• View from Brussels: Green, mean fighting machines

    Back in 2019, the EU agreed to a legally binding climate-neutrality target that will require greenhouse gas emissions to fall almost completely by 2050. The rules and regulations needed to achieve that have been on the drawing board ever since. When that ‘climate-neutrality’ target was first worked out, the main logic behind it was the EU’s obligations under the Paris Agreement, a 2015 international pact that commits almost every country in the world to do their fair bit to curb global warming. Getting rid of fossil fuels then embracing clean energy and all the health and economic benefits promised by those policies has been the EU’s mantra, but there has been a lack of urgency in actually getting it done. Then Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine and changed the game. Russian energy exports…

  • ‘Vampire’ devices driving up UK energy bills by £147 a year, says British Gas

    These 'vampire' devices are typically those such as televisions, games consoles or microwaves that passively use electricity even when not in active use. In its research, British Gas claims that televisions are the most expensive item to leave on standby, costing around £24.61 annually, followed by set top boxes (£23.10 annually) and internet routers (£18.89 annually). Other devices such as washing machines, printers or mobile chargers were found to cost less than £5 on a yearly basis when left on standby. However, Twitter users have questioned some of British Gas’ calculations, especially following a 2013 ruling from the EU mandating that devices including TVs and microwaves use no more than 0.5 Watts or less per hour while in standby mode. I looked into these claims when they…

  • 3D-printed coral reefs aiming to help marine life recover

    The world's coral reefs are becoming extinct. Factors including global warming and accelerated urbanisation in coastal areas are placing tremendous stress on marine life and damaging coral ecosystems. 3D-printing could be one solution. In a paper published in Science of the Total Environment, researchers from four of Israel's leading universities – Bar-Ilan U., Technion, University of Haifa and Tel Aviv University – highlighted a 3D-printing method they developed to help preserve coral reefs. The research project is based on the natural structure of coral reefs off the southern coastal Israeli city of Eilat, but the model is adaptable to other marine environments and could help curb reef devastation plaguing coral ecosystems around the world. "The rapid decline of coral reefs has increased…

  • Plastic-eating enzyme developed with machine learning could solve waste crisis

    The discovery could help to solve the world’s escalating plastic waste crisis, which is filling up landfills and polluting oceans. The researchers said the new enzyme has the potential to “supercharge” recycling on a large scale that would allow major industries to reduce their environmental impact by recovering and reusing plastics at the molecular level. “The possibilities are endless across industries to leverage this leading-edge recycling process,” said Professor Hal Alper, a researcher at UT Austin. “Beyond the obvious waste management industry, this also provides corporations from every sector the opportunity to take a lead in recycling their products. Through these more sustainable enzyme approaches, we can begin to envision a true circular plastics economy.” The project focuses…

  • Solar preferable to nuclear for settlement sites on Mars, study suggests

    Many scientists and engineers who’ve thought about the logistics of living on the surface of the Red Planet have assumed that nuclear power is the best alternative, in large part because of its reliability and 24/7 operation. In the past decade, miniaturised kilopower nuclear fission reactors have advanced to the point where Nasa considers them to be a safe, efficient and plentiful source of energy and key to future robotic and human exploration. Solar power, on the other hand, must be stored for use at night, which on Mars lasts about the same length of time as on Earth. Solar panels' power production can also be reduced on Mars by the omnipresent red dust that covers everything. Nasa's nearly 15-year-old Opportunity rover, powered by solar panels, stopped working after a massive dust…

  • Sponsored: Guide to Environmental Sustainability Metrics for Data Centres

    Many companies are now reporting on sustainability as a supplement to financial reporting. They are communicating their commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) programs. The data centre industry has unique characteristics, such as high energy intensity, rapid growth, large power consumption and water usage that require specialised metrics. Standardising these metrics will help with adoption, improve benchmarking, and progress sustainability within the industry. Schneider Electric developed a holistic framework with standardised metrics to guide operators and the industry at large. Key Learning Points Will empower the data centre industry to take control of sustainability goals Act on the data to improve operations Remove the difficulty of selecting impactful metrics…

  • ‘Dangerous’ energy saving devices sold on eBay as household bills soar

    Electrical Safety First found some of the devices for sale on eBay, one of which was brought to the charity’s attention by adverts online promoting the devices as a way of making big savings on energy bills. It purchased four samples of plug-in devices purporting to either save energy or ‘stabilise electrical current’ and sent them to an independent lab for specialist testing. All four samples purchased were found to have failed basic safety standards, risking fires and electric shocks. One test designed to demonstrate the product’s capability to safely handle a short circuit led to the device exploding, sending fragments of hot glowing metal into the air (pictured). Image credit: electrical safety first The investigation builds on previous research by the charity…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • BT and Toshiba test first commercial quantum-secure network

    Britain's BT and Japan's Toshiba launched the first commercial trial of a quantum-secured network today (Wednesday April 27) that will block the vulnerabilities in encryption predicted to emerge once quantum computing becomes mainstream. The network will be used by professional services group EY to connect two of its sites in London: one at London Bridge and the other at Canary Wharf. BT will provide the end-to-end encrypted links over its Openreach private fibre networks, while Toshiba is supplying the QKD hardware and key management software, the companies said. Quantum computers are unreliable and costly today, but the technology offers the potential to crunch data millions of times faster than supercomputers. This London network represents a critical step towards reaching the UK government…

  • Satellite sector growth needs common world approach, warns Inmarsat head

    British satellite company Inmarsat warned on Tuesday of the environmental risks of unregulated space sector expansion.  Inmarsat chief executive Rajeev Suri has welcomed the increase in innovation in satellite constellations in low orbit that has taken place over the last few years, but called for better industry and regulatory co-ordination as they are launched. Addressing the Royal Aeronautical Society’s conference ‘Towards a Space Enabled Net Zero Earth’, Suri focused attention on major factors threatening long-term environmental and economic sustainability. "Mega-constellations are talking about tens of thousands of new satellites during this decade - satellites with an expected life of only five to 10 years," he said.  "The resulting debris creates hazards not just in a particular…

  • UK requires internet infrastructure overhaul to meet future needs, report finds

    Researchers from the University of Cambridge and BT have established the maximum speed at which data can be transmitted through existing copper cables. This limit would allow for faster internet compared to the speeds currently achievable using standard infrastructure but will not be able to support high-speed internet in the longer term. The team found that the ‘twisted pair’ copper cables that reach every house and business in the UK are physically limited in their ability to support higher frequencies, which in turn support higher data rates. While full-fibre internet is currently available to around one in four households, it is expected to take at least two decades before it reaches every home in the UK. In the meantime, however, existing infrastructure can be improved to temporarily…

  • Electronics could grow on trees thanks to nanocellulose paper semiconductors

    Semiconducting nanomaterials with 3D network structures have high surface areas and lots of pores that make them excellent for applications involving adsorbing, separating and sensing. However, simultaneously controlling the electrical properties and creating useful micro and macro-scale structures, while achieving excellent functionality and end-use versatility, remains challenging. Osaka University researchers, in collaboration with the University of Tokyo, Kyushu University and Okayama University, have developed a nanocellulose paper semiconductor that provides both nano−micro−macro trans-scale designability of the 3D structures and wide tunability of the electrical properties. Cellulose is a natural and easy to source material derived from wood. Cellulose nanofibres (nanocellulose…

  • Forest tress absorb nanoplastics, research finds

    A research study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL published in iForest has found evidence that forests can absorb plastic articles The impact of this on the food chain is still unclear. It has been estimated that humans ingest about five grams of plastic every week, equivalent to about half a rice bowl, according to Reuters. However, this new data might alter those calculations. Plastic waste is now polluting all of the world's ecosystems, even those located far from civilisation. The increase in use of single-use plastics to reduce Covid-19 infection rates alone has generated an estimated 8.4 million tonnes of plastic waste generated from 193 countries since the start of the pandemic. Plastic is extremely slow to decompose. According to the…

  • None of Sainsbury’s flexible plastic recycled in the UK

    Meanwhile, the UK’s largest supermarket chain, Tesco, has announced it is carrying out an audit of the waste exporter employed by both supermarkets to recycle this plastic waste - following an E&T investigation. E&T revealed in February that the firm in question, Eurokey, had its export  accreditation suspended  last year after mislabelling the type of plastic it exported to Turkey. In its suspension notice, the Environment Agency (EA) said for at least four months last year Eurokey had exported plastic waste to Turkish sites that were not authorised to process the material. The soft plastics initiative, which has been adopted by most of the major UK supermarkets, aims to provide a route for the recycling of hard-to-recycle flexible plastic packaging, which includes items such as soft plastic…

  • Global coal plant capacity shrinking slower than needed to meet climate goals

    A new report from Global Energy Monitor (GEM) reports that after rising in 2020 for the first time since 2015, total coal power capacity under development declined last year from 525 GW to 457 GW, a record low. But some 34 countries were still found to have new coal plants under consideration, albeit down from 41 countries in January 2021. The world currently has more than 2,400 coal-fired power plants operating in 79 countries, for a total of nearly 2,100 GW of capacity. An additional 176 GW of coal capacity is under construction at more than 189 plants, and 280 GW is in pre-construction at 296 plants. China is the most significant financial backer of coal-fired energy plants, and has been ramping up investment in its domestic sector despite committing to a 2060 net-zero target. However…

  • Elon Musk buys Twitter for £35bn, provoking speculation about the platform’s future

    Twitter's board has unanimously accepted the offer from Tesla co-founder and multi-billionaire Elon Musk to acquire the company in a $44bn (£34.5bn) all-cash deal, the largest such acquisition to take a company private in at least two decades. Musk made the shock bid less than two weeks ago, just days after it was announced that he would not be joining the social media platform’s board of directors . The world's richest man said Twitter has "tremendous potential" that he would unlock. The firm initially rebuffed Musk's bid to buy the social media platform for $54.20 (about £42.20) per share, a 38 per cent premium over the share price, but it will now ask shareholders to vote to approve the deal. Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has celebrated the acquisition as a way of taking the platform into…

  • Sponsored: A framework to achieve net zero, environmentally sustainable data centres

    Growing concern about the effects of climate change has placed much pressure on the data centre and digital infrastructure sectors. Today data centres are predicted to account for around 1%-2% of global electricity consumption and emit the same level of carbon as the airline sector. Unsurprisingly, given their importance to the digital economy, the industry is coming under closer scrutiny, not only because of the growing demands it places on power generation and energy consumption, but because of its influence on other areas that affect environmental sustainability. Those which include the appropriation of land and water, the use of renewable energy, and the disposal of hazardous waste material. Forces influencing the move toward sustainable data centres include a combination of government…

  • Nasa to order its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to chase another asteroid

    The probe began its two-year trip back to Earth from the 101955 Bennu asteroid last May. It is believed to be carrying a sample of Bennu weighing up to 1kg. But Nasa has now decided to extend its mission, which will be renamed OSIRIS-APEX (short for OSIRIS-Apophis Explorer), to study the near-Earth asteroid Apophis for 18 months. Apophis will make a close approach to Earth in 2029. The University of Arizona will lead the mission, which will make its first manoeuvre toward Apophis 30 days after the spacecraft delivers the sample it collected from Bennu. The extension adds another $200m (£153m) to the mission cost cap. The mission team did an exhaustive search for potential asteroid targets. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was built for what’s called a rendezvous mission, meaning instead of making…

  • Recycled glass could be renewable solution 3D-printing is waiting for

    Researchers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed the capability to use recycled glass in 3D-printing, opening doors to a more environmentally sustainable construction industry. Glass is one material that can be 100 per cent recycled with no reduction in quality, yet it is one of the least recycled waste types. According to the latest data by the National Environment Agency of Singapore, only 13 per cent of the 74,000 tonnes of glass waste generated in the country was recycled in 2021. Glass is made up of silicon dioxide, or silica, which is a major component of sand and, therefore, it offers significant untapped potential to be recycled into other products. At the same time, growing populations, urbanisation and infrastructure development have…

  • Pathogens hitch ride on microplastics to reach oceans

    The study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, is the first to connect microplastics in the ocean with land-based pathogens. It found that microplastics can make it easier for disease-causing pathogens to concentrate in plastic-contaminated areas of the ocean. According to the team, pathogens such as toxoplasma (T) gondii, cryptosporidium (Crypto), and giardia can infect both humans and animals. The World Health Organisation recognises these pathogens as underestimated causes of illness from shellfish consumption and are found throughout the ocean. “It’s easy for people to dismiss plastic problems as something that doesn’t matter to them, like, ‘I’m not a turtle in the ocean; I won’t choke on this thing,’” said Karen Shapiro, an associate professor in the UC Davis School…

  • View from Washington: Be careful what you wish for, Elon

    After a few weeks of ‘Will he buy it?’, we are now at the ‘Should he (be allowed to) buy it?’ stage – and that is not as much of a done deal as you might think. But we seem to be going through Elon Musk’s plan to buy Twitter without any real reference to ‘What is he actually going to do with it?’ We know what Musk wants from Twitter philosophically. The world’s richest man is a “free speech absolutist”. He wants the social media platform to be even more of a free-for-all than, say, Hyde Park’s Speakers’ Corner – the digital “public square”. We also know a few of the changes he wants to make: an edit button, time-outs for egregious behaviour, a bot clean-out, and some type of subscription option. I’m not sure how the last one dovetails with the idea of a public square, but we’ll come to…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • View from India: Research is the bedrock of innovation

    Challenges abound in areas like healthcare, education, linguistics and location, but the very same challenges uncover opportunities. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) discussed these opportunities recently at an event held in collaboration with Indo-British Scholars’ Association (IBSA) and Imperial College London.  “The complexity of issues has urged people to think, and think beyond the obvious. India has attempted to and has rapidly made significant change to motivate start-ups through efficient funding mechanisms. India is the world’s third largest start-up ecosystem, with several unicorns to its credit,” said Sunil Kant Munjal, CII past president, chairman of the CII National Start-up Council and chairman, Hero Enterprises. The problems emerging from the sheer size and scale…

  • UK could cut carbon emissions by adding rock dust to agricultural soil, study finds

    In a new study, they demonstrated that the practice could remove between 6 and 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere annually by 2050. The cost of carbon dioxide removal is currently estimated to be around £200 per tonne with expectations that this will fall to half that by 2050. This makes the rock dust solution highly competitive relative to other removal options. The research also finds other benefits including the mitigation of nitrous oxide, the third most important greenhouse gas, and widespread reversal of soil acidification caused by intensification of agriculture. It can also be used as a substitute for expensive imported fertilisers in many cases. By reducing demand for imported fertilisers, using rock dust avoids carbon emissions and offsets costs of deployment…

  • Cheap hydrogen fuel cells use iron instead of pricey platinum

    Hydrogen fuel cells convert hydrogen to electricity with water vapour as the only by-product, making them an attractive green alternative for portable power, particularly for vehicles. However, their widespread use has been hampered in part by the cost of one of the primary components. To facilitate the reaction that produces the electricity, the fuel cells rely on a catalyst made of platinum, which is expensive and scarce. Now, a European team led by Imperial College London researchers has created a catalyst using only iron, carbon, and nitrogen – materials that are cheap and readily available – and shown that it can be used to operate a fuel cell at high power. Lead researcher professor Anthony Kucernak said: “Currently, around 60 per cent of the cost of a single fuel cell is the platinum…

  • China boosts coal production capacity, setting back carbon-neutrality targets

    China is promoting coal-fired power as the ruling Communist Party tries to revive a sluggish economy. After economic growth plunged last year, shortages caused blackouts and factory shutdowns in several areas of the country. Moreover, Russia’s attack on Ukraine has added to anxiety that foreign oil and coal supplies might be disrupted. Chinese officials plan a call for boosting coal production capacity by 300 million tonnes this year, according to news reports. That is equal to 7 per cent of last year’s output of 4.1 billion tonnes, an increase of 5.7 per cent over 2020. “This mentality of ensuring energy security has become dominant, trumping carbon neutrality," said Li Shuo, a senior global policy adviser for Greenpeace. "We are moving into a relatively unfavourable time period for…

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