Abstract
Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is a critical global challenge; it demands advances — at the materials, devices and systems levels — for the efficient harvesting, storage, conversion and management of renewable energy. Energy researchers have begun to incorporate machine learning (ML) techniques to accelerate these advances. In this Perspective, we highlight recent advances in ML-driven energy research, outline current and future challenges, and describe what is required to make the best use of ML techniques. We introduce a set of key performance indicators with which to compare the benefits of different ML-accelerated workflows for energy research. We discuss and evaluate the latest advances in applying ML to the development of energy harvesting (photovoltaics), storage (batteries), conversion (electrocatalysis) and management (smart grids). Finally, we offer an overview of potential research areas in the energy field that stand to benefit further from the application of ML.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 202-215 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Nature Reviews Materials |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2023 |
Funding
Z.Y. and A.A.-G. were supported as part of the Nanoporous Materials Genome Center by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under award number DE-FG02-17ER16362 and the US Department of Energy, Office of Science — Chicago under award number DE-SC0019300. A.J. was financially supported by Huawei Technologies Canada and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). L.M.M.-M. thanks the support of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under the Accelerated Molecular Discovery Program under cooperative agreement number HR00111920027 dated 1 August 2019. Y.W. acknowledges funding support from the Singapore National Research Foundation under its Green Buildings Innovation Cluster (GBIC award number NRF2015ENC-GBICRD001-012) administered by the Building and Construction Authority, its Green Data Centre Research (GDCR award number NRF2015ENC-GDCR01001-003) administered by the Info-communications Media Development Authority, and its Energy Programme (EP award number NRF2017EWT-EP003-023) administered by the Energy Market Authority of Singapore. A.A.-G. is a Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Lebovic Fellow. E.H.S. acknowledges funding by the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities (grant ORF-RE08-034), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada (grant RGPIN-2017-06477), the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) (grant FS20-154 APPT.2378) and the University of Toronto Connaught Fund (grant GC 2012-13). Z.W.S. acknowledges funding by the Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF-NRFF2017-04).
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Biomaterials
- Energy (miscellaneous)
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films
- Materials Chemistry
