News

Have a green flight!

A carbon-neutral economy in 50 years? Maybe. But what if we were to go faster? Professor Rob Miller says that it is time to completely rethink the schedule. How long will it take to make zero-carbon flight a reality? Thirty years? Longer? “Climate change means that we just don’t have that timescale,” says Professor Rob...

Professor Cebon presents to the House of Commons: The role of hydrogen in achieving net zero

On the 3rd March 2021, Professor David Cebon (University of Cambridge) presented to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee on the role of hydrogen in achieving net zero. Professor Cebon summarised the potential, the energy efficiency and economical cost for hydrogen-use in reaching net zero target. He...

Redefining the Haber-Bosch loop

Researchers from the Catalysis and Process Integration group (Department of Chemical engineering and Biotechnology) , led by Dr Laura Torrente, have developed a new way to produce ammonia. The new system redefines the century old Haber-Bosch process within an energy landscape shifting to renewables, where ‘green ammonia’...

Cambridge's Nyobolt secures £7.5M funding to become the next battery pioneer

Nyobolt (previously named CB2 Technology), a spinout of the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry in 2016 and co-founded by Professor Clare Grey and Dr Sai Shivareddy. has secured £7.7 milion ($10m) in Series A funding. The start-up is defining a new category of ultra-high power technology, The round is led by IQ Capital...

‘Magnetic graphene’ forms a new kind of magnetism

Researchers have identified a new form of magnetism in so-called magnetic graphene, which could point the way toward understanding superconductivity in this unusual type of material. This gain in fundamental understanding of phenomena could potentially have use in energy efficiency, generation and storage.. The researchers...

‘Multiplying’ light could be key to ultra-powerful optical computers

New type of optical computing could solve highly complex problems that are out of reach for even the most powerful supercomputers. An important class of challenging computational problems, with applications in graph theory, neural networks, artificial intelligence and error-correcting codes can be solved by multiplying...

The scientist watching light at a millionth of a millionth of a second

When she’s not making atomic-scale changes to create super-efficient light bulbs and cut carbon emissions, Professor Rachel Oliver has her sights set on helping to level-up equality and diversity in science. This Cambridge Life spoke with Professor Oliver on International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February)...

Research in sustainable energy awarded Helios prize

The winners of the Helios Prize (Department of Engineering) – awarded for graduate research in sustainable energy or energy efficiency The Helios Prize, Department of Engineering (University of Cambridge) was awarded to Matteo Craglia, for his research in energy efficiency in the transport sector. Matteo is supervised by...

A switch to battery electric vehicles is the best option for cleaner road transport, study finds

The widespread adoption of battery electric vehicles offers the greatest energy efficiency and potential for CO2 reduction, new analysis by Cambridge engineers has shown. But they warn, that in order for the full potential of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) to be unlocked, grid improvements will be necessary to meet...

Low-carbon policies can be ‘balanced’ to benefit small firms and average households – study

A review of ten types of policy used to reduce carbon suggests that some costs fall on those less able to bear them – but it also shows these policies can form the bedrock of a ‘green recovery’ if specifically designed and used in tandem. Some of the low-carbon policy options currently used by governments may be...