Articles about 'renewable'

Researchers have developed floating ‘artificial leaves’ that generate clean fuels from sunlight and water, and could eventually operate on a large scale at sea.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge and Harvard University have developed a method to dramatically extend the lifetime of organic aqueous flow batteries, improving the commercial viability of a technology that has the potential to safely and cheaply store energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar.

A team of researchers from the UK and Japan has found that the tiny defects which limit the efficiency of perovskites – cheaper alternative materials for solar cells – are also responsible for structural changes in the material that lead to degradation.

Researchers have made tiny ‘skyscrapers’ for communities of bacteria, helping them to generate electricity from just sunlight and water.

Installing solar panels could help historic buildings beat the rising costs of energy, according to a new study.

Researchers have identified a key mechanism responsible for the lower efficiencies of organic solar cells and shown a way that this hurdle might be overcome.

Angela Harper is a PhD candidate at the Cavendish Laboratory, a member of Churchill College, and a Gates Cambridge Scholar. Here, she tells us about her work in renewable energy, setting up a Girls in STEM programme while she was an undergraduate in North Carolina, and the importance of role models when pursuing a career in STEM. 

If we are to avert a climate disaster, we must sharply reduce our emissions, starting today. Cambridge Zero, the University's ambitious new climate initiative, will generate ideas and innovations to help shape a sustainable future - and equip future generations of leaders with the skills to navigate the global challenges of the coming decades. 

Macroeconomic simulations show rates of technological change in energy efficiency and renewable power are likely to cause a sudden drop in demand for fossil fuels, potentially sparking a global financial crisis. Experts call for a “carefully managed” shift to low-carbon investments and policies to deflate this “carbon bubble”.

Scientists from the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol have found a way to create plastic semiconductor nanostructures that absorb light and transport its energy 20 times further than has been previously observed, paving the way for more flexible and more efficient solar cells and photodetectors.