• UK considers mandating USB-C as universal charging port for electronics

    The UK government is looking into whether to mandate a common charger for electrical goods as part of efforts to cut down on e-waste. In 2022, the EU introduced similar rules mandating that all small- and medium-sized portable devices have a USB-C charging port by 28 December 2024. The rules mean that USB-C ports need to be the standard for mobile phones, tablets, headphones, e-readers, low-powered laptops, keyboards, computer mice, earbuds, smart watches and electronic toys. However, as the UK had already left the EU by then, those rules did not apply to it. The government at the time said it would not introduce similar rules. Nevertheless, the Office for Product Safety and Standards has launched a call for evidence for adopting similar directives as it believes they would benefit…

  • Google signs deal for small nuclear reactors to power AI

    Google will buy nuclear energy generated by small modular reactors (SMRs) in a bid to power its increasing reliance on AI. SMRs are easier to scale and more affordable than larger nuclear power plants. The entirely factory-built facilities are typically transported as modules and assembled on-site, which reduces construction activity and makes SMRs a commodifiable product. Google has signed a deal with California’s Kairos Power to build six or seven reactors, with the first being completed in 2030. The search engine giant plans to operate all its data centres and offices on carbon-free energy by 2030 by funding various clean energy projects and technologies. But despite its efforts, the firm’s carbon emissions have actually increased by 50% over the last five years due to its increasing…

  • Stansted Airport’s £1.1bn expansion will see upgraded terminal and security systems

    A £1.1bn expansion of London’s Stansted Airport has been announced that will create an additional 5,000 jobs and see an extension to its existing terminal. The plans were first announced at the government’s International Investment Summit and follow record-breaking passenger numbers for the airport in 2024 so far. The £600m extension to the airport’s existing terminal will take up the majority of the funds, creating more seating areas plus new shops, bars and restaurants. While planning permission for the extension was secured last October, Stansted only released its first design mock-ups of the new terminal yesterday. Stansted is the UK’s fourth busiest airport after Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester respectively. Some of the new funding will be used to deliver a 14.3 megawatt on-site…

  • ‘A day for the engineering history books’ as SpaceX catches giant Starship booster

    SpaceX’s quest for rapid reusability is a step closer as the company successfully caught the Starship rocket booster for the first time as it returned to Earth after launch. The 400-foot-tall uncrewed Starship rocket was launched for the fifth time yesterday (13 October) from its Starbase site in south Texas at 7.25am local time. The mission was to break new ground for Starship: rather than have its first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, land in the ocean, as is typical, it returned directly to its launch mount. Three minutes and 40 seconds after lift-off, Super Heavy separated, turned and reignited 13 Raptors (SpaceX-designed rocket engines) to head back toward the Texas launchpad. SpaceX then slowed the booster as it approached the mount, and a pair of huge mechanical arms reached…

  • £1.5m solar heat installation project takes shape on the roof of the British Library

    Solar tech company Naked Energy is installing the UK’s largest solar heat project across 712.5m2 of roof space on the Grade I listed building. The installation is expected to reduce the building’s CO2 emissions by 55 tonnes and generate 216MWh of energy annually – the equivalent of powering and heating a community centre or swimming pool for a year. Naked Energy’s technology combines solar photovoltaic and thermal (PVT) technology to generate both electricity and heat from a single collector. These solar PVT collectors, called VirtuPVT, which Naked Energy says are the highest energy density solar technology in the world, can deliver a peak efficiency of 80%, converting 20% of the sun’s energy to electricity and 60% to heat. Being modular in design, these collectors can easily be installed…

  • Direct air capture plant in Canada aims to remove up to one million tonnes of CO2 a year

    London start-up Mission Zero Technologies (MZT) is working with Montreal-based Deep Sky, the world's first tech-agnostic carbon removal project developer, to validate its electrochemical direct air capture (DAC) technology. MZT’s compact modular DAC system has been delivered and installed at Deep Sky’s carbon removal innovation and commercialisation centre, Deep Sky Labs, in Alberta, Canada. Powered by renewable solar energy, Deep Sky will use MZT’s containerised system to recover CO2 from the atmosphere for permanent storage underground. The aim is to initially demonstrate carbon removal on a small scale using MZT’s technology through capturing up to 250 tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere each year. Having validated the technology, the DAC system will then be scaled into a commercial…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Climate change could push endangered whale sharks into ship collisions, study finds

    Climate change could increase the risk of whale sharks colliding with large ships, according to a University of Southampton study. The authors predict that increased ocean temperatures will push this already endangered species into new habitats crossed by busy shipping lanes. Such a move could increase the chance of collisions by up to 15,000 times by the end of the century compared with the present day. Lead author Dr Freya Womersley said: “These shifts in the whale sharks’ habitat were most extreme under high-emission scenarios. A global reshuffling could lead to core habitat losses in some areas as well as increased co-occurrence with shipping traffic as oceans warm and other variables change.” Whale sharks, the world’s largest fish, are highly mobile and responsive to changes in temperature…

  • Iberdrola to invest £24bn in UK green energy, boosting grid capacity and renewables

    Iberdrola, which owns ScottishPower, has committed to spend £24bn on upgrading the UK’s green energy infrastructure in a doubling of its initial investment plans. Investment in renewable energy generation has exceeded investment in transmission capacity over the past decade, resulting in bottlenecks in the electricity network. The current infrastructure is reaching its capacity and is unable to transport much more electricity without reinforcing the network. Earlier this year, National Grid’s Electricity System Operator said the UK’s grid needed a major revamp in order to connect a raft of new offshore wind facilities set to be built off the Scottish coast, costing an estimated £58bn. Iberdrola said that two-thirds of its investment would be directed to transmission and distribution networks…

  • Interview: Alexis Dabee-Saltmarsh on the HiVE Project and the future of STEM education

    With building work almost complete, the High Value Engineering (HiVE) project is looking to welcome its first cohort of students to its high-tech facility. The 22,000-square-foot HiVE facility in Ebbw Vale, Wales, is the result of a £12m investment by the UK and Welsh governments to turn a redundant factory into a state-of-the art training and education establishment. Kitted out with various technologies, robotics and manufacturing equipment, the HiVE will to be used by both post-16 students and businesses, as well as by local primary and secondary schools, to help expand students’ STEM knowledge and skills. Alexis Dabee-Saltmarsh, lecturer in motorsports, aeronautical and composite engineering at nearby higher education college Coleg Gwent, has been involved in the project since its…

  • Rising costs for Hinkley Point C prompts EDF to seek £4bn from private investors

    EDF, the French energy firm building Hinkley Point C, is reportedly trying to raise an additional £4bn to fund the megaproject as costs continue to spiral. According to Bloomberg, EDF is seeking to raise funds by offering investors a stake in the project, although it has pledged to return their funds if the construction is not completed. The interested parties include infrastructure and sovereign wealth funds. Once complete, Hinkley Point C will be the UK’s first new nuclear plant in a generation. Its two nuclear reactors are expected to be able to generate enough low-carbon electricity to power around six million UK homes. However, the project has faced repeated delays. In 2013, EDF estimated that the plant would begin operations by 2023. It now says the first generator won’t be ready…

  • With customer demand fuelling the rise of the hybrid, where does that leave EVs?

    Automakers are facing a dilemma - with demand for hybrid cars burgeoning but having already invested in building pure EV platforms, what should they do now? Sheena Patel, an EV sector specialist at management consultancy Vendigital, discusses. The latest data on new car registrations in September 2024 from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders confirms that sales of new hybrid EVs rose 2.6% year on year, with plug-in hybrids up by 32.1%. Hybrid EVs now represent 14.2% of the total market. Meanwhile, sales of new battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) are growing, but not quite as quickly as predicted, and new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles still make up more than half of all new car uptake. The global picture is similar, if not further skewed in favour of hybrid…

  • Global floating offshore wind project pipeline increases by 9% during past year – new report

    The global pipeline of floating offshore wind projects has expanded in the last 12 months from 285 to 316, which equates to an increase of 244GW to 266GW, or 9%, according to the Floating Offshore Wind Taskforce. Its new report – Floating Wind: Anchoring the next generation offshore – ranks the UK as second-best in the world for fully operational floating offshore wind projects. Of the 15 fully operational projects, Norway is in the top position with 94MW (three projects) and the UK in second with 78MW (two projects), followed by China with 40MW (five projects), Portugal with 25MW (one project) and Japan with 5MW (two projects). The report finds that, globally, 102MW are under construction (four projects), 7.3GW are consented or in the pre-construction phase (22 projects), 21.6GW are…

  • Government urged to spend £1.9bn a year to transition oil and gas workers into renewables

    The government should provide £1.9bn annually to support offshore oil and gas workers in transitioning to the renewable energy sector, say climate groups. Sixty-five climate organisations, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Extinction Rebellion, signed an open letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves urging her to ring-fence the funding until 2030 as part of the government’s clean energy transition plans. The suggested spending includes £1.1bn a year to develop permanent, local jobs in manufacturing plants for wind turbines, an additional £440m on top of the £1.8bn already committed through the National Wealth Fund to help decarbonise British ports, and £355m to develop a dedicated training fund for offshore oil and gas workers. The letter arrives three weeks before the next Budget…

  • Form Energy secures $405m to advance iron-air battery technology for grid-scale storage

    US firm Form Energy has secured $405m (£310m) from investors to progress its battery technology that is longer lasting than lithium-ion. Most modern tech, including smartphones, electric vehicles (EVs) and grid-scale storage, uses lithium-ion batteries. But the technology is prone to degrading over time, particularly if frequently charged and discharged in full cycles. Manufacturing them also requires rare and expensive materials such as lithium and cobalt, leading to environmental concerns around mining and disposal. Instead, Form uses an iron-air battery system that is effectively based on a reversible rusting process capable of discharging energy for around 100 continuous hours. While they are too heavy to be used in consumer gadgets or EVs, they are ideal for use in grid-scale storage…

  • AI and electronic tech to replace line umpires at Wimbledon from 2025

    The line umpires who officiate matches during the Wimbledon championships will be replaced by Live Electronic Line Calling (Live ELC) next year, breaking a 147-year tradition. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club has announced that, from 2025, officiating technology will be in place for all championships and qualifying match courts. This Live ELC technology, called Hawk-Eye Live, will be used to give the ‘out’ and ‘fault’ calls. To ensure that a match or tournament is conducted according to the International Tennis Federation rules of tennis and other competition regulations, officials preside over the court. These include line umpires, who are usually each assigned a line and will call if a shot lands outside a line or indicate if it was in. From 2025, the Live ELC technology…

  • US government considers the break-up of Google to end the tech giant’s monopoly in online search

    The US government has said it may ask a judge to force Alphabet’s Google to divest parts of its business, such as its Chrome browser and Android operating system, in order to eliminate its monopoly in online search. In a landmark case in August 2024, the US district court found Google liable for maintaining monopolies in US general search services and US general search text advertising. Specifically, the court found two violations as a result of Google’s illegal maintenance of monopolies in those two separate markets. With Amit Mehta, the judge who presided over the case, branding the tech giant a “monopolist”, the Department of Justice has now said it is “considering behavioural and structural remedies” to end Google’s monopoly in search. In its court filing on Tuesday, the department…

  • Europe’s largest photonic quantum computer unveiled by German scientists

    The Paderborn Quantum Sampler (PaQS) designed by German researchers marks a significant milestone in the development of light-based quantum technologies. Researchers at Paderborn University in Germany have developed the PAQs quantum computer as part of an initiative by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in partnership with private firms. While the field of quantum computing technology is still in its infancy, scientists believe that with its ability to solve problems that are unsolvable on classic computers, the technology could help power innovation in a range of fields, from drug discovery and smarter encryption software to manufacturing and AI. While scientists across the globe are researching quantum computing, developing robust systems is proving to be very challenging…

  • HS2 should terminate in central London, transport secretary says

    HS2 is still expected to terminate at London Euston rather than an outer borough of the capital, transport secretary Louise Haigh has indicated. Rumours have swirled in recent years that the UK’s largest rail project since the Victorian era would only reach Old Oak Common in west London because of the high cost of building the remaining few miles to Euston. The project has had a rocky few years since the previous Conservative government cancelled phase 2 of the railway from the West Midlands to Manchester. Weeks after taking power, the new Labour government also announced the cancellation of a swathe of infrastructure projects, including road and rail. While nothing attached to HS2 was explicitly cancelled in that announcement, the final section of HS2 – which will bring the line into…

  • Eccentric Engineer: How Francis Bacon’s downfall sparked a revolution in scientific thought

    Francis Bacon’s public downfall had a surprising result – his revolutionary idea of scientific investigation. Francis Bacon was neither a mathematician nor an experimental scientist, yet without him it is doubtful that engineering as we know it would exist today. Bacon was born into a wealthy section of a changing world, as the son of the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England and Anne Cooke, daughter of the Renaissance humanist Anthony Cooke. A bright boy, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1573 aged just 12, where he was personally tutored for three years by John Whitgift, the future Archbishop of Canterbury. Education at Cambridge at this time still followed the old medieval curriculum, conducted almost exclusively in Latin, but his time there did introduce him to two people…

  • Smart heat batteries offer an efficient low-carbon alternative to traditional home heating

    Comment: With many homes still reliant on fossil fuel heating systems, Johan du Plessis, CEO of Tepeo, a British clean tech company, looks at how smart heat batteries will help accelerate the transition to low-carbon heat while keeping the electricity grid in balance. According to a report published by the National Audit Office earlier this year, heating the UK’s 28 million homes accounted for 18% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2021. The main source of these emissions is from burning natural gas to heat homes. A low-carbon alternative to home heating presents itself in the form of domestic thermal energy storage (TES) or heat batteries. Electric storage heating technology such as night storage heaters, which store heat during off-peak hours and then release it gradually during…

  • Decision on £9bn Lower Thames Crossing delayed until May 2025

    The decision on whether to scrap the £9bn Lower Thames Crossing scheme between Kent and Essex has been delayed until May 2025, the Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed. It said it needed “more time for the application to be considered” as part of a series of broader spending reviews around transport infrastructure that have been taking place since the Labour Party took power in July. In September, campaigners urged the government to cancel £10.5bn in road projects and use the money to fund new rail and public transport projects. Around £9bn of this was earmarked for the Lower Thames Crossing, with the remaining £1.5bn being saved by cutting the A66 Northern Trans-Pennine scheme. First proposed in the late 2000s, the crossing is designed to relieve the pressure on the existing…

  • £266m worth of copper in UK’s unused or binned electrical items – new research

    UK households should go ‘urban mining’ and recycle unused cables, phone chargers and other old tech to help stave off a looming shortage of copper, says the Recycle Your Electricals campaign. Copper mines are struggling to produce enough of the red metal to meet growing global demand. Analysis from Bloomberg Intelligence shows an increasing gap between the amount of copper produced and demand for the raw product. It estimates that globally there will be a 6.5 million tonnes gap by 2033. However, the same report also identifies that better recycling of copper could potentially meet the additional demand. A recent study by Recycle Your Electricals, a UK-wide campaign from independent not-for-profit organisation Material Focus, shows that if UK households had to look in their ‘drawer of…

  • Risk of winter blackouts in the UK drops to lowest level since Ukraine conflict

    This winter the UK will have the lowest risk of electricity blackouts in four years despite the recent closure of the nation’s last coal-fired power plant and delays to the upcoming Hinkley Point C power plant. The National Energy System Operator (NESO) said that energy margins this season will be “adequate”, assuming that energy demand peaks around 60GW during the worst cold spell, and is more confident than it was in advance of the 2023/2024 winter. It said the higher year-on-year margin is driven by a new interconnection, growth in battery storage capacity and an increase in generation connected to the distribution networks. In April, National Grid turned on the Viking Link – the longest land and subsea cable in the world – that links the Danish electricity system with the UK. NESO…

  • Lab-grown meat approval process boosted by £1.6m funding for food regulator

    The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is to ensure that cell-cultivated products, including lab-grown steak, beef, chicken and foie gras, are safe to eat before being sold to UK consumers. The UK is one of the largest potential markets for cell-cultivated products (CCPs) in Europe but currently none are approved for human consumption. The FSA, in collaboration with Food Standards Scotland (FSS), has been awarded £1.6m from the government’s Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund to develop an efficient safety assessment process for CCPs. Demand for alternatives to regular meat is surging because of concerns about health, animal welfare and the environment. Meat and dairy farming contribute to a rise in the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. However, in most parts of the world, CCPs, which are…

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