Topic description and stories

Research is tackling the need to reduce energy demand, maintain energy supply, increase the efficiency of energy-requiring processes, and develop policy and pricing strategies. To find out more about our research in energy, visit the Energy Interdisciplinary Research Centre (IRC) website

solar panels at sunset

‘Beautiful energy sandwich’ could power next-generation solar and lighting

13 Nov 2025

Researchers have achieved a new level of control over the atomic structure of a family of materials known as halide perovskites, creating a finely...

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Offshore wind turbines

From gridlock to grid power: how to get renewable energy where it’s needed in the UK

11 Nov 2025

The UK’s drive to net zero won’t succeed on wind turbines and solar farms alone. The real bottleneck is moving that clean electricity from remote...

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Semi-artificial organic photocathode

Solar-powered method lights the way to a ‘de-fossilised’ chemical industry

10 Oct 2025

Researchers have demonstrated a new and sustainable way to make the chemicals that are the basis of thousands of products – from plastics to...

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Technicians walking through a vast data centre for AI and cloud computing in the US

Banking on AI risks derailing net zero goals: report on energy costs of Big Tech

10 Jul 2025

With countries such as the UK declaring ambitious goals for both AI leadership and decarbonisation, a new report suggests that AI could drive a 25-...

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Scientist pipetting samples into eppendorf tube

Cambridge researchers awarded Advanced Grants from the European Research Council

17 Jun 2025

Eleven senior researchers at the University of Cambridge have been awarded Advanced Grants from the European Research Council – the highest number of...

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Solar-powered flow reactor

Solar-powered device captures carbon dioxide from air to make sustainable fuel

13 Feb 2025

Researchers have developed a reactor that pulls carbon dioxide directly from the air and converts it into sustainable fuel, using sunlight as the...

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High voltage electricity towers combined with economic charts

Electricity prices across Europe to stabilise if 2030 targets for renewable energy are met

03 Feb 2025

National targets for solar and wind power will see reliance on natural gas plummet, reducing electricity price volatility across Europe, with major...

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Solar fuel generator

Tiny copper ‘flowers’ bloom on artificial leaves for clean fuel production

03 Feb 2025

Tiny copper ‘nano-flowers’ have been attached to an artificial leaf to produce clean fuels and chemicals that are the backbone of modern energy and...

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Stock image world map with technology overlay.

10 Cambridge spinouts forging a future for our planet

25 Oct 2024

10 companies taking Cambridge ideas out of the lab and into the real world to address the climate emergency.

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Planet earth

Cambridge is forging a future for our planet

21 Oct 2024

Find out how Cambridge's pioneering research in climate and nature is regenerating nature, rewiring energy, rethinking transport and redefining...

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A row of clean energy trucks, wind turbines in the background

How road haulage is navigating the route to net zero

11 Oct 2024

Responsible for 8% of world carbon emissions, can trucking clean up its act?

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Trash into treasure: making clean fuel from waste and sunlight

09 Oct 2024

Professor Erwin Reisner and his team are developing prototype devices that convert waste, water and air into practical fuels and chemicals.

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