A new chapter for Sustainable Energy & Fuels

Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 represents one of the most significant challenges that humanity will face this century if we are to avoid irreversible climate change and destruction of natural habitats. Current trajectories for the energy transition predict a global temperature rise of 2.2 °C by the end of the century, and a faster transition is needed if the Paris Agreement targets are to be met. There is no silver bullet and that transition will be made up of a mixture of renewable technologies, the precise make-up of which will vary depending on investment in infrastructure and availability of resources. Innovation in photovoltaic and battery technology has led to a boom in installations, with solar beginning to overtake coal in China, and predictions that 50% of global passenger vehicles will be electric by 2031. Some sectors will prove harder to electrify and other energy sources such as hydrogen and biofuels will remain a core part of the energy mix, with carbon capture, storage and utilisation critical for minimising CO₂ emissions. As renewable technologies become more widespread, we also need to start considering the end-of-life of renewable platforms (e.g., solar panels, wind-turbines, electrolysers, energy storage devices) to avoid unintended catastrophic pollution of the environment. From a sustainability perspective, designing such infrastructure with circularity in mind, with ease of disassembly and recovery of key components, will need to be at the forefront of next-generation devices.

The coming decade will thus be critical for sustainable development and with increasing global political tensions, now more than ever, it will become important for countries to develop sovereign capability to ensure energy security. One shoe will not fit all, and the energy mix will differ across regions depending on feedstock availability or national investment infrastructure. Liquid biofuels including bioethanol or biodiesel, when blended with fossil fuels, already help mitigate carbon emissions from transportation and are likely to continue to do so in future. But with the expected increase in electrified passenger vehicles in Europe, China, and the US, the focus of biofuels will shift towards hard-to-abate transportation sectors. Heavy-duty freight, maritime and aviation sectors will require liquid transportation fuels for the foreseeable future, and advanced biofuels, hydrogen, ammonia, and synthetic aviation fuels are seen as critical to meet Net Zero in these sectors. Electrification of transport in developing countries may be less rapid while infrastructure is established, and hence liquid biofuels will remain an important component of the energy mix.

To harness and store renewable energy from the sun, wind or water will require continued developments in materials design that not only focus on performance, but ensure the sustainability of renewable technologies. While some technologies are already mature, there are continued innovations reported to reduce costs or improve use of raw materials. Next-generation solar panels, wind turbines, electrolysers and large-scale energy storage devices will not only be required to improve the efficiency of raw resource usage, but must consider the ease of end-of-life recycling and recovery of critical elements and avoid use of forever chemicals. For less-established technologies, there is an opportunity to design end-of-life strategies now, to ensure the energy transition is both economically and socially sustainable. Considering this, we view technoeconomic and life cycle analyses as an important growing component of the journal.

Sustainable Energy & Fuels (SEF) is unique in acting as a dedicated journal to support all aspects of the energy transition and we are proud to publish work from the community who are actively developing new innovative technology to meet Net Zero. As the journal is about to celebrate its 10-year milestone, I am privileged to take over from Professor Garry Rumbles as Editor-in-Chief and lead the journal into the next decade. It is my ambition that SEF will be recognised as a leading journal for the renewable energy sector, with the focus on sustainable technologies that enable the global transition to Net Zero being our unique selling point. SEF will continue to encourage innovative original research in the areas of solar energy conversion, energy storage, electro-, photo- and thermal catalysis for energy technologies, fuel cells, hydrogen production, CO₂ utilisation, biorefining and biofuels, and other emerging sustainable energy conversion technologies. While we will still consider reviews on these topics, with the growing use of AI in assimilating information, we will shift our emphasis more towards critical reviews and perspectives from leading figures in the field.

The journal is committed to publishing rigorous, high-quality research that advances the field and supports reproducibility. Clear data reporting and transparency are central to this mission. To help authors better understand what makes a strong SEF paper, we will soon be launching a series of Editorials written by our journal board members and other leaders in the field, offering topic-specific guidance and best practices tailored to different areas of sustainable energy research.

We have also recently launched our Bluesky account (@sef-journal.rsc.org) and continue to be very active on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/rscenergy/) under #RSCSEF, so please do follow us to stay connected with the latest journal highlights, conference updates, and community news. I will be logging in personally to share my top picks and updates.

SEF will continue to have a critical role in the academic publishing landscape as an interdisciplinary journal focused on the development of alternative sustainable energy technologies, reporting new discoveries and stimulating research activities, in addition to promoting emerging talent through early-career researcher initiatives. I thank all our authors and reviewers for their continued support and wish our community members the very best success in their research. I look forward to receiving your high-impact publications in future.

Professor Karen Wilson

Centre for Catalysis and Clean Energy

Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Australia

Editor-in-Chief, Sustainable Energy & Fuels

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