News

Tiny ‘skyscrapers’ help bacteria convert sunlight into electricity

Researchers have made tiny ‘skyscrapers’ for communities of bacteria, helping them to generate electricity from just sunlight and water. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used 3D printing to create grids of high-rise ‘nano-housing’ where sun-loving bacteria can grow quickly. The researchers were then able...

Opinion: Why people in some parts of England pay far more than others to heat their homes

In this article from The Conversation, co-authors Dr André Neto-Bradley and Professor Ruchi Choudhary join researchers from the University of Leeds in discussing ways of improving the energy efficiency of England's homes and reducing the carbon used to heat them. The energy used to heat and light our homes doesn’t get as...

New, nature-inspired concepts for turning CO2 into clean fuels

Researchers have developed an efficient concept to turn carbon dioxide into clean, sustainable fuels, without any unwanted by-products or waste. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, have previously shown that biological catalysts, or enzymes, can produce fuels cleanly using renewable energy sources, but at...

Scientists develop fully woven, smart display

Researchers have developed a 46-inch woven display with smart sensors, energy harvesting and storage integrated directly into the fabric. An international team of scientists have produced a fully woven smart textile display that integrates active electronic, sensing, energy and photonic functions. The functions are...

Zero-carbon refrigeration spin-out sets its sights on environmentally-friendly heating systems

Zero-carbon refrigeration pioneer Barocal has secured a £1.3 million investment to accelerate commercialisation of its novel technology designed to cut global CO₂ emissions. As the technology also works in heating applications, the University of Cambridge spin-out now plans to explore the potential of its breakthrough for...

Historic buildings could use solar panels to protect from rising energy costs

Installing solar panels could help historic buildings beat the rising costs of energy, according to a new study. Researchers have carried out a feasibility study and found that installing solar panels on the Grade I listed Bath Abbey could save around 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, significantly reducing the carbon...

Launch of the challenge to decarbonise our everyday lives Programme 2022

The Carbon Challenge: Daily Decabonisation Programme launch

Competition launch for postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers to submite scalable ideas to decarbonise activities in our everyday lives. Are you a problem solver who thrives on challenge? Do you want to take action on climate change? The Cambridge Carbon Challenge is an initiative for student and staff teams to...

Templating approach stabilises ‘ideal’ material for alternative solar cells

Researchers have developed a method to stabilise a promising material known as perovskite for cheap solar cells, without compromising its near-perfect performance. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used an organic molecule as a ‘template’ to guide perovskite films into the desired phase as they form...

This is an ambitious project with many experts aiming to engage countries in the global south modelling, decision-making and capacity building.

The Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) programme

Dr Jonathan Cullen from the Resource Efficiency Collective at the Department of Engineering and Lara Allen from Centre for Global Equality are part of Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) a £38m multi-institutional programme. CCG seek answers to a challenging question: how can we deliver future energy and material services...

National Centre for Propulsion and Power gets boost from the Wolfson Foundation

The Centre, based at Cambridge’s Whittle Laboratory, will play a key role in accelerating the decarbonisation of flight and power generation Modern aviation and power generation have brought many benefits – connecting people across the world and providing safe, reliable electricity to billions – but rapidly decarbonising...