Frontiers in Energy, a journal of transactions of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), is a peer-reviewed international journal launched by Higher Education Press, CAE, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, co-published by Higher Education Press and Springer. It fosters rapid communication and dialogue among researchers, scientists, engineers, and policymakers working in the fields of energy and power engineering. Indexed by SCI, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, CSCD, etc., Frontiers in Energy enjoys a broad readership both in China and internationally. 

As the global push toward a circular carbon economy intensifies, innovative decarbonization strategies are urgently needed to produce sustainable fuels and chemicals. Solar refinery has emerged a promising pathway that directly converts CO₂, biomass, and plastic waste into green fuels and value-added chemicals using solar energy as the primary input.

 

This Special Issue, titled “Beyond Fossil Fuels: Solar Refinery for Carbon Recycling,” aims to highlight cutting-edge research in this rapidly advancing field. We seek original and impactful contributions that explore the direct use of solar energy—via photothermal, photochemical, or photovoltaic-electrochemical processes—to valorize three key carbon-rich feedstocks: CO₂, biomass, and plastic waste.

 

We invite the submission of a variety of manuscript types, including Original Articles, Communications, Full Papers, Minireviews/Reviews, Viewpoints, News & Highlights, Perspectives that address both fundamental and applied challenges in the solar refinery domain.

 

All manuscripts will undergo rigorous peer review. Accepted manuscripts will be published open access with no article processing charges or publication fees.

 

Topics of Interest Include:

1. Solar Refinery for CO₂ Conversion

Development of novel catalysts, devices, and systems for solar-driven CO₂ conversion; advanced characterization techniques; mechanistic and systems-level studies.

 

2. Solar Refinery for Biomass Valorization

Solar-assisted conversion of biomass (including platform molecules, lignocellulosic biomass, and organic waste from forestry, agriculture, domestic, and industrial sources); mechanistic insights and advanced characterization.

 

3. Solar Refinery for Plastic Waste Upcycling

Solar-driven processes and technologies for upcycling plastic wastes; innovations in catalyst design; operando and in situ characterization; mechanistic investigations.

 

4. AI + Solar Refinery

Integration of artificial intelligence in the development of solar refinery technologies—from the precise design and manufacturing of photocatalysts/devices to smart energy management;  techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment of solar-driven carbon conversion.  

 

 

Guest Editors

 

Prof. Dr. Jin Zhong Zhang, University of California, Santa Cruz, U.S.

Email: zhang@ucsc.edu

 

Prof. Dr. Yujie Xiong, University of Science and Technology, China

Email: yjxiong@ustc.edu.cn

Prof. Seong-Ju Hwang, Yonsei University, South Korea

Email: hwangsju@yonsei.ac.kr

 Prof. Ying Zhou, Southwest Petroleum University, China

Email: yzhou@swpu.edu.cn

 Assoc. Prof. Dr. Baowen Zhou, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Email: zhoubw@sjtu.edu.cn 

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hui Zhou, Tsinghua University

Email: huizhou@tsinghua.edu.cn

Assist. Prof. Dr. Xu Lu, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia

Email: xu.lu@kaust.edu.sa  

Submission Information:

Submission Website: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fie

Author Guidelines: www.springer.com/11708.

Submission Deadline: June 30, 2026

 

Important: When submitting your manuscript, please be sure to select “Special Issue: Beyond Fossil Fuels: Solar Refinery for Carbon Recycling” as the “Article Type” to ensure proper consideration for this issue.

 

Contact for Inquiries:

For questions and more information, please contact Dr. Ruiqin Liu from the editorial office:

Email: rqliu@sjtu.edu.cn.

Edison Huixiang ANG, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Artavazd BADALYAN, Utah State University, USA

Xiangkun (Elvis) CAO, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Jie CHEN, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China

Sheng CHU, Southeast University, China

Yueguang DENG, Beijing Institute of Technology, China

Liwu FAN, Zhejiang University, China

Xi GAO, Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, China

Aritra GHOSH, University of Exeter, UK

Niccolo GIANNETTI, Waseda University, Japan

Xiangjiu GUAN, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China

Dong HAN, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Han HAO, Tsinghua University, China

Tianbiao HE, Zhejiang University, China

Chunchao HOU, Ocean University of China, China

Mingke HU, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Liang HUANG, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China

Yichao HUANG, China University of Petroleum (East China), China

Wenjun JIANG, Dalian Maritime University, China

Xizhuo JIANG, Northeastern University, China

Kun JIANG, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Tianyi KOU, Shandong University, China

Jian LI, Beijing Institute of Technology, China

Linsen LI, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Mingjia LI, Beijing Institute of Technology, China

Xianglin LI, Washington University in St. Louis, USA

Zheng LIANG, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Shangchao LIN, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Yangming LIN, Xiamen Institute of Rare Earth Material Haixi Institute, Chinese Academy of Science, China

Xiaojing LIU, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Yiji LU, University of Glasgow, UK

Xiaojing LV, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Jiwei MA, Tongji University, China

Jing MENG, University College London, UK

Sajjad S. MOFARAH, University of New South Wales, Australia

Riming NIE, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China

Pengfei OU, Northwestern University, USA

Ashwini Kumar SHARMA, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India

Shuiyun SHEN, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Yixiang SHI, Tsinghua University, China

Samira SIAHROSTAMI, Simon Fraser University, Canada

Qilei SONG, Imperial College London, UK

Lyndi E. STRANG, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA

Chuanwang SUN, Xiamen University, China

Fei SUN, Harbin Institute of Technology, China

Jianbo TANG, University of New South Wales, Australia

Kaige WANG, Zhejiang University, China

Mingjun WANG, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China

Qiliang WANG, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China

Wendong WEI, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Xiaomin XU, Curtin University, Australia

Xiaoyuan XU, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Lei YANG, Qingdao University, China

Shihui YANG, State Grid Smart Grid Research Institute Co., Ltd., China

Hao YU, Tianjin University, China

Pei YUAN, Fuzhou University, China

Da ZHANG, Tsinghua University, China

Liang ZHANG, Tsinghua University, China

Tongtong ZHANG, University of Birmingham, UK

Yuchao ZHANG, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Xiaoming ZHAO, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China

Yao ZHAO, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Yun ZHENG, Fuzhou University, China

Baowen ZHOU, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Lei ZHU, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Frontiers in Energy is an international journal that presents “Cutting-edge, Innovative, Interdisciplinary” research in the field of energy science and engineering. It is dedicated to establishing a high-level academic exchange platform for researchers, scientists, technologists, engineers, and decision-makers in the field of energy to share their original research results and discoveries. Indexed by SCI, EI, CAS, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, INSPEC, etc., the journal has attracted a large readership worldwide.

 

Electrocatalysis of oxygen, i.e., its molecular reduction and/or evolution from water (Oxygen Electrode) is crucial to the future clean energy market in energy conversion and storage technologies such as fuel cells and water electrolyzers. Frontiers in Energy is launching a Special Issue entitled “Advanced functional nanomaterials as bifunctional oxygen electrodes”.

This special issue aims to emphasize that electrocatalyst design in the future must embrace universality, integrating diverse methods with a range of structural materials, and predicting the performance of a given catalyst on a large scale to realize the goal of efficient catalyst screening. In this regard, the search for bifunctional oxygen electrodes has focused on non-precious materials for use, for example, in alkaline media. The active center(s) in a single electrode require a complex system involving a composite of materials combining synergy between components and catalytic activity: support and metals, for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER).

Contributions to this thematic issue are invited including, but not limited to, the following topics:

1. Synthesis and functionalization (PGM and PGM-free)

2. Nanostructured materials and interfaces

3. Characterization protocols (in-situ, in-operando)

4. Materials surface dynamics

5. Degradation mechanisms (aging, stability, supports)

6. Bifunctionality in Batteries (e.g., Zinc-Air-Battery), performance and storage

7. Fuel cells and water electrolyzers

8. Unitized regenerative cells

 

 

Guest EDITORS:

 

Prof. Jiwei Ma

Shanghai Key Laboratory for R&D and Application of Metallic Functional Materials, Institute of New Energy for Vehicles, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.

E-mail: jiwei.ma@tongji.edu.cn

 

Dr. Mª Victoria Martínez Huerta

Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry (ICP), Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC),

E-mail: mmartinez@icp.csic.es

Prof. Nicolas Alonso-Vante

IC2MP-UMR-CNRS 7285

University of Poitiers, France

E-mail: nicolas.alonso.vante@univ-poitiers.fr

 

 

The submission website for this journal is located at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fie. Full manuscripts should be prepared based upon the editorial and formatting guidelines provided in the instructions for authors for Frontiers in Energy, which can be accessed from the website: https://link.springer.com/journal/11708/submission-guidelines. It should be noted that it is important that authors select “Special Issue: Advanced Functional Nanomaterials as Bifunctional Oxygen Electrodes” when you reach the “Article Type” step in the submission process.

Deadline for full manuscript submission is December 15, 2024

For more information, please contact:

rqliu@sjtu.edu.cn

Frontiers in Energy, a journal of Transactions of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), is a peer-reviewed international journal launched by Higher Education Press, CAE, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, co-published by Higher Education Press and Springer. It aims to promote rapid communication and dialogue among researchers, scientists, engineers, and policymakers working in the areas of energy and power engineering. Frontiers in Energy has been indexed by SCI, EI, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, CSCD, etc., attracting a large readership both in China and abroad.

 

The massive consumption of fossil fuels has led to the excessive emission of CO₂ in our atmosphere, which has caused global warming and induced extreme weather events. Electrochemical and photochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) are effective pathways not only to reducing the CO₂ emission, but also to convert CO₂ into valuable fuels and chemicals. However, in CO₂, each carbon atom forms double bonds with two oxygen atoms, resulting in an extremely stable linear molecule. Meanwhile, During CO₂RR, the complex reaction network makes it difficult to obtain desired carbon products with proper yield. Therefore, developing highly efficient and selective catalysts is being the cutting-edge topics in CO₂RR research. At the same time, other factors, including anodic catalysts, electrolyzer design, product collection and separation, etc., are all of the promising CO₂RR technology towards industrial applications. To provide a comprehensive overview of the recent advances in CO₂RR catalysis research, Frontiers in Energy is launching a Special Issue entitled “Electrochemical CO₂ reduction for reducing CO₂ emission and producing value-added products”.

This Special Issue aims to reporting the recent progress and developments in CO₂RR catalysis to offer new insights and guidance with regard to research directions. The submitted manuscripts (Comments, Research Articles, Minireview/Review, Viewpoints, News & Highlights, Perspectives, etc.) should not have been published previously nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere. All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a peer-review process.

 

Topics for Special Issue:

1. Electrocatalysis: Electrochemical CO₂RR catalysts, photoelectrochemical CO₂RR catalysts, catalyst activity, stability and selectivity

 

2. Electrolytes: Electrochemical CO₂RR electrolytes, photoelectrochemical CO₂RR electrolytes

 

3. Electrolyzers & product collection and separation: Electrochemical CO₂RR cell design and fabrication, product collection and analysis

 

4. Reduction of competitive hydrogen evolution for increasing Faradic Efficiency.

 

5. Fundamentals, advanced characterization technology and DFT calculations: Fundamentals, advanced characterization technologies and DFT calculations for electrochemical and photoelectrochemical CO₂RR mechanisms.

Guest Editors

Prof. Dr. Wei Yan, Fuzhou University, China

E-mail: weiyan@fzu.edu.cn

 

Prof. Dr. Yun Zheng, Fuzhou University, China

E-mail: zheng-y15@tsinghua.org.cn

 

Dr. Kaian Sun, Fuzhou University, China

E-mail: yxskkaa3344@163.com

 

Dr. Zewen Zhuang, Fuzhou University, China

E-mail: zwzhuang@fzu.edu.cn

 

Prof. Dr. Jiujun ZHANG, Fuzhou University, China

E-mail: jiujun.zhang@fzu.edu.cn 

 

 

The submission website for this journal is located at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fie. Full manuscripts should be prepared based upon the editorial and formatting guidelines provided in the instructions for authors for Frontiers in Energy, which can be accessed from the website: https://link.springer.com/journal/11708/submission-guidelines. It should be noted that it is important that authors select “Special Issue: Electrochemical CO₂ reduction for reducing CO₂ emission and producing value-added products” when you reach the “Article Type” step in the submission process.

 

Deadline for full manuscript submission is December 30, 2024

 

For more information, please contact:

weiyan@fzu.edu.cn

rqliu@sjtu.edu.cn

Frontiers in Energy is an international journal that presents “Cutting-edge, Innovative, Interdisciplinary” research in the field of energy. It is dedicated to establishing a high-level academic exchange platform for researchers, scientists, technologists, engineers, and decision-makers in the field of energy to share their original research results and discoveries. Indexed by SCI, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, INSPEC, etc., the journal has attracted a large readership worldwide.

 

Growing global consumption of fossil fuels has dramatically increased the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, leading to an undesired global energy crisis and adverse environmental impacts. Rapid deployment of renewable and low-carbon energy resources is crucial to help mitigating these challenges. Clean technologies are currently under development and being optimized to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrogen is currently used as an energy and chemical vector in various industrial sectors. The contribution from hydrogen to the overall carbon footprint in petrochemical and manufacturing is likely to be significant, requiring cleaner production pathways. Furthermore, when combined with fuel cells, hydrogen can also reduce the carbon footprint in the transport sector. Given the importance of petrochemical, manufacturing, and transport sectors’ contributions to the overall global warming, the majority of G20 countries are actively developing and deploying hydrogen strategies with a focus on technologies and supply chain development/optimization aiming at reducing production cost and carbon footprint of hydrogen and its end use applications. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used as an internationally accepted methodology to assess sustainability and support technology development.

 

There are three important topics that require further collaborative scientific research in the LCA of hydrogen production area:

• Guidelines and standards required to harmonize carbon footprint assessment across the different hydrogen production platforms.

• Assess sustainability indicators using integrated assessment frameworks.

• Improving data quality, methodology and sharing to assess all sustainability indicators and improve public trust.

 

Frontiers in Energy is launching a Special Issue entitled “Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Hydrogen Energy Systems: Global Perspective”.

 

This Special Issue aims to report recent progress and developments in the life cycle assessment of hydrogen production technologies and end use applications across energy sectors and regions globally. Submitted manuscripts (Communication, Full Paper, Minireview/Review, Viewpoints, News & Highlights, Perspective, etc.) should not have been published previously nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere. All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a peer-review process.

 

Topics for Special Issue:

1. Life Cycle Analysis Methodology to Quantify Hydrogen Carbon Intensity: scope of LCA and system boundary, guidelines, methods and protocols, coproducts handling methods, etc.

2. Data Requirement for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Hydrogen Production: process-level data (Scope 1), background data (Scope 2 and 3), regional and time variability, uncertainty, etc.

3. Life Cycle Analysis of Hydrogen Production Technologies: methane reformation, carbon capture and sequestration, methane pyrolysis, low-temperature and high-temperature water electrolysis, coal, and biomass gasification, etc.

4. Trends in Life Cycle and Sustainability Analysis of Hydrogen Deployment: resource availability and energy security, air pollution and environmental justice, water-energy nexus, societal impacts, economic sustainability, etc.   

5. Life cycle Analysis of Hydrogen Energy Carrier: ammonia, liquid organic hydrocarbon, methanol, liquid hydrogen, energy storage and delivery, etc.

6. Sustainability Challenges in the Context of Hydrogen Strategies: current and emerging hydrogen applications and markets, strategies and roadmaps, policy incentives and implications, etc.

Guest Editors

Dr. Amgad Elgowainy, Argonne National Laboratory

Email: aelgowainy@anl.gov

 

Dr. Florence Lefebvre-Joud, Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique

Email: florence.lefebvre-joud@cea.fr

Dr. KUDOH Yuki, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

Email: kudoh.yuki@aist.go.jp

 

Dr. Nawshad Haque, CSIRO Energy

Email: Nawshad.Haque@csiro.au

 

Prof. Xiaomin Xie, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Email: xiexiaomin@sjtu.edu.cn

 

The submission website for this journal is located at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fie. Full manuscripts should be prepared based upon the editorial and formatting guidelines provided in the

instructions for authors for Frontiers in Energy, which can be accessed from the website: https://link.springer.com/journal/11708/submission-guidelines. It should be noted that it is important that authors select “Special Issue： Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of Hydrogen Energy Systems: Global Perspective” when you reach the “Article Type” step in the submission process.

Deadline for full manuscript submission is July 31, 2024

For more information, please contact: aelgowainy@anl.gov;

Nawshad.Haque@csiro.au

        Frontiers in Energy, a journal of transactions of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), is a peer-reviewed international journal launched by Higher Education Press, CAE, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, co-published by Higher Education Press and Springer. It aims to promote rapid communication and dialogue among researchers, scientists, engineers, and policymakers working in the area of energy. Frontiers in Energy has been indexed by SCI, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, CSCD, etc., attracting a large readership worldwide.

 

Energy storage is the key to addressing the challenges of variable renewable energy generation and waste heat availability, as well as the mismatch between energy supply and demand in time and space. Meanwhile, thermal energy is considered as one of the most important sectors of the entire energy transmission, conversion and storage chain and acts as a link between primary and secondary energies. Thermo-mechanical energy storage technologies based on heat transfer and heat-work conversion are attracting increasing attention from a diverse range of academic, industrial, government and policy stakeholders, in particular for low-cost and large-scale applications. Generally, thermo-mechanical energy storage technologies can be categorized into compressed-air energy storage, liquid-air energy storage, Carnot battery (also known as pumped-thermal energy or electricity storage). To promote these promising energy storage technologies and provide a platform for researchers to communicate the up-to-date progress, Frontiers in Energy is launching a Special Issue entitled “Thermo-mechanical Energy Storage Technologies”.

 

This Special Issue aims to report recent advances, case studies, and practices in thermo-mechanical energy storage technologies. Submitted manuscripts (Communication, Full Paper, Minireview/Review, Viewpoints, News & Highlights, Perspective, etc.) should not have been published previously nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere. All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a peer-review process.

 

Topics for Special Issue:

1. Multi-scale fundamental mechanisms within thermo-mechanical energy storage technologies

· Thermodynamics;

· Fluid mechanics;

· Heat and mass transfer;

· Phase change (solid-liquid, solid-solid, gas-liquid and solid-gas);

· Chemical reaction;

· Thermal stress;

· Heat-work conversion;

· Aerodynamics;

· Dynamics of machinery.

2. Heat storage materials, heat transfer fluids and encapsulation materials

· Calculation and design of thermophysical, chemical and mechanical properties;

· Advanced material preparation and characterization;

· Life-cycle and cost assessment;

· Novel composite materials;

· Effective capsulation methods.

3. Key components in thermo-mechanical energy storage systems

· Structure design and optimization;

· Operation management and analysis;

· Thermo-economic assessment;

· Any related component is included, such as thermal stores, compressors, expanders, turbomachines, heat exchangers, reactors, combustors and so on.

4. Thermo-mechanical energy storage systems and their integration analyses

· Thermodynamic optimization;

· Thermo-economic analysis;

· System operation and management;

· Integration with renewable energy and waste heat/cold;

· The integrated development into low-carbon and smart energy systems.

 

 

Lead Guest Editor

Prof. Dr. André D. THESS, German Aerospace Center DLR and Stuttgart University, Germany

Email: andre.thess@dlr.de

 

 

Guest Editors

Prof. Dr. Mingjia Li, Beijing Institute of Technology, China

E-mail: mjli@bit.edu.cn

 

 

Research Prof. Dr. Kai WANG, Zhejiang University, China

E-mail: kaiwang19@zju.edu.cn

 

 

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Adriano SCIACOVELLI, University of Birmingham, UK

E-mail: a.sciacovelli@bham.ac.uk

 

 

Asst. Prof. Dr. Chris QIN, Washington State University, USA

E-mail: chris.qin@wsu.edu

 

 

Asst. Prof. Dr. Steven LECOMPTE, Ghent University, Belgium

E-mail: steven.lecompte@ugent.be

 

 

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yao ZHAO, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

E-mail: zhaoyao@sjtu.edu.cn

 

 

The submission website for this journal is located at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fie. Full manuscripts should be prepared based upon the editorial and formatting guidelines provided in the instructions for authors for Frontiers in Energy, which can be accessed from the website: www.springer.com/11708. It should be noted that it is important that authors select “Special Issue：Thermo-mechanical Energy Storage Technologies” when you reach the “Article Type” step in the submission process.

 

Deadline for full manuscript submission is 31 May 2024.

 

For more information, please contact:

zhaoyao@sjtu.edu.cn;

rqliu@sjtu.edu.cn.

 

About Frontiers in Energy

Frontiers in Energy (FIE), one of the engineering journals of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (Transactions of CAE), has long focused on climate change and carbon neutrality, and is committed to building a high-level academic exchange platform for researchers, scientists, technologists, engineers, and decision-makers in the field of energy to publish original research results and discoveries.

FIE has been indexed in SCI, SCOPUS, INSPEC, Chinese Science Citation Database (CSCD), etc.

Topics

In selection of manuscripts, FIE pays special attention to “cutting-edge, interdisciplinary, and innovative research”, and the scope of articles include (but not limited to): energy conversion and utilization, renewable energy, energy storage, hydrogen and fuel cells, CO₂ capture, utilization and storage, advanced nuclear technology, smart grids and microgrids, power cells and electric vehicles, new energy system, energy and environment, energy economics and policy, etc.

Recently, FIE focuses on the following directions: renewable energy technology, battery storage technology, new energy materials, photocatalysis or electrocatalysis, CO₂ reduction and electrochemical conversion, hydrogen energy and fuel cells, solar cells, nitrogen reduction, and renewable fuels.

FIE Youth Editorial Board

The Youth Editorial Board (YEB) of FIE is a platform for young scholars to communicate and grow, and a training base for future FIE senior board members.

 

Application Eligibility

• Aged 40 or below in 2023

• Having a good academic research background and high academic attainments

• Willing to engage in journal service

Duties (not limited to)

• Submitting qualified works to FIE

• Providing professional peer-review comments

• Promoting FIE regionally and internationally

• Participating in the activities of Youth Editorial Board Members (YEBMs)

Benefits

• Certificate of appointment awarded

• The YEBMs’ own manuscripts or recommended manuscripts enjoy the priority of publication after peer review.

• Opportunities to exchange ideas with internationally influential researchers in this field

• An opportunity to promote to the Editorial Board based on the outstanding contributions to the development of FIE

How to apply?

• Please fill the application form.

• A CV of the applicant is required.

The application package should be sent to the FIE editorial office (rqliu@sjtu.edu.cn) by Jun 15th, 2023.

Application Form for Youth Editorial Board Member of Frontiers in Energy .docx

Growing global consumption of fossil fuels has dramatically increased the levels of CO₂ in our atmosphere, leading to an undesired global energy crisis and environmental destruction. Rapid deployment of renewable energy resources is crucial to help mitigate these challenges. In recent years, we have seen the rapid development of electrochemical energy storage and conversion techniques and devices such as hydrogen and fuel cells, advanced energy storage and power batteries, and CO₂ electrochemical conversion and utilization. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence technology is emerging in the area of energy, attracting considerable efforts and paving a promising avenue toward efficient energy conversion and utilization. Additionally, energy material process research and engineering verification are important steps to promote industrialization. Each of these technologies has produced a series of encouraging advances. To highlight those recent advances, Frontiers in Energy is launching a Special Issue entitled “Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion”.

 

This Special Issue aims to report recent progress and developments in electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Submitted manuscripts (Communication, Full Paper, Mini-review/Review, Viewpoints, News & Highlights, Perspective, etc.) should not have been published previously nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere. All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a peer-review process.

 

Topics for Special Issue:

1. Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: Hydrogen storage, water electrolysis, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC), direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), etc.

2. Batteries and Supercapacitors: Lithium/sodium/potassium/magnesium/zinc-based batteries, solid-state batteries, metal-air batteries, advanced lead-acid, supercapacitors, electrochemical flow cell, etc.

3. CO₂ Electroreduction: CO₂ capture and storage, electrocatalysis, photo-electrochemical conversion, solid oxide electrolysis cells, etc.

4. AI in Electrochemical Energy: Innovative applications of AI in electrochemical energy, and the development of bespoke AI technologies and methodologies for advancing electrochemical energy utilization, such as data-driven approaches, optimization algorithms and AI ethics.

5. Electrochemistry Energy Fundamentals: Electrochemical theories, electrocatalysis, electroanalysis, electropolymerization, electrosynthesis.

6. Advanced Electrochemical Materials (Nanomaterials): Electrode/Electrolyte materials synthesis, characterization, and performance validation as well as fundamental understanding.

7. Electrochemical Energy Industry: Electrochemical energy production related materials/ devices/ systems, their engineering, designs, manufacture, and fabrication, as well as their related theories processes and applications.

 

Guest Editors

Prof. Dr. Yun ZHENG, Fuzhou University, China

E-mail: zheng-y15@tsinghua.org.cn  

 

 

Prof. Dr. Lei ZHANG, Energy, Mining & Environment Research Center, National Research Council Canada

E-mail: lei.zhang@nrc.gc.ca

 

Prof. Dr. Gaixia ZHANG, École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS), University of Quebec, Canada

E-mail: gaixia.zhang@etsmtl.ca 

 

Assis. Prof. Dr. Sixu DENG, Concordia University, Canada

E-mail: dengs36@mcmaster.ca 

 

Assis. Prof. Dr. Xiaoyu WU, University of Waterloo, Canada

E-mail: xiaoyu.wu@uwaterloo.ca 

 

Prof. Dr. Jiujun ZHANG, Fuzhou University, China

E-mail: jiujun.zhang@i.shu.edu.cn 

The submission website for this journal is located at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fie. Full manuscripts should be prepared based upon the editorial and formatting guidelines provided in the instructions for authors for Frontiers in Energy, which can be accessed from the website: www.springer.com/11708. It should be noted that it is important that authors select “Special Issue：Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion” when you reach the “Article Type” step in the submission process.

 

Deadline for full manuscript submission is September 30, 2023

 

For more information, please contact:

zheng-y15@tsinghua.org.cn;

rqliu@sjtu.edu.cn.

 

1. Call for papers for a Special Issue of Frontiers in Energy
Carbon neutrality refers to net-zero anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mostly CO₂ emissions. Achieving carbon neutrality by the middle of the 21st century is critical for limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Carbon neutrality has attracted global attention. More than 120 countries have set their carbon neutrality targets. These countries contribute to more than half of the global CO₂ emission in total.
Currently, the energy system contributes to about two thirds of the global GHG emission, which indicates that efficient energy system management is the key to achieving carbon neutrality (International Energy Agency, 2018). Many relevant studies have been conducted, covering energy efficiency improvement development, renewable energy, etc., some of which indicate that the lock-in effect of the existing energy system jeopardizes the 1.5°C target (Cui et al., 2019; Tong et al., 2019). The International Energy Agency also illustrates that although it is feasible, achieving the 1.5°C target is extremely challenging and requires all the countries to take immediate action (International Energy Agency, 2021). Consequently, it is critical to reform the existing energy system so that it can facilitate the implementation of carbon neutrality targets. 
To date, many energy system transition pathways at regional or global levels have been proposed based on different socio-economic and technological scenarios (Guan et al., 2012). However, there is a lack of consensus on these pathways. It is difficult for policymakers to choose a suitable one from very different pathways, especially when some of them lack feasibility, or even contradict each other. These differences or contradictions can be explained by different assumptions and treatments for key factors such as resource constraints, conflicts of different goals, and uncertainties in future technological progress (Duan et al., 2021). 
To address these concerns, more comprehensive studies should be initiated to facilitate innovative energy and resource management so that appropriate transition pathways can be identified. Firstly, both low carbon technologies and negative emission technologies rely on a large amount of virgin materials and may be limited by sufficient material supply. For example, several rare earth elements are necessary for renewable power technologies (e.g., wind power and solar power), but their supply has been restricted due to imbalanced and scarce geological concentrations (Li et al., 2020). The economic cost is another factor influencing carbon neutrality. Achieving carbon neutrality requires a large amount of investment in energy infrastructure, technologies, etc (Wei et al., 2021). Most developing countries may not be able to provide sufficient financial support. Meanwhile, the pursuit of sustainable development goals (SDGs) also requires another global effort. However, several SDGs may have conflicts with the carbon neutrality targets (Xu et al., 2020). Therefore, the tradeoffs between carbon neutrality and SDGs deserve more academic studies. In addition, achieving carbon neutrality requires a profound transformation of economic and technological development, leading to a need for joint efforts from governments, enterprises, and individuals (Geng et al., 2019; Geng et al., 2013). However, the coordination of different interests, benefits and ethical considerations among different stakeholders still poses a big challenge.
In order to address these issues, this special issue aims to provide a platform for researchers, policy makers, entrepreneurs, and the general public to share their outstanding research outcomes so that valuable insights can be obtained for preparing appropriate mitigation policies. Authors are invited to submit their papers to present their innovative strategies, policies, methods, and behavior aspects for achieving carbon neutrality.
 
2. Topic areas
The Editorial Team encourages submissions with a target-oriented research framework, which focuses on pathways, policies, and models for carbon neutrality at both regional and global levels. The Editorial Team welcomes review papers, research papers, and case studies that include but are not restricted to the following topics:
● National and regional carbon neutrality policies
● Energy demand forecasting and energy system modeling toward carbon neutrality
● Resource and material constraints towards carbon neutrality
● Resource efficiency improvement and circular economy in the context of carbon neutrality
● Energy security in the context of high-penetration renewable energy
● Impact of energy system transition toward carbon neutrality
● Behavioural changes toward carbon neutrality
● Investment for carbon neutrality and corresponding environmental impacts
 
3. Tentative schedule for this Special Issue
● Prospective authors are expected to submit an abstract of 500 words to Professor Yong Geng (ygeng@sjtu.edu.cn) before August 31, 2021.
● The Editorial Team of the Special Issue is to reply to prospective authors before September 15, 2021.
● Prospective authors are expected to submit their ‘peer-review ready’ manuscript via the ScholarOne system before December 31, 2021.
● The peer review/paper revision process is to be completed by March 31, 2022.
● Prospective authors are expected to submit the final manuscript before June 30, 2022.
● The Special Issue is expected to be published in September, 2022.
 
4. Contributions
Full papers are invited for potential publication in this Special Issue of Frontiers in Energy. Submissions should be between 9000 and 13000 words for comprehensive reviews, between 7000 and 8500 words for full research/theoretical papers with broad empirical studies and between 4000 and 5000 words for case studies. All should be developed based upon the editorial and formatting guidelines provided in the instructions for authors for Frontiers in Energy, which can be accessed from the website: https://journal.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/guidelines.
Upon receipt of the manuscripts, three to six independent reviewers will be invited to provide peer reviews for each manuscript. Upon receipt and acceptance of the author’s revised or re-revised manuscript, all manuscripts will be published in this Special Issue of Frontiers in Energy titled: ‘Carbon Neutrality’.
Papers must be written in fluent English. Authors with limitations in the command of written English are recommended to have their papers edited by a Native English Science Editor before the first submission because poorly written pieces can compromise the decisions during the review process. Similarly, they should have their final document edited by a Native English Science Editor before submission to the journal.

Guest Editor Team:
Professor Yong Geng, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, E-mail: ygeng@sjtu.edu.cn
Professor Raimund Bleischwitz, The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources, University College London, E-mail: r.bleishcwitz@ucl.ac.uk;
Professor Anthony S.F. Chiu, Industrial & Systems Engineering Department, Gokongwei College of Engineering, De La Salle University, Manila, Phillipine, E-mail: anthony.chiu@dlsu.edu.ph
Dr. Wendong Wei, School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, E-mail: wendongwei@sjtu.edu.cn
Dr. Han Hao, Tsinghua-Rio Tinto Joint Research Center for Resources Energy and Sustainable Development, Tsinghua University, E-mail: hao@tsinghua.edu.cn

References
Cui, R.Y., Hultman, N., Edwards, M.R., He, L., Sen, A., Surana, K., McJeon, H., Iyer, G., Patel, P., Yu, S., et al. (2019). Quantifying operational lifetimes for coal power plants under the Paris goals. Nat Commun 10, 4759.
Duan, H., Zhou, S., Jiang, K., Bertram, C., Harmsen, M., Kriegler, E., Vuuren, D.P.v., Wang, S., Fujimori, S., Tavoni, M., et al. (2021). Assessing China’s efforts to pursue the 1.5°C warming limit. Science 372, 378.
Geng, Y., Sarkis, J., and Bleischwitz, R. (2019). How to globalize the circular economy. Nature 565, 153–155.
Geng, Y., Sarkis, J., Ulgiati, S., and Zhang, P. (2013). Measuring China’s circular economy. Science 339, 1526–1527.
Guan, D., Liu, Z., Geng, Y., Lindner, S., and Hubacek, K. (2012). The gigatonne gap in China’s carbon dioxide inventories. Nat Clim Change 2, 672–675.
International Energy Agency (2018). CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion highlights (2018 Edition).
International Energy Agency (2021). Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector.
Li, J., Peng, K., Wang, P., Zhang, N., Feng, K., Guan, D., Meng, J., Wei, W., and Yang, Q. (2020). Critical Rare-Earth Elements Mismatch Global Wind-Power Ambitions. One Earth 3, 116–125.
Tong, D., Zhang, Q., Zheng, Y., Caldeira, K., Shearer, C., Hong, C., Qin, Y., and Davis, S.J. (2019). Committed emissions from existing energy infrastructure jeopardize 1.5°C climate target. Nature 572, 373–377.
Wei, W., Li, J., Chen, B., Wang, M., Zhang, P., Guan, D., Meng, J., Qian, H., Cheng, Y., Kang, C., et al. (2021). Embodied greenhouse gas emissions from building China’s large-scale power transmission infrastructure. Nature Sustainability.
Xu, Z., Chau, S.N., Chen, X., Zhang, J., Li, Y., Dietz, T., Wang, J., Winkler, J.A., Fan, F., Huang, B., et al. (2020). Assessing progress towards sustainable development over space and time. Nature 577, 74–78.

Frontiers in Energy, is a peer-reviewed international journal launched by Higher Education Press, Chinese Academy of Engineering and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. It aims to promote rapid communication and dialogue among the researchers, scientists, engineers and policy makers working in the areas of energy and power engineering in China and abroad. FIE has been indexed by SCI, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, CSCD, etc., attracting a large readership both domestic and international and owning a high impact factor.

      A cyber-physical-social system emphasizes the interaction among the physical world, cyber world, and social world. In the field of energy, with the in-depth integration of different energy systems and the fast development of Internet of Things technologies, the information system and human behavior have made a remarkable impact on energy system planning and operation; thus, the cyber-physical-social system in energy has attracted more attention nowadays. To facilitate the reliable and efficient operation of energy systems, it is necessary to collect data on generalized physical environment and human behavior, and make decisions considering the interactions between different systems. The objective of this special issue is to disseminate state-of-the-art R&D results on cyber-physical-social systems in energy and bring together researchers from both academia and industry to foster interactions among stakeholders. We seek original papers that offer novel research contributions. The topics of interests include, but are not limited to:
● Integrated energy system 
● Cyber-physical system in energy
● Power Internet of Things 
● Electricity and carbon markets
● Application of artificial intelligence to energy system
● Application of data-driven methods to energy system
● Game theory and its application in energy system

Guest Editors
Yusheng XUE, State Grid Electric Power Research Institute, China
Zheng YAN, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Nian LIU, North China Electric Power University, China
Xiaoyuan XU, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Important dates:
Oct. 30th, 2020: Deadline for the submission of extended abstract (Please submit to xuxiaoyuan@sjtu.edu.cn, nianliu@ncepu.edu.cn, rqliu@sjtu.edu.cn)
Nov. 30th, 2020: Completion for first-round of reviews
Jan. 30th, 2021: Deadline for full paper submission
Jul. 30th, 2021: Final notification of authors 

Online submission: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fie

      Full papers should be prepared based upon the editorial and formatting guidelines provided in the instructions for authors for Frontiers in Energy, which can be accessed from the website: www.springer.com/11708

For more information, please contact:
Xiaoyuan XU (xuxiaoyuan@sjtu.edu.cn)
Nian LIU (nianliu@ncepu.edu.cn) 

Call for papers for a Special Issue of Frontiers in Energy

Security, affordability and sustainability are three key themes for energy exploration, transportation and consumption in the modern society. In the past century, main energy carriers, such as electricity systems and natural gas systems, are mainly planned, operated and controlled in an isolated manner. Various energy consumptions at end customers are also independent of each other. 

Since Jeremy Rifkin introduced the transformative concept of Energy Internet, it has fundamentally changed the view of the society towards energy exploration, transportation and utilisation from many aspects. The development of “Energy Internet” holds significant implications for the whole energy supply chain worldwide. It has already led to fundamental revolutions in the energy sector from many aspects, including localised energy supply, integration of various energy sectors and interconnection of bulk power systems, which underlie the transition to a low-carbon society. However, during this transition, there are many accompanying technical, regulatory, political and societal challenges to be resolved. 

Topic areas
This Call for Papers for a special issue of Frontiers in Energy provides an opportunity for researchers, policy makers, entrepreneurs and general public to work together for more comprehensive understandings of challenges and opportunities in energy exploration, transportation, and consumption under new energy ecosystems with the integration and fusion of energy technologies, things of networks, and internet finance.

Authors are invited to submit original papers on the topics of strategies, policies, methodologies, technologies and behaviour aspects of energy exploration, transportation, and consumption. The Editorial Team encourages submissions with novel research and extensive review papers to discuss the development of energy internet for facilitating low-carbon energy development.

This Special Issue is designed to promote the understanding of the optimal pathway for developing a low carbon energy sector with increased security and sustainability at the lowest costs, where associated policy/commercial instruments and technology improvements can be deployed to facilitate the progress. The Editorial Team welcomes original research papers, review papers, and case study work that target at, but are not restricted to, the following topics:

■ Review on new energy ecosystems under the integration and fusion of energy technology, things of networks, and internet finance
■ Feasibility of energy internet, relevant technical political challenges, barriers, and opportunities 
■ Emerging technologies of low carbon energy exploration, transportation, conversion, storage, distribution, and utilisation
■ Intelligence of energy transportation and alternative energy vectors that complement traditional energy transportation vectors
■ Multi-lateral energy trading via energy internet 
■ Innovative architecture of energy market at both whole and retail levels 

Important Dates
■ Submission of around 500 words, extended abstracts to Dr. Chenghong Gu (cg277@bath.ac.uk)or Dr. Xiaojing Lv (lvxiaojing@sjtu.edu.cn) by the end June 2017.
■ Responses from the Special Issue Editorial Team will be sent to prospective authors by the end of July 2017.
■ Authors should submit the ‘peer-review ready’ manuscripts via the ScholarOne system (https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fie) by the end of December 2017.
■ Peer review/paper revision process between January and March 2018.
■ Submission of final version of all revised manuscripts by the end of April 2018.
■ Publication of this Special Issue by May 2018.

Submission Guidance
Full papers are invited for potential publication on this Special Issue. Submissions should be between 9000 and 13000 words for comprehensive reviews, between 7000 and 8500 words for full research papers, and between 4000 and 5000 words for case studies. Papers must be written in a good level of English. All submissions should be developed based upon the editorial and formatting guidelines provided in the instructions for authors for Frontiers in Energy, which can be accessed from:
■ http://www.springer.com/engineering/energy+technology/journal/11708, or
■ https://journal.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/guidelines

Upon receipt of completed manuscripts, three to six independent reviewers will be selected to provide comments for each submission. Upon receipt and acceptance of the author’s revised or re-revised manuscripts, all papers will be published in this Special Issue titled: "Energy Internet".

Guest Editor Team:
■ Prof. Shilie WENG, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
■ Dr. Chenghong GU, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Bath, UK, email: cg277@bath.ac.uk.
■ Dr. Xiaojing LV, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, email: lvxiaojing@sjtu.edu.cn.

Editors-in-Chief of Frontiers in Energy:
■ Shilie WENG, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China;
■ Weidou NI, Tsinghua University, China;
■ Suping PENG, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), China.