Centre for Plastic Electronics

Lead acid battery alternatives set to become big business

Cleantech Hub reports that a mere 13% of lead acid batteries are recycled in Nigeria. Yet there is a mini-grid revolution about to take off in Nigeria, such as the World Bank and the Rural Electrification Agency $350 million project as well as other investments into the sector, driving more batteries.

Printable solar cells a step closer

Researchers have found out why new kinds of solar materials are so good at harvesting light - and have provided design rules for making them better. This opens up the opportunity to design flexible solar cells, which could be used in buildings and clothing.

Self-Powering Smart Cities

The cost of renewable energies such as tidal and wave power in the open sea, wind and solar power have come down greatly in recent years but they are rarely considered viable for base power, largely because of the energy storage needed.

Gravitricity

Gravitricity are a Edinburgh based engineering startup working on the area of gravity fed energy storage. They have developed a mechanical stationary storage system using the gravitational potential of a heavy weight within a vertical shaft. IDTechEx spoke with Gravitricity's Managing Director Charlie Blair in June 2018 to understand the company's future plans and the wider potential for gravity fed storage within the global energy ecosystem.

Supercapacitors Exceed the Energy Density of Batteries

Some supercapacitors will become smart materials and be sold as feedstock by value added material companies such as Dow DuPont and Nitto Denko. Which companies and when is as yet uncertain. This is part of the emerging big picture for supercapacitors that will make even their materials a multi- billion dollar business.

Tracking cancer-cell development with "drinkable" electronic sensors

Thanks to an unorthodox approach being proposed by researchers, patients may soon be able to track their illness simply by drinking a solution containing millions of tiny electronic sensors disguised as bacteria.

Pop-up EV charging for residential streets

The UEone is an app-operated, pop-up EV charge point for residential streets that retracts underground when not in use, minimising the impact on the urban environment to leave roads free of street clutter.

Wind produces more electricity than nuclear in UK for the first time

In the first few months of 2018 Britain's wind farms produced record-breaking amounts of electricity, for the first time producing more than nuclear.

Mine shaft utilisation, a new frontier in distributed energy storage?

A recent independent study by Imperial College London has evaluated the potential for new gravity-fed energy storage within the UK energy system. With tens of thousands of vertical mine shafts in the UK alone (UK Coal Authority), the potential initial market is sizeable.

Battery research to help super-charge electric vehicle revolution

The University of Bath is part of a consortium of academic and industry partners awarded Government funding to conduct research aimed at overcoming battery challenges to accelerate the electric vehicle revolution.

3D printing creates super soft structures that replicate brain, lungs

A new 3D printing technique allows researchers to replicate biological structures, which could be used for tissue regeneration and replica organs.

New collaboration developing a flexible, smart energy network

Researchers from Imperial College London are part of a new project, FUSION, to help customers save money and reduce the UK's carbon emissions.

New way to write magnetic info

Researchers have shown how to write any magnetic pattern desired onto nanowires, which could help computers mimic how the brain processes information.

Biosensor detects bacteria biomarker in CF patients

A team of researchers has developed a tool which 'lights up' when it detects the chemical signature of harmful bacteria in the lung.

Wallpaper bio-solar panel

A two-in-one solar bio-battery and solar panel has been created by researchers who printed living cyanobacteria and circuitry onto paper.

Nexeon (UK)

Nexeon is a British company working on silicon pillar anode materials for advanced Li-ion batteries. The anodes come in a low loading (10%) and high loading (30%) configuration.

Thermoelectric Harvesting in 2017: Still Awaiting a Breakthrough

This article works through the issues facing the development of thermoelectric harvesting, including high power, modular thermoelectric technology and turnkey thermoelectric generators.

Surprise discovery in energy efficient information storage

Today almost all information stored on hard disc drives or cloud servers is recorded in magnetic media, because it is non-volatile (i.e. it retains the information when power is switched off) and cheap.

A noninvasive method for deep brain stimulation

Researchers have come up with a way to stimulate regions deep within the brain using electrodes placed on the scalp.

Shell on the future of transport

What happens in the transport sector, which accounts for more than a quarter of total world energy use, will be critical to progress in the ongoing energy transition.