• ‘You can absolutely think of transport as an enabler’: Sara Sharples, chief scientific advisor, Department for Transport

    When it comes to the UK’s transport system, “we’ve got some really big and important decisions to make”, says Professor Sarah Sharples. “Some of those decisions might be about which of the number of alternative solutions that are out there are the best to help us on the path to decarbonisation – a path I think we are all aware that we need to progress through.” Sharples, who is chief scientific adviser (CSA) for the UK’s Department for Transport, is referring to the recently published plan for transport decarbonisation, a term that Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps has gone on record as saying is “a dull way of describing something much more exciting”. If Shapps’s choice of vocabulary is perhaps unfortunate, Sharples is nothing but upbeat: “It is the articulation of where we need…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Book review: ‘Abandoned USSR’ by Terence Abela

    My overall impression of the latest photo album from Jonglez, the title of which could be a quote from my own autobiography (I defected from the Soviet Union in early 1990), can be summed up in just one word: ‘Stunning!’ ‘Abandoned USSR’ by Terence Abela (Jonglez, £29.99, ISBN 9782361955106) elicits memories of history’s bloodiest attempt at collective happiness, a project that lasted for over 70 years before its spectacular – and fortunately fairly bloodless – collapse 30 years ago. Yes, the USSR, with all its hopes – true and false – officially ceased to exist three decades ago on 31 December 1991, and a whole new generation now separates us from it. Memories – like any recollections, whether tragic or happy – are petering out slowly but surely, and not just in the West. In Russia itself…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Engineering places: Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA)

    At the heart of the Chajnantor plateau in Chile lies the Atacama Large Millimetre/sub-millimetre Array (ALMA). It is the most complex astronomical observatory ever built on Earth and is used to observe light from space at millimetric and submillimetric wavelengths. The facility can study cosmic light that straddles the boundary between radio and infrared – most objects in the universe emit this kind of energy, so the ability to detect it has been a driver for astronomers for decades. ALMA uses a system called an ‘interferometer’ that arrays many small antennas across a wide area and links them together to operate as one huge telescope. By combining 54 parabolic antennas with 12m diameters and 12 parabolic antennas with diameters of 7m, it creates one huge radio telescope comprising 66 antennas…

  • View from India: Safety standards the way forward for EVs

    Safety measures need to be incorporated into the ecosystem. For instance, the batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) need to be safe or users can be subject to electric shock. Or the parking lot may go up in flames. “Electric current is dangerous anyway. Battery safety standards need to be set and this may help India transform into an electric vehicle hub,” said Hannes Neupert, managing director at EnergyBus.org, speaking virtually at the CII Karnataka Electric Mobility Conclave. The battery packs require some sort of standardisation. It could mean that the battery packs have an identification number which is captured by the registration authority. Other than that, several professionals have to come together to strengthen the battery system. Facilities need to be in place to regulate, test…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Back story: Dr Joanna Sadler, ‘We need to stay driven by what motivates us’

    Shini Somara: You are working to develop biological methods to recycle plastic sustainably into higher value chemicals. Tell us more. Joanna Sadler: Most of the research done so far focuses on breaking down or melting down the plastic and reforming it into more forms of plastic – many of which are of a lower grade than the first-generation polymer. Instead, I’d like to turn plastic into a resource by using it as a feedstock for making industrial chemicals. I’m a chemist by training, so I have always been fascinated by the ways in which we can make the chemical industry more sustainable. The chemical industry is responsible for vast amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, so I think finding ways to tackle this while addressing the plastic waste crisis is really interesting. SS: How did your career…

  • Teardown: Panic Playdate console

    You might have seen a back-up smartphone battery that appears to double as a GameBoy clone. Naughty. The Playdate from software house Panic is not one of those, despite first appearances. It is something a little bit more interesting. With a launch price of $179 (£129), it needs to be. For ‘fun’, Panic is instead seeking to introduce a new open-system gaming platform. Users will be able to sideload their own games and offer them for wider distribution. To do that, a developer kit for Windows, MacOS and Linux is also being released. The main attraction will be an official release of two new games every month, included in the price, alongside a dozen that are to be bundled on the handheld console at launch. Panic has said that, by adopting this approach, it wants Playdate to encourage game…

  • Teesside strikes green with 40MW hydrogen project

    Current plans for the site are to build up to 40MW of electrolysis capability in two phases. The building of a hydrogen production facility will provide the company with the essential infrastructure for generating green hydrogen energy. The project will involve the development of green hydrogen storage to support the largest PEM electrolyser in the area. The project is scheduled for completion by 2026, subject to planning and engineering works. Protium plans to supply local manufacturers with green hydrogen-based energy once built, offering an alternative to natural gas and diesel as energy sources. It aims to generate green jobs and provide economic opportunities for the community and region. 'Green' hydrogen is produced by splitting water by electrolysis, whereas so-called 'blue' hydrogen…

  • Lack of early power grids in US prevented electric car dominance, study finds

    A new study from Lund University in Sweden suggests that if electricity grids had spread just 15 or 20 years earlier, a majority of US car producers would have likely opted for electric cars instead of those powered by internal combustion engines (ICE). A broad political commitment to a universal electricity grid was introduced in Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s, but came decades too late, the researchers said. “It is a common notion that electric cars were technically inferior and more expensive. We find that this is not entirely true. Electric cars were more expensive, but not relative to their performance. In addition, the average range was surprisingly good because early cars were light and relatively small,” said associate professor Josef Taalbi. The team used a database…

  • How tech is helping care homes tailor and track personal nutrition plans

    This year’s UK Malnutrition Awareness Week , which runs from 11 to 17 October, sees a spotlight being shone once again on the fundamental need for older people in care to get the nutrients and hydration they require to live a healthy and happy life. But while awareness weeks like these are crucial to providing a greater understanding of the dangers, risk factors and signs of malnutrition and dehydration in social care, they should be at the forefront of care practices year-round. According to the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, malnutrition is a significant public health problem that affects over 10 per cent of people over the age of 65 – roughly 1.3 million people. The BAPEN also suggests that around 35 per cent of care home residents are at risk of malnutrition…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Plug the gap: retrain for net zero

    There are just 29 years to net zero – a commitment enshrined in UK law. A steady drumbeat of disasters caused by extreme weather has highlighted the peril we are in, from deadly floods to blazing landscapes to rising seas. Amid all the talk of urgency and an impending ‘green industrial revolution’, many people in the engineering and tech sectors are asking what they can do. From renewables to domestic heating to electrification, specialist knowledge will be in demand. When thousands of engineers and technologists first trained, ‘green’ careers weren’t really an option. Even now as the clock is ticking, there’s been a dearth of guidance and training for professionals who want to leapfrog into the green economy and direct their skills to combat climate change. There’s a pressing need for…

  • Smoke from nuclear war would ‘devastate ozone layer’

    According to its researchers in the US, the international study paints an “even grimmer” picture of a global nuclear war’s aftermath than previous analyses. The research team used newly developed computer climate modelling techniques to learn more about the effects of a hypothetical nuclear exchange, including complex chemical interactions in the stratosphere that influence the amounts of ultraviolet (UV) radiation that reach the planet’s surface. “Besides all the fatalities that would happen almost immediately, the climate effects and the UV effects would be widespread,” said Charles Bardeen, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). “These aren’t local to where the war occurs. They’re global, so they would affect all of us.” Bardeen and his team found that…

  • Cities join ‘race’ for climate resilience

    A new global campaign from the United Nations, launched ahead of COP26, is highlighting the urgent need to focus on climate resilience action. Cities Race to Resilience launched in July 2021 and is all about the importance of prioritising people and nature as cities all over the world strive to become resilient in the face of increasing climate extremes. One of the campaign’s goals is to get 1,000 cities involved; the first that signed up to the race was Makati in the Philippines, an urban centre in the Metro Manila region. This campaign is running alongside the Race to Zero initiative, which launched in January 2021 and has 733 cities currently signed up. The hope is that the two campaigns working together will ensure the greater resilience of approximately four billion people and ensure…

  • Volvo reveals first vehicle made from fossil-free steel

    The machine, a load carrier for use in mining and quarrying, was put on show at a green steel collaboration event in Gothenburg. Volvo said that more vehicles will follow in 2022 in what will be a series of concept vehicles and components using fossil-free steel from SSAB. In 2026, SSAB plans to supply the market with fossil-free steel at a commercial scale after a conversion of its Oxelösund blast furnaces into an electric arc furnace and by using HYBRIT technology, which replaces coking coal traditionally needed for iron ore-based steelmaking, with fossil-free electricity and hydrogen. This process is a deciding move toward virtually eliminating carbon dioxide emissions in steel production. In August 2021, SSAB was able to show the world's first fossil-free steel plate made from hydrogen…

  • Rail freight operators park electric trains amid soaring energy prices

    A fire at an interconnector with the French electricity grid coupled with high gas prices due to constrained supplies and strong demand driven by the economies recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic has led to record energy prices across Europe, including the UK. The Rail Freight Group (RFG), which represents the sector, said that the high wholesale cost of electricity for haulage means that some operators have had to take “the regrettable decision” to temporarily move back to diesel locomotives.  It added that electrified trains are currently facing 200 per cent increases in their running costs, which is too large of a burden for operators to bare, so the switch back to diesel has been made to ensure that services can continue running at normal frequency. “Our members are assuring us…

  • Rolls-Royce CEO calls for aviation to adopt top-flight sustainability targets

    Aviation, which accounts for approximately three per cent of CO 2 emissions, is considered a hard-to-abate sector due to a lack of technologically mature alternatives to traditional jet-fuelled engines. With electric and hydrogen aircraft still relatively limited, short- and medium-term decarbonisation efforts are focused on efficiency measures and lowering the carbon emissions of jet fuel by mixing conventional fuel with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). SAF takes various forms, but is often produced from biomass such as from crops and animal fats. Under current UN plans, at least 10 per cent of fuel used in aviation should be sustainable by 2030. East has said that in order to avoid growing its share of emissions, the aviation sector must reach beyond this target. “Flying generates between…

  • Is climate change to blame?

    In July, the world watched as record levels of rain fell on parts of Germany and Belgium, causing widespread flooding. More than 200 people died after rivers burst their banks, many homes and livelihoods were destroyed, and the long-term economic impacts are expected to run into many billions of euros. As well as its devastation, the event was notable because local officials were quick to blame the extreme weather on global warming. During a visit to one of the worst-affected areas, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, said the region would be “faced with such events over and over, and that means we need to speed up climate-protection measures”. Just two months later his strong words were vindicated. A team of 39 scientists at international network World Weather Attribution…

  • Employers call for business rate reforms to boost green investment

    The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), and 41 trade associations, have issued a joint statement outlining how action by chancellor Rishi Sunak in this month’s Budget to reform the business rates system could unleash a wave of investment across government priorities, including net-zero and levelling up. The existing business rates regime was described as “outdated” and said to act as a drag on the government’s goal of a high-wage, high-productivity and high-investment economy. The current system actively disincentivises business investment in decarbonisation, the statement said. “Action to get investment flowing into and around the UK is sorely needed to reinforce our recovery,” said Rain Newton-Smith, CBI’s chief economist. “The government deserves credit for convening the supply…

  • Rio Tinto investigating low-carbon sustainable steel production

    The production of steel is typically very energy and carbon intensive; in 2019 it was responsible for 2.7 per cent of all UK emissions. Rio Tinto has developed a new process that combines sustainable biomass with microwave technology to convert iron ore to metallic iron during the steelmaking process. The process is currently undergoing further testing in a small-scale pilot plant, with the potential to be scaled up commercially to process Rio Tinto’s iron ore fines if successful. “We are encouraged by early testing results of this new process, which could provide a cost-efficient way to produce low-carbon steel from our Pilbara iron ore,” Rio Tinto’s iron ore chief executive Simon Trott said. “More than 70 per cent of Rio Tinto’s Scope 3 emissions are generated as customers process…

  • Photo gallery: Our threatened but wonderful world

    As part of the build up to COP26, the Earth Project, in collaboration with Nature Picture Library, has organised a photography competition to raise awareness of the huge challenges faced by nature, as well as the impacts of climate change on global ecosystems. The competition links to one of the main goals of COP26: to help protect and restore ecosystems in countries adversely affected by climate change. The full gallery of 72 stunning pictures , along with the environmental stories they tell, is available online. The competition winner will be announced at COP26. A waterfall runs off the melting Austfonna glacier, eastern Svalbard, in the Arctic Ocean. Image credit: , In Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Pans a Zu/’hoasi bushman finds the carcass of a zebra. …

  • Coral gardens could hold off ‘biodiversity meltdown’

    From global warming to overfishing, coral reefs are under an onslaught of stresses which degrade these critical ecosystems. Because corals build structures that create habitats for many other species, scientists have long recognised that coral loss results in the collapse of other species that depend on reefs. However, the significance of coral species diversity for corals themselves is less understood. The Georgia Institute of Technology study found that increasing coral richness by “outplanting” a diverse group of coral species together can improve coral growth and survivorship overall. This finding may be especially important in the early stages of reef recovery following large-scale coral loss, as well as in supporting healthy reefs that in support fisheries, tourism, and protect coasts…

  • GOV.UK app unveiled to ease access to Government services

    The project, which is led by the Cabinet Office, will merge the nearly 200 ways people can currently create a Gov.uk account into a single log-in process in order to access over 300 Government services. The new app follows the launch of the official NHS app in 2018 which formed a central hub where users could seek health advice, book a GP appointment, read their medical records and more recently, access their Covid vaccination passport . Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Steve Barclay unveiled plans for the GOV.UK app, which has been designed to help people access services more easily. It was compared to similar apps created by private-sector firms that allow people to log into and access a variety of different services via their smartphone. “Now more than ever, it is important that…

  • COP26: What’s food got to do with it?

    When delegates at COP26 sit down to eat, they’d better choose carefully. Back in Poland in 2018, some 30,000 attendees munched their way through a meat and dairy-laden menu. Every plate of fried beef, pork and burgers consumed in Katowice at COP24 helped contribute several thousand tonnes of greenhouse gases over the 12-day conference, campaigners say. Food production accounts for a third of global emissions today, and we’re running out of water, land, and time. Business as usual in the Glasgow food courts won’t help the world meet the 1.5°C target. Campaigners and food and farming groups all have an opinion about what international delegates should be eating. “We’ll only achieve net zero if we fundamentally transform food systems,” say campaigners Nourish Scotland in a joint letter. Food…

  • Renewables investment needs to triple for net-zero goals to be met

    It found that while adoption of solar, wind and electric vehicles has been booming in recent years, the amount of investment needs to triple for a realistic chance of meeting net-zero by 2050. The report also showed that even as deployments of solar and wind rise, the world’s consumption of coal also grew strongly this year, pushing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions towards their second largest annual increase in history. “The world’s hugely encouraging clean energy momentum is running up against the stubborn incumbency of fossil fuels in our energy systems,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol. “Governments need to resolve this at COP26 by giving a clear and unmistakeable signal that they are committed to rapidly scaling up the clean and resilient technologies of the future. The social…

  • Does renewable energy have a subsidy-free future?

    As national leaders meet to thrash out what they are prepared to do to promote the growth of renewable energy ahead of fossil fuels, the reality is they have largely decided market forces will be used for delivery. Governments have been reining in the subsidies that have been used to encourage investment in renewables such as wind and solar as their operational costs begin to approach those of existing fossil fuels. The good news for renewables is that subsidies for the competition look to be on the way down as well. Even excluding the externalities – the environmental costs – of fossil fuels that are rarely included in calculations, direct government subsidies to fossil fuels have long outweighed any others. A recent report compiled by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimated…

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