Researchers studying the Swiss energy market have found that making green energy the default option for consumers leads to an enduring shift to renewables and thus has the potential to cut CO2 emissions by millions of tonnes. The study, published today in Nature Human Behaviour investigated the effect of changes in the Swiss energy market that presented energy from renewable sources as the standard option for consumers - the "green default." Both business and private customers largely accepted the default option, even though it was slightly more expensive, and the switch to green sources proved a lasting one.

The Black Country in Birmingham was the energy and innovation stomping ground in the 18th and 19th century, creating the UK’s industrial economy. Fast forward to the 21st century there is now a need to make a business model that’s more economically and environmentally sustainable. With the help of WMG, University of Warwick, the Black Country LEP have made a future business model for Aluminium in the Black Country based on the provision of low carbon energy sources, as part of a project Repowering the Black Country, which aims to make the Black Country the world’s first zero carbon industrial cluster.

The Faraday Institution funded “Nextrode” project, involving WMG at the University of Warwick, will research ways to make electrodes for Li-ion batteries which unlock the electrochemical potential of their ingredients.

New powers by the regulator Ofgem to set a maximum price for energy has meant an end to “healthy competition” between companies, finds a new study which recommends that it would be better to instead regulate the way consumers renew their contracts with gas or electricity firms.

Stoli Catalysts, a spin-out company from the School of Engineering at the University of Warwick has been awarded €1.2m (£1.1m) from the European Innovation Council (EIC) SME Instrument scheme to design, build and test a small-scale pilot plant to make medicines, vitamins and food supplements at much lower cost and more sustainably using its patented continuous flow catalytic reactor technology.