Energy efficiency research at the University of Cambridge cuts across all other energy research themes. Examples of key initiatives that focus on energy efficiency include:
- Integrated consideration of buildings, transport and urban planning, including the Energy Efficient Cities Initiative, which addresses energy demand reduction in the urban environment by integrating design and development of novel technologies for energy efficient cities, with links to economic, policy and regulatory considerations.
- Energy efficient buildings, using novel design and new technologies to reduce the energy consumed in business and domestic buildings, including the Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment project and work at the BP Institute on energy efficiency for HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning).
- Investigations into energy use, emissions, environmental impact, capital and operating costs of current and future transport technology and the system wide impact of technological innovations through the use of global transport demand modelling and transport system technology assessment.
- Energy efficient chemical, refining and materials production processes, as well as energy efficient recycling processes. This research is focussed in the Departments of Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology and Materials Science and Metallurgy.
- Investigations into global and regional energy demand scenarios and energy policy interventions to increase energy efficiency and reduce demand. Two of the largest research groups in Cambridge addressing these issues are the Energy Policy Research Group and the Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research.
- Optimising the design of the next generation radio telescope, the Square Kilometer Array, for low power consumption and utilisation of novel renewable energy technologies in a desert environment in the Cavendish Laboratory.
Please visit individual faculty profiles to learn more about their research in the Energy Efficiency theme. The Energy Lead for Energy Efficiency can be contacted to discuss university-wide initiatives and opportunities.
People specializing in this area
Principal Investigators
- Energy efficiency of cement production
- Energy efficient production of materials for environmental applications
- Synthesis of energy efficient infrastructure
Demand response
- Semiconductor and Polymer Microcavities
- Ultrafast spectroscopy and NanoPhotonics
- Photonic Crystals and Polymer Opals
- Plasmonics and MetaMaterials
- Self-Assembly and directed assembly of NanoMaterials
User interfaces of energy monitoring systems, energy controls, and feedback for behaviour change.
Our energy efficiency research focuses on macro-level analysis of transportation to advancing low-carbon and low-emission transportation solutions.
- High temperature superconductivity
- Processing of bulk superconductors
- Magnetic properties of bulk superconductors
- Engineering applications of high temperature superconductors
Functional Inorganic and Hybrid Materials
Responsive and high performance functional control structures and panels (both glazing and other) which can be integrated into the built environment
Experimental studies of the surface action of additives such as lubricants, corrosion inhibitors and anti wear agents
The design and functionalisation of new materials for optoelectronic applications, with particular interests in:
- dye-sensitised solar cells
- optical data storage
- non-linear optics.
Molecular Materials for Photonics and Electronics
Low loss transmission and generation
Lightweight and efficient electrical machines
Jonathan's research interests include whole energy systems, energy and material demand reduction and low-carbon energy technologies.
Energy efficient cities and transport
Electron microscopy of nanostructured materials, in particular for photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications.
Nanomaterials and Spectroscopy
Semi-transparent solar cells for glazing
Control Group within the Information Engineering Division
Application of superconductivity in everyday life
Computer Technology
Gallium Nitride, Electron Microscopy and Aerospace
Semiconductor nanowires (diameter 10 - 100 nm and lengths well over 1 micron
His main research interests are in random processes, networks and optimization. He is especially interested in applications to the design and control of networks and to the understanding of self-regulation in large-scale systems.
My main research is in advanced electronic devices for very high speed operation, but one side-line is the development of a new class of low power consumption devices and circuits, suitable for short hall communications and for surveillance systems.
The use of information systems to reduce energy demand.
The development of new synthesis methods and their application in the construction of biologically important molecules.
Energy efficiency in buildings
Electric drives and switch-mode power supplies in industrial and domestic applications.
Model Predictive Control (MPC): Use of online optimisation in real time to control systems. Current applications include paper-making, spacecraft, air-traffic management, surface mining, fault-tolerant control. Also building and maintaining models of dynamic systems, both data-based and physics-based.
- industrial control & automation,
- reconfigurable industrial systems design,
- analysis and synthesis of intelligent control systems,
- automated identification systems,
- value of industrial information & sensing,
- track & trace systems,
- information systems in complex industrial environments.
Campbell Middleton leads the Bridge Research Group which aims to improve our understanding of the behaviour of concrete bridges under load and to develop new analysis techniques for assessing the strength and reliability of these structures.
Advanced Photonics and Electronics
Nitrides at the nanoscale
- Facade / Building Envelope Engineering
- Structural Glass
- Fracture Mechanics
- Building Physics
- Novel construction materials
Green (low energy per bit) communications
Structural and material efficiency, low-energy materials, novel engineered timber
Computing for the Future of the Planet is a research framework which we have been developing in the Computer Laboratory since 2006. The intention is to identify and motivate computer science research questions
The boundary between people and computers; this involves investigating new technologies to enhance communication between computers and their users, and new applications to exploit these technologies.
- Control System Design
- Frequency Response Methods
- H-infinity Optimization
- Nonlinear Systems
- Adaptive Control
- Active Suspension
Sustainable Active and Adaptive Materials
Geothermal energy
Underground structures (building foundations, tunnels and openings) combined with ground source heat pump
My research group develops techniques to reduce energy usage in sensor-driven computing systems.
Applications of holographic technology including adaptive optical interconnects, optical pattern recognition and display applications for novel liquid crystal electro-optic devices
- Process heat transfer, particularly with fluids subject to fouling
- Fouling and cleaning of heat transfer and related systems
- Thermal processing of complex fluids including food
- Optimisation of heat transfer system design and operation
Unsteady flows in axial compressors.
Tidal power generation.
Graduate Students
Designing novel Gallium Nitride (GaN) based power circuits for energy efficient power conversion.
Research focus on how to maximize the power conversion efficiency or organic solar cells by understanding their photophysics.