News

Scientists have discovered a group of materials which could pave the way for a new generation of high-efficiency lighting, solving a quandary which has inhibited the performance of display technology for decades. The development of energy saving concepts in display and lighting applications is a major focus of research, since a fifth of the world’s…

Dr Erwin Reisner’s group at the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge have developed a method to generate hydrogen from biomass using solar power. The process is both sustainable and relatively cheap to produce. It converts lignocellulose (a component of plant biomass) into gaseous hydrogen. The new technology relies on a simple photocat…

On 21 March Professor Michael Pollitt gave evidence to the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee on leaving the EU: energy and climate negotiation priorities.The witnesses were: Dr Nina Skorupska CBE, Chief Executive, Renewable Energy Association, Nick Winser CBE, Deputy President of the Institution of Engineeri…

The House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs has published its report entitled ‘The Price of Power: Reforming the Electricity Market’. The Committee examined the impact of the policies of successive governments on the electricity market. In its report the Committee identifies two key failures in the current market: the narrow amount of s…

Prof Michael Pollitt, Chung-Han Yang and Hao Chen have released an EPRG Working Paper titled: 'Reforming the Chinese Electricity Supply Sector: Lessons from International Experience'.This was one of the outputs from a trip to China and meetings with electricity industry stakeholders in Beijing and Yunnan. The objective of the trip was to ask resear…

The Maxwell Centre was launched in April 2016, as a centrepiece for industry engagement across Physical Sciences and Technology at the University of Cambridge. The first Annual Research Showcase event took place on 17 March 2017 to celebrate the breadth and quality of Cambridge research in the context of external partnerships, opportunities and col…

Research into improving energy storage, reducing power consumption and developing new energy-efficient devices received a boost with the announcement of £10m funding for new equipment at the University of Cambridge.The new funding is part of a £128million Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) investment in the Sir Henry Royce I…

Research into improving energy storage, reducing power consumption and developing new energy-efficient devices received a boost with the announcement of £10m funding for new equipment at the University of Cambridge.This funding will be vitally important in terms of enabling what we do with advanced materials to be enhanced both in terms of upstream…

Alison Smith, Professor of Plant Biochemistry in the Department of Plant Sciences, whose research interests include algal synthetic biology, has been featured on the BBC's The Life Scientific.In her interview Alison Smith talks to Jim al-Khalili about the many varied uses of algae, as well as their often strange biochemistry and ecology. Among othe…

Dr Abu Yaya (Head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ghana) has been working closely with Dr Kevin Knowles (Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy, University of Cambridge) on electroporcelain. Electroporcelain is a small but crucial component for power transmission, and Dr Yaya aims to use it in order to de…

On 26 January the first meeting on the EPSRC Networking Grant for The Centre of Advanced Materials for Integrated Energy Systems (CAM-IES) was held in Cambridge. The £2 Million EPSRC Networking Grant is a partnership between four UK universities, Cambridge, Newcastle, Queen Mary and University College London and industry partners. The academic part…

On 26 January the first meeting on the EPSRC Networking Grant for The Centre of Advanced Materials for Integrated Energy Systems (CAM-IES) was held in Cambridge and chaired by Prof Clare Grey. The £2 Million EPSRC Networking Grant is a partnership between four UK universities, Cambridge, Newcastle, Queen Mary and University College London and indus…

The Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance, in collaboration with the In Search of ‘Good’ Energy Policy Grand Challenge and the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, has created a Platform on International Energy Governance to foster the conduct of research in unexplored areas of international energy law and po…

Since its discovery in 2004, scientists have believed that graphene may have the innate ability to superconduct. Now Cambridge researchers have found a way to activate that previously dormant potential. Researchers have found a way to trigger the innate, but previously hidden, ability of graphene to act as a superconductor – meaning that it can be …

When solids flow like liquids they can make sand dunes sing, and they can also result in a potentially deadly avalanche. Cambridge researchers are studying the physics behind both of these phenomena, which could have applications in industries such as pharmaceuticals, oil and gas.As grains of sand slide down the side of certain dunes, they create v…