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. 

Marchantia - a primitive plant form used as the 'chassis' for designing new plants

From foundry to factory: building synthetic plants

20 Jun 2014

A movement is under way that will fast-forward the design of new plant traits. It takes inspiration from engineering and the software industry, and...

Read more
Carbon nanotechnology

How carbon cousins shaped warfare and can electrify the future

13 Jun 2014

What links legendarily sharp Damascene swords of the past with flexible electronics and high-performance electrical wiring of the future? They all...

Read more
Construction

Better building through design

04 Jun 2014

The construction industry could slash its carbon emissions by as much as 50% by optimising the design of new buildings, which currently use double...

Read more

Advanced materials: one of the UK's “eight great technologies” for future growth

02 Jun 2014

Today, we commence a month-long focus on research on advanced materials. To begin, materials scientist Professor Mark Blamire and engineer Professor...

Read more

The James Dyson Foundation donates £8m to fuel invention powerhouse

06 May 2014

The James Dyson Foundation has donated £8m to create a technology hub at the heart of Cambridge, providing the University of Cambridge’s brightest...

Read more

Revolutionary solar cells double as lasers

28 Mar 2014

Latest research finds that the trailblazing ‘perovskite’ material used in solar cells can double up as a laser, strongly suggesting the astonishing...

Read more

Moss power is back: art meets science to showcase emerging renewable energy technology

21 Mar 2014

After their 2011 success in showcasing the use of plants as biological solar panels, a team from the Departments of Plant Sciences and Biochemistry...

Read more

Grant to fund research into natural and sustainable building materials

18 Mar 2014

University departments receive grant to examine natural building materials.

Read more
Eye to eye

Smart glass

21 Feb 2014

A newly-developed coating could enable buildings to have antireflective self-cleaning windows and could increase the efficiency of solar cells.

Read more

Heating up regulation

10 Feb 2014

Research from Cambridge Judge Business School has been instrumental in developing a new system of energy market regulation

Read more
When Li meets Si - the Wedding Cake

Lifting the lid on silicon batteries

03 Feb 2014

Resolving the mystery of what happens inside batteries when silicon comes into contact with lithium could accelerate the commercialisation of next-...

Read more
Data storage at CERN, Geneva. Superconducting spintronics could enable such facilities to process unprecedented amounts of data with a high level of energy-efficiency.

Superconducting spintronics pave way for next-generation computing

15 Jan 2014

A breakthrough for the field of Spintronics, a new type of technology which it is widely believed could be the basis of a future revolution in...

Read more

Pages