Topic description and stories

A photoreactor with an artificial leaf working under solar irradiation

Driving on sunshine: clean, usable liquid fuels made from solar power

18 May 2023

Researchers have developed a solar-powered technology that converts carbon dioxide and water into liquid fuels that can be added directly to a car’s...

Read more
Artist's illustration of photosynthesis

Photosynthesis ‘hack’ could lead to new ways of generating renewable energy

22 Mar 2023

Researchers have ‘hacked’ the earliest stages of photosynthesis, the natural machine that powers the vast majority of life on Earth, and discovered...

Read more

Floating ‘artificial leaves’ ride the wave of clean fuel production

17 Aug 2022

Researchers have developed floating ‘artificial leaves’ that generate clean fuels from sunlight and water, and could eventually operate on a large...

Read more

Dr Qian Wang

Wireless device makes clean fuel from sunlight, CO2 and water

24 Aug 2020

Researchers have developed a standalone device that converts sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into a carbon-neutral fuel, without requiring any...

Read more
Experimental two-electrode setup showing the photoelectrochemical cell illuminated with simulated solar light

Scientists pioneer a new way to turn sunlight into fuel

03 Sep 2018

The quest to find new ways to harness solar power has taken a step forward after researchers successfully split water into hydrogen and oxygen by...

Read more

Low-impact hub generates electrical current from pure plant power

06 Mar 2015

Green wall technology and semi-transparent solar panels have been combined to generate electrical current from a renewable source of energy both day...

Read more

Moss power is back: art meets science to showcase emerging renewable energy technology

21 Mar 2014

After their 2011 success in showcasing the use of plants as biological solar panels, a team from the Departments of Plant Sciences and Biochemistry...

Read more

Inspired by nature

24 Oct 2013

To maximise the efficiency of solar cells of the future, physicists are taking a leaf out of nature’s book.

Read more
Arabidopsis Thaliana planted in Laboratory

Researchers show how plants tell the time

23 Oct 2013

Plants use sugars to tell the time of day, according to research published in Nature today.

Read more

Air, water and sun: the ingredients of ‘green gasoline’

14 Oct 2013

Mimicking a natural process perfected over billions of years to capture solar energy, researchers are creating artificial photosynthetic systems that...

Read more
Structure of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex

Unlocking nature’s quantum engineering for efficient solar energy

06 Jan 2013

Quantum scale photosynthesis in biological systems which inhabit extreme environments could hold key to new designs for solar energy and nanoscale...

Read more
Filaments of dissolved material, stirred by turbulence

Stirring versus mixing: how turbulence affects the recycling role of the oceans

01 Nov 2012

Microscopic organisms living in the ocean play a key role in sustaining life. New research has shown how oceanic turbulence affects the ability of...

Read more

Pages