. Past experience provides one source of knowledge about likely task demands in the present, with learning enabling future predictions about anticipated demands. We examine whether spatial contexts serve to cue retrieval of associated task demands (e.g., context A and B probabilistically cue retrieval of task demands X and Y, respectively), and th