Nature Reviews Clean Technology, Published online: 16 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s44359-025-00142-1Biodegradable plastics could help reduce plastic waste pollution, but their role in the global plastic industry and environmental impacts remains unclear. This Perspective evaluates their contribution to plastic waste accumulation, greenhouse gas emissions, aquatic ecotoxicity, cumulative energy demand and water footprint through 2050.

Marburger Studie zeigt, Recycling und Materialwahl sind Schlüssel für die Energiewende

Ming Jiang Gan explains how mathematical models can be used to understand the complex processes inside blast furnaces and can help to reduce their carbon emissions.

Electrified thermal energy storage converts electricity into heat for thermal energy use. This Review assesses available and emerging technologies, identifying research needs for scalable, long-duration and efficient deployment.

The large-scale deployment of photovoltaics could create new raw material demands and has the potential to create large end-of-life waste management issues in the future. This Review explores methods ...

Life cycle assessment (LCA) can measure the environmental impact of products and technologies, but it faces challenges in data quality and system interoperability. This Review examines the need for standardized methodologies, improved transparency, open-source tools, and the integration of artificial intelligence and blockchain to develop global LCA data systems.

Floating offshore wind farms can harvest the steady winds found at sea in locations where the seabed is too deep for fixed-bottom wind turbines. This Perspective explores the technical, industrial and social implications of deploying floating offshore wind on a commercial scale.

Nature Reviews Clean Technology, Published online: 09 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s44359-025-00131-4Electrified thermal energy storage converts electricity into heat for thermal energy use. This Review assesses available and emerging technologies, identifying research needs for scalable, long-duration and efficient deployment.

Environmental conditions fundamentally shape the reliability and sustainability of additive manufacturing. As additive manufacturing moves into real-world environments, these factors need to be considered in modelling and design.

Nature Reviews Clean Technology, Published online: 08 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s44359-025-00125-2Recycled aggregate concrete could be used in place of natural aggregate concrete, reducing the need to mine aggregate and the generation of concrete waste. This Review describes the production, use and challenges associated with using this recycled material.

The transition to a low-carbon energy system is expected to have both pollution and health impacts, across multiple scales. This Perspective provides an overview of the factors that determine the scale and distribution of these impacts and outlines potential approaches to including health benefits in decision-making about energy transitions.

Building heating and cooling energy demands can be reduced through thermal energy storage. This Review details the economic, environmental and social aspects of the technology.

Nature Reviews Clean Technology, Published online: 07 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s44359-025-00133-2Funding for new battery research projects in Germany was reduced drastically for 2024 and 2025, with some funding planned to be restored. Martin Winter argues that the disruption has broad impacts on research and investment.

Nature Reviews Clean Technology, Published online: 07 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s44359-025-00135-0Ankush Nandi explains how thermoplastic composites for aviation and automotive applications can be enabled with atmospheric-pressure low-temperature plasma.

Thermal treatment approaches can remediate solids contaminated by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), but are energy-intensive and create products of incomplete destruction. This Review discusses these approaches and the use of additives to lower reaction temperatures and drive complete destruction of PFAS.

Separating the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions in water electrolysis in time and/or space can make hydrogen production safer. This Review discusses the benefits and drawbacks of different redox mediator strategies, a membraneless electrolyser architecture and the challenges of scaling.

Nature Reviews Clean Technology, Published online: 06 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s44359-025-00120-7Anode-free lithium-metal and lithium–sulfur batteries offer high energy density and simplified manufacturing, but drawbacks such as lithium loss and interfacial instability limit their viability as next-generation energy storage systems. This Review examines failure mechanisms and strategies to improve performance as well as scalability challenges.

Nature Reviews Clean Technology, Published online: 06 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s44359-025-00130-5Solar fuel technologies share common working principles of light absorption and charge separation, yet their operating conditions can vary greatly. This Perspective examines key performance metrics and outlines a transversal vision of how these technologies could help to accelerate each other development.

Nature Reviews Clean Technology, Published online: 05 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s44359-025-00129-yThe large-scale deployment of photovoltaics could create new raw material demands and has the potential to create large end-of-life waste management issues in the future. This Review explores methods for device design and recycling to allow the photovoltaic industry to meet expanding energy demands while keeping within planetary bounds.

The large-scale deployment of photovoltaics could create new raw material demands and has the potential to create large end-of-life waste management issues in the future. This Review explores methods ...

Public responses are critical in renewable energy project planning and siting. This Review examines these responses and describes the need for effective and meaningful public engagement.

Nature Reviews Clean Technology, Published online: 05 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s44359-025-00122-5Thermal treatment approaches can remediate solids contaminated by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), but are energy-intensive and create products of incomplete destruction. This Review discusses these approaches and the use of additives to lower reaction temperatures and drive complete destruction of PFAS.