Topic description and stories

Research is tackling the need to reduce energy demand, maintain energy supply, increase the efficiency of energy-requiring processes, and develop policy and pricing strategies. To find out more about our research in energy, visit the Energy Interdisciplinary Research Centre (IRC) website

Polariton fluid emits clockwise or anticlockwise spin light by applying electric fields to a semiconductor chip.

Liquid light switch could enable more powerful electronics

08 Aug 2016

Researchers have built a record energy-efficient switch, which uses the interplay of electricity and a liquid form of light, in semiconductor...

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Carbon dioxide can be stored underground for ten times the length needed to avoid climatic impact

28 Jul 2016

Study of natural-occurring 100,000 year-old CO2 reservoirs shows no significant corroding of ‘cap rock’, suggesting the greenhouse gas hasn’t leaked...

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Would you live in a city made of bone?

23 Jun 2016

The cities of today are built with concrete and steel – but some Cambridge researchers think that the cities of the future need to go back to nature...

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How does your smart city grow?

17 Jun 2016

The Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction is building on advances in sensing technology to learn everything possible about a city’s...

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Going green: why don't we all do it?

10 Jun 2016

From wind turbines and solar photovoltaics to grey water recycling and electric vehicles, technology is making it ever easier for us to be green –...

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Arabidopsis seeds exude slime that is attached to the seed by cellulose. On the left is a seed with normal slime stained pink, but on the right, in the stello mutant, the slime is lost because the cellulose is missing.

Cellulose: new understanding could lead to tailored biofuels

09 Jun 2016

In the search for low emission plant-based fuels, new research may help avoid having to choose between growing crops for food or fuel.

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Innovating for the future of cities

01 Jun 2016

Today, we commence a month-long focus on the future of cities. To begin, Doug Crawford-Brown, Robert Mair and Koen Steemers describe the challenges...

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Opinion: Can we save the algae biofuel industry?

10 May 2016

Christian Ridley (Department of Plant Sciences) discusses why algae biofuel has failed to deliver, and what could be done to save this promising...

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UK steel can survive if it transforms itself, say researchers

15 Apr 2016

A new report from the University of Cambridge claims that British steel could be saved, if the industry is willing to transform itself.

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Maxwell Centre

Pioneering centre for physical sciences-industry collaborations opens at University of Cambridge

07 Apr 2016

The £26 million Maxwell Centre will focus on “blue skies” research in areas such as efficient energy generation, storage and use, including work on...

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Bloom Energy Fuel Cell

Fuel cell electrolyte developed to offer cleaner, more efficient energy

20 Jan 2016

A new thin-film electrolyte material that helps solid oxide fuel cells operate more efficiently and cheaply than those composed of conventional...

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Coal Fired Power Station (cropped)

University of Cambridge at the World Economic Forum 2016

15 Jan 2016

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge is to lead a delegation of academics to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos...

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