The energy required to power the massive, factory-sized data centres that computers rely on already consumes 5% of global electricity. And that energy load is doubling every decade.
Moving to a future powered mainly by renewable energy will be crucial if we are to stay within the global warming limits set out by the Paris Agreement.
A laser-driven technique for creating fusion that dispenses with the need for radioactive fuel elements and leaves no toxic radioactive waste is now within reach, says a UNSW physicist.
UNSW scientists have developed an efficient oxygen-producing electrode for splitting water that can be scaled up to produce hydrogen – a clean energy fuel.
Solar engineers from UNSW's Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics have set a new world-record in solar energy efficiency, achieving an electricity conversion rate of over 40%.
