Lina Liu

Electric vehicles (EVs) are crucial for addressing the intertwined challenges of climate change and air pollution. The multiaspect benefits of EVs are highly dependent on local climate conditions, yet the impacts of regional heterogeneity in the context of future climate change remain unclear. Here, we develop a systemic modeling framework integrating fleet modeling, emission projection, index decomposition analysis, and detailed cost assessment to identify local drivers and potential trade-offs behind electrification. Our findings reveal substantial regional variations in EV charging costs, ranging from 2.6 to 3.6 USD/100km. By 2030, EVs could constitute 54 to 96% of regional vehicle sales, reducing China's CO₂ emissions by 40.3 Tg and NOx emissions by 20.8 Gg compared to 2020 levels. Climate change might amplify the impacts of EVs, potentially reducing national energy consumption by 1-2% toward 2060, particularly by alleviating winter-related battery performance degradation. Our results highlight tailoring strategies to subregional conditions and recommend accelerating electrification to maximize environmental and economic cobenefits under global warming.

China’s air pollution mitigation policy promotes the shift of bulk cargo transportation from roadways to railways and waterways, which might also influence carbon emissions. In this study, we developed a novel emissions assessment framework encompassing three truck types, rail, and waterways at the provincial level. Using counterfactual scenarios during the ‘Clean Air Action’ (2013–2020), we quantitatively examined the co-benefits of freight mode shifts on mitigating CO₂ and air pollutant emissions. Our findings indicate that nearly 6.4 Mt of CO₂ emissions in the freight sector, equivalent to 2.4% of the total anthropogenic emissions (266.8 Mt, 95% CI: 192.1-320.0) in 2020, are avoided in China. Medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks contribute the most to this reduction over different phases. Rail transportation acted as the most effective mode for simultaneous emissions mitigation. However, while co-reductions are observed in HC (hydrocarbon, 3.9 Kt), CO (carbon monoxide, 83.6 Kt), and NO _x (nitrogen oxides, 158.6 Kt) emissions, PM_2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ⩽2.5 μm) emissions increased slightly due to increased share of the waterway freight. More than 80% of provinces in China benefited from freight mode shifts in carbon reductions during the second phase (2017–2020) due to the ambitious goals. To enhance freight mode shifts’ co-benefit, attention should emphasize controlling waterway emissions, expanding railway capacity, and optimizing energy structures. These strategies will amplify policy impact on reducing air pollutant emissions from freight transport and contribute to China’s journey towards carbon neutrality.

Oral delivery of proteins faces challenges due to the harsh conditions of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, including gastric acid and intestinal enzyme degradation. Permeation enhancers are limited in their ability to deliver proteins with high molecular weight and can potentially cause toxicity by opening tight junctions. To overcome these challenges, we propose the use of montmorillonite (MMT) as an adjuvant that possesses both inflammation-oriented abilities and the ability to regulate gut microbiota. This adjuvant can be used as a universal protein oral delivery technology by fusing with advantageous binding amino acid sequences. We demonstrated that anti-TNF-α nanobody (V _II ) can be intercalated into the MMT interlayer space. The carboxylate groups (–COOH) of aspartic acid (D) and glutamic acid (E) interact with the MMT surface through electrostatic interactions with sodium ions (Na ⁺ ). The amino groups (NH ₂ ) of asparagine (N) and glutamine (Q) are primarily attracted to the MMT layers through hydrogen bonding with oxygen atoms on the surface. This binding mechanism protects V _II from degradation and ensures its release in the intestinal tract, as well as retaining biological activity, leading to significantly enhanced therapeutic effects on colitis. Furthermore, V _II @MMT increases the abundance of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)-producing strains, including Clostridia, Prevotellaceae, Alloprevotella, Oscillospiraceae, Clostridia_vadinBB60_group, and Ruminococcaceae, therefore enhance the production of SCFAs and butyrate, inducing regulatory T cells (Tregs) production to modulate local and systemic immune homeostasis. Overall, the MMT adjuvant provides a promising universal strategy for protein oral delivery by rational designed protein.