News

ARPA-type funding gives green technology an ‘innovation advantage’

Startups funded by US agency Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) file patents at twice the rate of similar cleantech firms. The UK should trial its own climate-focused ARPA as part of COVID-19 recovery package. The “innovation advantage” bestowed by ARPA-E – an energy version of the legendary DARPA (Defense...

New insights into lithium-ion battery failure mechanism

Researchers have identified a potential new degradation mechanism for electric vehicle batteries – a key step to designing effective methods to improve battery lifespan. The researchers, from the Universities of Cambridge and Liverpool, and the Diamond Light Source, have identified one of the reasons why state-of-the-art ‘...

Wireless device makes clean fuel from sunlight, CO2 and water

Researchers have developed a standalone device that converts sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into a carbon-neutral fuel, without requiring any additional components or electricity. The device, developed by a team from the University of Cambridge, is a significant step toward achieving artificial photosynthesis – a...

Green energy & better crops: tinted solar panels could boost farm incomes

Researchers have demonstrated the use of tinted, semi-transparent solar panels to generate electricity and produce nutritionally-superior crops simultaneously, bringing the prospect of higher incomes for farmers and maximising use of agricultural land. By allowing farmers to diversify their portfolio, this novel system...

Transport policy for a post-Covid19 UK Report

David Newbery wrote an article “ Transport policy for a post-Covid19 UK ” for Bennett Institute for Public Policy , University of Cambridge, that was published as a blogpost in August 2020. Professor David Newbery argues that the UK’s transport policy needs to change direction as the economy starts to exit from lockdown...

Printed coatings enable more efficient solar cells

Researchers at Cambridge, Imperial and Singapore have developed a method to print ultrathin coatings on next-generation solar cells, allowing them to work in tandem with silicon solar cells to boost efficiencies. Photovoltaics, or solar cells, work by absorbing sunlight to produce clean electricity. But photovoltaics can...

MacRobert Award 2020 - Powering net zero Britain - the current ideas

To mark the 51st year of the MacRobert Award, the most prestigious prize for UK engineering innovation, the Royal Academy of Engineering assembled an expert panel to discuss how British engineers can apply their creativity to decarbonise our homes, travel and workplaces while creating jobs and a better environment for all...

Relative impact of materials: connecting business, policy & research to deliver solutions

5 February 2020 - University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) on behalf of the Cambridge Creative Circular Plastics Centre (CirPlas) , organised the Second Cambridge CirPlas Forum: Relative impact of materials: connecting business, policy and research to deliver solutions . The event explored and...

Henry Royce: Materials for the energy transition Executive Summary and Roadmap webinar

The UK has become the first major economy in the world to pass a net-zero emissions law, setting an ambitious target to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050. The development and adoption of more energy-efficient materials is an important enabler for the UK to achieve this goal. In September 2019, the...

University of Cambridge academic promotions 2020

We are delighted to be able to share the recent news of the following promotions from 1 October 2020 for University of Cambridge academic staff and members of Energy Transitions@Cambridge: Professorship Nikos Nikiforakis , Department of Physics Nikos leads the Laboratory for Scientific Computing group. His research...