The Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy

Energy and the environment are becoming top problems of interest to human beings nowadays. The major part of the current energy supply is still from fossil resources, which cause significant environmental issues. Therefore, the world faces heavy pressure and big challenges for sustainable development, such as the hidden problem of a continuous energy supply, obstacles in the improvement of energy efficiency and the inevitable responsibility for the reduction of environmental pollution. The development of clean energy is one of the most effective ways to solve such environmental and energy-related problems. The Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy (DNL) is teaming up with other missions aimed at meeting the clean energy challenges that face China and the world today.

The DNL is the first national laboratory within the energy field in China that integrates energy research across the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) with research currently on-going at universities and many other institutes within the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Research at the DNL is focused on the efficient conversion and optimal utilization of fossil energy, clean energy conversion technologies and the economically viable use of solar and biomass energy. The research activities will benefit from the existing strong background of the DICP in chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, biology and materials science, as well as a large network of national and international cooperation. The DNL has established 10 divisions, including clean fossil energy conversion, low carbon catalysis and engineering, energy and environmental engineering, fuel cells and batteries, energy storage, hydrogen energy and storage, biomass energy, solar energy, marine energy and a division focused on energy policies and strategic studies.

The DNL is seeking and welcomes cooperation from all domestic and international energy-related research institutions and companies and also welcomes scientists to join the DNL in its mission to tackle issues of environmental importance. Through collaborative efforts, the DNL expects to make great contributions towards clean energy development.

This special Energy & Environmental Science themed issue celebrates the DNL official inauguration, which happened in autumn 2011, and showcases a selection of 16 papers, including reviews, full papers and communications, highlighting the most recent progress in clean energy research.

We would like to acknowledge the authors who contributed their work and the experts who participated in the review process and provided constructive and helpful comments to the authors to improve the technical content and quality of the papers. We would also like to thank Philip Earis and Lois Alexander, as well as their colleagues, for their support and help in bringing this special issue to press.

---