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. 

Fool's Gold (iron pyrite)

A mineral way to catalysis?

10 Feb 2012

Fool’s Gold may prove an unlikely alternative to overexploited catalytic materials.

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Tunnel

Infrastructure revolution

09 Feb 2012

Technology has advanced to the point where the condition of bridges, tunnels and buildings can be monitored in unprecedented detail. Now a new Centre...

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New solar cell

Here comes the sun…

08 Feb 2012

Scientists have developed a new kind of solar cell which could capture significantly more of the energy from the sun than current cells.

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An LED emitting light on a 6-inch silicon wafer.

All set and ready to glow

03 Feb 2012

A breakthrough technique for manufacturing LEDs on silicon is to be exploited in the UK, putting mass-produced, energy-efficient lighting within...

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Plant cells, like these in wheat, are surrounded by thick walls where energy is locked up.

Breeding better grasses for food and fuel

17 Jan 2012

Newly discovered family of genes could help us breed grasses with improved properties for food and fuel.

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Echo Ouyang standing in a geothermal plant room

Deep heat

16 Dec 2011

A whole range of alternative technologies will be needed to fill our huge appetite for energy and reduce our dependency on finite resources. Echo...

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Scrap-metal

Six steps to a better material world

30 Nov 2011

Every year we make 10 times our own bodyweight of steel, aluminium, cement, plastics and paper, for every person alive, using a fifth of all the...

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Demonstration banner

Deep issues: communicating CCS

03 Nov 2011

New research has identified communication gaps that could hinder the deployment of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technologies to mitigate...

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Demolition of Manor Park School, Newcastle.

School carbon emissions in England are on the rise

01 Nov 2011

New data obtained by researchers shows that electrical energy consumption in England's schools has gone up, even as heating demand has fallen, with...

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Close-up of the moss pots incorporated into a novel table developed at Cambridge University.

The hidden power of moss

22 Sep 2011

Scientists at Cambridge University are exhibiting a prototype table that demonstrates how biological fuel cells can harness energy from plants.

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Vegetables

Food security: your questions answered

31 Aug 2011

Over the past month, the University of Cambridge has been profiling research that addresses one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century – how...

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Depiction of a graphene sheet.

Graphene goes plasmonic

30 Aug 2011

Researchers have discovered a crucial recipe for improving the characteristics of graphene devices for use as photodetectors in the next generation...

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