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Liz Truss promises to ‘deliver’ on energy crisis as she becomes PM

Liz Truss has been declared the winner of the Tory leadership contest, defeating Rishi Sunak to become Boris Johnson's successor as the UK's new Prime Minister. In her victory speech, Truss said she has a "bold plan" to cut taxes and grow the UK economy and promised to "deliver" when it comes to the energy crisis by not only dealing with bills but also addressing the long-term supply issues. According to reports in The Times and The Daily Telegraph, Truss' strategy to ease the impact of the rising energy costs could include the freezing of energy bills. This package might take the form of a furlough scheme similar to that introduced by then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, but the specifics of such a policy are reportedly still being debated. On Sunday, Truss…

E+T Magazine in Engineering with a Disability
Government to reform GDPR data protection laws

The Culture Secretary, Nadine Dorries, is expected to present the government's new Data Protection and Digital Information Bill to MPs for scrutiny in the House of Commons for the first time, a piece of legislation she has described as “one of Brexit’s biggest rewards”. Among other changes, the proposals would see the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws reformed, with the new data regime set to deliver about £1bn in businesses savings, according to Dorries. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said the reforms will remove the “prescriptive requirements” of data laws inherited from the EU and give organisations greater flexibility to protect personal data in “more proportionate ways” rather than each following the same processes regardless of their…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
View from India: Boardrooms benefit from female input

European countries lead in appointing women as directors on a company’s board. Recently the European Union (EU) states have set the ball rolling. They’ve given initial approval to a directive requiring firms listed on EU stock exchanges to appoint women for at least 40 per cent of non-executive director roles and 33 per cent of all board jobs by 2027. Norway has taken lead with 45 per cent representation of women. In India, there’s only 4.7 per cent representation. So that means there’s plenty of room for scaling women’s representation in corporate boardrooms. “Women’s participation in the boardroom doesn’t really need any law enforcement and should happen automatically,” says Asish K Bhattacharyya, founder and managing director of executive training business Nonlinear Insights. “Over the…

E+T Magazine in Professional Aspects
Treat waste as a resource for sustainability, say engineers

The report - 'Waste as a Resource: A sustainable Way Forward' - advocates an approach that prioritises waste streams according to their usefulness to materials and emissions reduction, as well as to their utility to the wider energy system. The report is an update of a previous IMechE report, issued in 2009, and builds on that report's advocacy to view waste not as a problem but rather as a resource. This requires a further rethink of recycling and waste policy. In the report, the IMechE recommends that the government should: Replace the waste hierarchy with a model that genuinely delivers on the prevention of waste. The existing waste hierarchy has outlived its usefulness, the report states, and there needs to be a considerable reassessment of the way we view and deal with waste…

E+T Magazine in Waste Management
Offshore industry says wind turbine installation rate must triple to meet energy targets

Meeting the government's four-fold increase target for offshore renewable energy 2030 could be “potentially achievable” if the rate of wind turbine installation would double or triple, the report says. The research found that almost half of the offshore wind projects needed to reach the target are only at the concept stage, despite the deadline for the government's targets being less than eight years away. When it comes to offshore wind, it typically takes more than 13 years to move from the planning to the operation stage due to planning and approval delays. As a result, the UK is at risk of missing net zero targets, according to the report. OEUK is a trade body for the UK offshore energy industries, covering both renewables and oil & gas. “As of late August, OEUK knew of around 40…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Crushed plastic bottles could create nanodiamonds for quantum sensors

An international team, headed by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), the University of Rostock and France’s École Polytechnique, conducted a novel experiment to determine what goes on inside ice planets such as Neptune and Uranus. The researchers fired a laser at a thin film of simple PET plastic and investigated what happened using intensive laser flashes. One result was that the researchers were able to confirm that it really does 'rain diamonds' inside the ice giants at the periphery of our solar system. This method could establish a new way of producing nanodiamonds, which are needed, for example, for highly-sensitive quantum sensors. The group has presented its findings in the journal Science Advances . The conditions in the interior of icy giant planets such as Neptune…

E+T Magazine in Recycling
Hands-on review: Mio MiVue 798 dash cam and MiVue 818 dash cam

From something of a slow-burn start as an optional car accessory, the dash cam market has exploded in recent years, producing an avalanche of new cams and new companies. Accordingly, when it comes to choosing your first dash cam, the sheer weight of options can seem daunting. Fortunately, the quality today of even the most cheap and cheerful models is sufficiently good that they'll still see you right in terms of at least proving what happened on the road, in the event of any legal debate. Where your shopping choice gets a bit gnarlier is when you want to step up to crystal-clear footage to capture the smallest crucial details, such as the registration on a moving number plate as a hit-and-run driver exits stage left at speed. Whilst there are some long-established heavy hitters in this…

E+T Magazine in Vision and Imaging
Amazon switched off its solar rooftops after fires, report says

Amazon reportedly took all US solar rooftops offline last year after they caused at least six "critical fire or arc flash events" in warehouses between April 2020 and June 2021, affecting 12 per cent of such facilities. “The rate of dangerous incidents is unacceptable and above industry averages,” an Amazon employee wrote in an internal report viewed by CNBC, which described the company's intention to ensure its systems were designed, installed and maintained properly before “re-energising” any of them. The solar rooftop programme was launched in 2017, followed two years later by founder Jeff Bezos' Climate Pledge, promising the largest online retailer would zero out emissions by 2040 . By April 2022, Amazon had onsite solar at 176 facilities, according to its website. In Amazon’s 2021…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
James Webb Space Telescope takes ‘historic’ exoplanet picture

For the first time, astronomers have used Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope to take a direct image of a planet outside our solar system, in what has been described as a “historic moment for astronomy”. The exoplanet chosen was HIP 65426 b, which is about six to 12 times the mass of Jupiter and between 15 to 20 million years old - a young age compared to the 4.5-billion-year-old Planet Earth. Since the planet is a gas giant, similar to Jupiter, it would never be habitable by living organisms. The image, as seen through four different light filters, shows how Webb’s powerful infrared gaze can easily capture worlds beyond our solar system. “This is a transformative moment, not only for Webb but also for astronomy generally,” said Sasha Hinkley, associate professor of physics and astronomy…

E+T Magazine in Space
Engineering leaders urge UK to scale up hydrogen production

In a report, the 42 professional engineering organisations that constitute the centre said that the UK needs to act swiftly on hydrogen to avoid falling behind international competitors. It also highlights the risks associated with rapid scale-up of low-carbon hydrogen production such as emissions from fossil fuel extraction and dependencies on other technologies including carbon capture and storage (CCS), renewable electricity and electrolysers. Other risks identified include leakages, safety and public trust, skills gaps, cost uncertainties, regulations, blue and green hydrogen competition, and embodied carbon in infrastructure. Hydrogen can be produced in two ways – but only one of these is considered to be truly low-carbon. Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water by electrolysis…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Competition regulator clears £6bn merger between NortonLifeLock and Avast

The US-based NortonLifeLock had been planning to purchase UK firm Avast back in March, but as the companies are close competitors, with few other significant rivals, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expressed concerns that the proposed deal could lead to a reduction in competition in the UK market. As well as offering antivirus software, the firms also offer privacy software (such as VPNs) and identity protection software. In its initial Phase 1 investigation, the CMA concluded that the deal raised a realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition. But in its Phase 2 investigation, which applied more stringent tests, it reversed its decision. Following a consultation that ended on 24 August 2022, the CMA has upheld its provisional findings and cleared the deal…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
California passes ‘aggressive’ $54bn net-zero plan

California - the US state whose economy ranks as the fifth largest in the world - has approved a $54bn (£47bn) climate package that includes sweeping new restrictions on oil and gas drilling as well as a mandate to move away from fossil fuels by 2045. Legislators also voted to extend the life of Diablo Canyon, California’s last nuclear power plant , by five years, after warning the state could face rolling blackouts if the facility's twin reactors were retired too soon. At the moment, the plant is still the state's largest source of power, providing roughly 9 per cent of its energy. The legislation, known as Senate Bill 1137, is part of California governor Gavin Newsom's ambitious climate pledge, which has established a target for the state to be powered 90 per cent with clean electricity…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
Heat-tolerant plants being bred to combat climate change

Climate change is causing major challenges for plant breeders. Summers are getting hotter, year on year: this summer, Germany experienced a heatwave with temperatures of up to 40°C. The resulting drought inevitably affected plants. Given an ample supply of water, these plants can cool themselves via evaporation. However, they cannot do this when under drought stress. This is why plant breeders hope to develop heat-tolerant, drought-resistant plants that can survive with less water whilst still producing a good yield, using the smallest possible amount of fertiliser and pesticides. The breeders have been receiving support from researchers at Fraunhofer EZRT, where for many years research has been carried out into technologies for determining plant phenotypes. This refers to their external…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Hands-on review: Victrola Revolution Go portable record player

Victrola is a turntable specialist originally founded in 1906, with models that tend to have nostalgic designs, so the Revolution Go is a new, contemporary look for the company and perhaps aimed at a new audience. This unusual portable turntable has a built-in rechargeable battery so you can spin vinyl anywhere, such as at a picnic in the park. The guitar-style thick strap gives it a messenger bag look and the lid pops off to display up to five albums. Campervan-owning retrophiles may wish to take a briefcase-style portable turntable on their travels, but most will require mains power or some form of rechargeable source. The Revolution Go is a rechargeable turntable, with a design aimed more at modern hipsters picnicking or who just can’t wait to get home from Rough Trade to listen to their…

E+T Magazine in Signal Processing
Plastic waste converted into feedstock for 3D printers

They have developed a simple and efficient way to convert polylactic acid (PLA), a bio-based plastic used in products such as filament, plastic silverware and food packaging, to a high-quality resin. “We found a way to immediately turn this into something that’s stronger and better, and we hope that will provide people the incentive to upcycle this stuff instead of just tossing it away,” said Yu-Chung Chang, a postdoctoral researcher and a co-corresponding author on the work. “We made stronger materials just straight out of trash. We believe this could be a great opportunity.” About 300,000 tons of PLA are produced annually, and its use is increasing dramatically. Although it’s bio-based, PLA, which is categorised as a number seven plastic, doesn’t break down easily. It can float in…

E+T Magazine in Waste Management
California asks residents not to charge electric vehicles during heatwave

California is currently suffering a severe heatwave. The extremely high temperatures - which reached 44°C in Los Angeles - have created a huge demand in the state's already-stretched power grid, leading energy providers to ask residents not to charge their electric vehicles. The recommendations made by the state's Independent System Operator also include limiting the use of major appliances such as laundry machines, vacuum cleaners and dishwashers, and turning off unnecessary lights during peak times. "Consumers are urged to reduce energy use from 4 to 9pm when the system is most stressed because demand for electricity remains high and there is less solar energy available," said the American Public Power Association, a body that represents public utilities. It said that the top…

E+T Magazine in Power Conversion
Boris Johnson promises £700m in funding for Sizewell C nuclear plant

The go-ahead for the plant, which is expected to generate about 7 per cent of the UK's electricity needs and operate for 60 years, was confirmed in July but negotiations were still ongoing with French energy giant EDF about the exact funding arrangements with the UK Government. The new plant will be built next to the existing Sizewell B, which is still generating electricity, and Sizewell A, which has been decommissioned. In one of his last policy speeches as Prime Minister, Johnson said: “We need to pull our national finger out and get on with Sizewell C. “That’s why we’re putting £700m into the deal, just part of the £1.7bn of government funding available for developing a large-scale nuclear project to final investment stage in this Parliament. “In the course of the next few weeks…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
Book review: ‘Hegemony Now’ by Jeremy Gilbert and Alex Williams

From the writings of an Italian political theorist more than a century ago to the observation that there were no generic structural changes in popular music in the first decade of the 21st century, ‘Hegemony Now: How Big Tech and Wall Street Won the World (And How We Win it Back)’ (Verso, £16.99, ISBN 9781786633149) is an extraordinary extended essay on the evolution of political power, finance and the role technology has played in that. A few short years ago - before the Trump presidency, Brexit and Covid came along - we knew where we were, say Jeremy Gilbert and Alex Williams. Well, if we didn’t exactly know where we were, we knew where we weren’t, because the way the world spun was based on the economics of neoliberalism. It was structured and obeyed rules. There was one (admittedly broad…

E+T Magazine in Engineering with a Disability
Battery-as-a-service model moves up the grid

With inflation rising and the outlook for the UK economy worsening, funding constraints and a dip in investor confidence are threatening to slow down the roll-out of battery charging infrastructure. For the automotive industry, the worry is that this could have a knock-on effect on demand for new battery electric vehicles (BEVs), particularly in densely populated cities such as London where home-based charging is less feasible. There are a number of options that cost-conscious consumers can consider when weighing up the benefits of BEV ownership. For example, instead of buying and owning a new vehicle, complete with its own lithium-ion battery pack, the battery-as-a-service (BaaS) model could be worth considering. And while its focus is on the consumer, this approach could also bring value…

E+T Magazine in Power Conversion
Oxygen produced on Mars with lunchbox-sized instrument

The MIT-led 'Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilisation Experiment' - aka 'Moxie' - has been successfully making oxygen from the Red Planet’s carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere since February 2021, when it touched down on the Martian surface as part of Nasa’s Perseverance rover mission. By the end of 2021, MOXIE (pictured below) was able to produce oxygen on seven experimental runs, in a variety of atmospheric conditions, including during the day and night, and through different Martian seasons. In each run, the instrument reached its target of producing six grams of oxygen per hour - roughly the rate of a modest tree on Earth. Researchers envision that a scaled-up version of Moxie could be sent to Mars ahead of a human mission to continuously produce oxygen at the rate of several hundred trees…

E+T Magazine in Space
US limits sales of artificial intelligence chips to China

Two of America's top chipmakers have been ordered by US regulators to halt exports of some of their artificial intelligence (AI) technology to China. In a regulatory filing, Nvidia said that it had been told by the US Department of Commerce that the requirement was due to a potential risk of the products being used by, or diverted to, a "military end-user". The restrictions cover Nvidia's A100 and forthcoming H100 integrated circuits, and any systems that include them. The enforcement of this measure would threaten $400m (345m) worth of business for the company, according to the filing. AMD has also told CNN that the same restrictions have been applied to the company with regard to its shipments of MI250 integrated circuits to China. “The US government has imposed a new license requirement…

E+T Magazine in Semiconductor Technology
Robots could be better at determining child wellbeing than people, study finds

The researchers from the University of Cambridge found that children would see the robot as a confidante and believed they wouldn’t get into trouble if they shared secrets with it. The study, conducted with 28 children between the ages of eight and 13, used a child-sized humanoid robot administrator to carry out a series of standard psychological questionnaires to assess the mental wellbeing of each participant. Each child took part in a one-to-one 45-minute session with a Nao robot (pictured), a humanoid robot approximately 60cm tall. Image credit: Dreamstime During each session, the robot performed different tasks including asking open-ended questions about happy and sad memories over the last week. It also used the 'Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression…

E+T Magazine in STEM Education and Skills
Nokia offers users eco-friendly rewards for keeping phones for longer

Called 'Circular', the service will also recycle, refurbish and re-subscribe devices returned to the firm or donate them to charitable causes in order to keep them out of landfill, the Finnish tech firm said. The longer a user keeps their phone, the Circular programme will reward them with an increasing number of 'Seeds of Tomorrow' credits. These eco credits can then be put towards a range of global sustainability and charitable causes, such as planting trees with Ecologi, helping clean pollution from rivers with Clear Rivers, or providing connectivity to those in need. When a user wishes to upgrade their phone or tablet, they can return it to Nokia, who will securely wipe the device before refurbishing it either to send to another Circular subscriber or donating it to someone in need…

E+T Magazine in Recycling
Arm files breach of licence lawsuit against Qualcomm

Arm has sued Qualcomm and its subsidiary, Nuvia - which the company acquired last year in a $1.4bn (£1.2bn) deal - accusing both organisations of breach of licence agreements and trademark infringements. If successful, the lawsuit could unwind one of Qualcomm's largest strategic moves of the last few years, in which the company aimed to broaden its portfolio beyond the smartphone sector and develop more powerful chips that could be used in laptops and servers for data centres. The British company's complaint centres around Nuvia's use of Arm's licences, which the organisation argues can't be transferred over to Qualcomm without its permission. Moreover, Arm has also accused Qualcomm of continuing to use its CPU designs in its products after its licences expired in March 2022. “Qualcomm…

E+T Magazine in Computing

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