Material choices can affect both the environmental conditions and the human health impacts of buildings. Decision making can be improved through greater transparency and a broader view of materials impact.

With more architects and engineers recognising the impacts of global climate change, a renewed focus on carbon emissions from buildings is underway. Material choices in the built environment have significant impacts on both the building’s carbon emissions and the health of building occupants. As the operational carbon in buildings falls through improved efficiencies and design, the amount of embodied carbon released from the extraction, manufacturing, and transportation of materials and products is becoming relatively more significant. Through the selection of materials, designers can reduce the overall carbon emissions of buildings while maintaining high standards for occupant health.

This article aims to shed light on the factors that frame the competitiveness and signal the viability of photovoltaic (PV), solar to electrical energy conversion: retail electricity prices, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), subsidies, as well as the energy return on investment (EROI). To that end a review of the ‘true cost’ of electricity generation, including the environmental impacts is necessary. We argue that renewables are part of the solution to updating and shoring up the aging grid. In addition, public engagement in changing the culture of energy use and provision is enabled with PV ownership and job creation, which stimulates the economy.

The accumulation of incremental additions of renewable energy systems in European markets is now revealing that the fundamental structure of the energy market is inadequate to meet 21st century requirements. In Europe, where renewables provide ∼20% of the electricity supply, PV installations have stalled despite goals to increase the amount of renewable energy. This article aims to shed light on the factors that frame the competitiveness and that signal the viability of PV: retail electricity prices, the energy market and subsidies, the LCOE, as well as a critical examination of the EROI. While a starting point, an incremental approach is not sufficient to address the systemic changes required to decarbonize the electricity supply in line with the recent (2015) Paris Agreement. The ‘true cost’ of electricity generation, including the environmental impacts, must be kept in sight. In terms of grid investments, renewables can play a crucial role in updating the aging grid infrastructure and making it more resilient. Public engagement in changing the culture of energy use and provision is enabled with PV ownership. Furthermore, a broad base of the economy is stimulated, not only because fossil fuel imports are avoided, keeping investment and creating value within the region, but also through significantly higher job creation with renewables than with incumbent technologies.

The premise of this Viewpoint article is that the sustainability of the electricity supply is very often addressed in narrow frames of reference, which sets up incremental decision-making. To more fairly compare the economic, social, and environmental aspects of renewables, such as photovoltaics, to fossil fuels, a broader view is required which needs to take into account the impacts of the fossil fuel supply chain.

February 2016 was the warmest February since record keeping began in 1880, and was the warmest month in recorded history (in terms of its deviation from average). May 2016, the warmest May on record, was the 13th consecutive record-breaking month. The Paris Agreement signed in December 2015 has solidified agreement that the world must address climate change, and has resounded the warning that inaction on climate change carries potentially catastrophic risk for the global economy. Electricity generated from renewable energy sources is often compared to fossil fuel energy in terms of economics. Recently there have also been increased calls to incorporate the external costs of electricity generation into the price of electricity. Fossil fuels are largely responsible for global warming (as 85% of the CO2 emissions come from fossil fuel combustion). This Viewpoint article looks at fuel supply chains for oil & gas, coal, and nuclear in terms of their economics, environmental and social consequences. This reflection upon the historical and present fossil fuel supply chain gives a perspective useful in avoiding limited frames of reference when addressing the consequences of the business-as-usual operation of fossil fuel supply chains.

New demand for electric vehicles—are rare earths the bottleneck in the supply chain? Can recycling and substitution make a dent in the demand for REE in the near future? Is it economically feasible for advanced nations to mine for REE but process them elsewhere to allay environmental concerns at home?

Rare earths are critical components to many technologies that drive the modern world. Though rare earths are present in most parts of the world, they are produced mostly in China because of a confluence of several factors. This paper reviews various aspects of rare earths including extraction, geopolitics, and challenges. Rare-earth elements (REEs) not only replace each other in the mineral structure but also occur within different mineral structures in the same deposit. Separation of one REE from another is therefore difficult, environmentally challenging, and expensive. Less than 1% of REEs is recycled due to many challenges of collecting various end products and separating the REE from other metals/contaminants. Recycling investments have primarily focused on applications such as magnets, where economies of scale have allowed it. Substitution for the REE is difficult for most applications, though the automotive and wind energy industries are making good advances with motors and generators. The rare earth market is small and, thus, easily disrupted. Factors that can impact the market are increased production from existing mines, development of mine prospects advanced during price spikes, research and development efforts focused on improving REE recoveries, recycling, substitution, alternate sources of REEs, and governmental policies.

Norway is self-sufficient with ample renewables while exporting large amounts of fossils fuels: It is in a unique position to fully decarbonize itself and significantly contribute to deep decarbonization globally, but the small population and economy limit the effort and impact.

We discuss the efforts in Norway to reach the country’s and the Paris/Katowice meetings’ ambitious goals of a carbon-neutral society.

Energy sustainability and the abatement of CO2 emissions have a central place in the Norwegian debate. In this perspective, we take a look at policies, strategies, and actions in Norway to realize its ambitious goals from a technological and materials development standpoint, as we are facing the change of pace after the Paris agreement in 2015 and the Katowice 2018 global climate panel meeting. Among the largest exporters of fossil fuels, Norway compensates by intensive investments in the development of carbon capture and sequestration. Following a growing debate involving the entire society, the Norwegian government has taken on aggressive strategies toward the decarbonization of energy production. We herein discuss the activities going on and the peculiar situation in Norway, which lives the rich life provided by fossil fuels while tasting the dream of being the climate knight of the world.

Concerted efforts by stakeholders could overcome the hurdles and enable a viable recycling system for automotive LIBs by the time many of them go out of service.

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) were commercialized in the early 1990s and gained popularity first in consumer electronics, then more recently for electric vehicle (EV) propulsion, because of their high energy and power density and long cycle life. Their rapid adoption brings with it the challenge of end-of-life waste management. There are strong arguments for LIB recycling from environmental sustainability, economic, and political perspectives. Recycling reduces material going into landfills and avoids the impacts of virgin material production. LIBs contain high-value materials like cobalt and nickel, so recycling can reduce material and disposal costs, leading to reduced EV costs. Battery recycling can also reduce material demand and dependence on foreign resources, such as cobalt from Democratic Republic of the Congo, where much production relies on armed aggression and child labor.

Several companies are finding ways to commercialize recycling of the increasingly diverse LIB waste stream. Although Pb-acid battery recycling has been successfully implemented, there are many reasons why recycling of LIBs is not yet a universally well-established practice. Some of these are technical constraints, and others involve economic barriers, logistic issues, and regulatory gaps. This paper first builds a case as to why LIBs should be recycled, next compares recycling processes, and then addresses the different factors affecting LIB recycling to direct future work towards overcoming the barriers so that recycling can become standard practice.

As materials science is becoming components development and systems technology, hydrogen economy is approaching your porch. Welcome!

Hydrogen mobility can now be purchased from the shelf. Fuel cell electric vehicles from various well-known car manufacturers are now available. The number of hydrogen filling stations in Europe is increasing at a rate that long-distance tours become less and less adventurous. The efforts of fuel cell researchers have paid off. Suppliers of components and systems for hydrogen infrastructure are anticipating business. Meanwhile, basic science in electrochemistry and materials research is continuing, with surprises such as the discovery of a proton polaron which are adding to the progress in fundamental understanding of energy materials in operation. Has the long awaited hydrogen economy finally arrived?

Polyethylene is one of the most produced materials in the world—is it a blessing or a curse? This article makes the case for the former by highlighting a range of emerging applications of polyethylene in energy and sustainability, including passive cooling of electronics and wearables, water treatment and harvesting, and even ocean cleanup from plastic waste debris.

Usually, when the word “polyethylene” is mentioned in the context of discussing sustainability issues, a good chance the message is that “the current level of environmental plastic pollution is unsustainable.” Polyethylene does indeed comprise a large volume of plastic waste, but only because it is used in so many different products, which eventually reach the end of their lifetime and end up on the landfills and in the ocean. There is, however, a good reason—actually, many good reasons—why polyethylene is one of the most produced materials in the world, and this review discusses various useful applications stemming from the unique material properties of polyethylene. Some of the emerging applications of polyethylene hold high promise for sustainable energy generation from renewable sources and for sustainable management of planetary energy and water resources. Light weight and corrosion resistance of polyethylene, combined with its unique infrared transparency and heat transfer properties, which can be engineered to span between the near-perfect insulation and metal-like conduction, are at the core of new technological applications of a not-so-old material.