• Fast, silent and smooth - electric revolution hits the water

    Outside the rarefied and highly specialised world of top-of-the-range racing yachts, the world of leisure boating has, until recently, been slow to innovate. After a three-year Covid-induced hiatus, Boot Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf International Boat Show) opened to the public in late January 2023. One of the largest exhibitions of its kind in the world, over 1,700 exhibitors showcase their latest designs to the trade and well-​heeled clients. From super-yachts to sailboats, many new vessels were on show. Most exhibitors were displaying incremental improvements, but Swedish company Candela went back to basics and presented a completely redesigned powerboat and won out at the Oscars of the boat world in the powerboat class. Unlike many other designers at the show, who were displaying prototypes…

  • UK urged to ‘transform’ 11 ports to support floating offshore wind boom

    A report by the Global Wind Energy Council's (GWEC) Floating Offshore Wind Taskforce contains a series of recommendations which could see 34 gigawatts (GW) of floating wind installed in UK waters by 2040 if “decisive action” is taken by the government. Ministers have so far set a target to install just 5GW by 2030, despite plans to fully decarbonise electricity generation by 2035. The UK currently has the biggest project pipeline in the world of 37GW of floating wind technology, around one-fifth of the global pipeline. Floating wind farms can be built in deeper waters, further from the coast, where wind speeds are even higher. To enable the UK to scale up, the report recommends developing ports as soon as possible by investing £4bn to ensure they are ready for mass floating wind deployment…

  • Optimised propeller design cuts noise pollution from electric aircraft

    Electric aviation typically has to battle with the dilemma that the more energy-efficient an electric aircraft is, the noisier it gets. Electrification is seen as a way to reduce emissions from aviation in the future, but due to the challenges posed by longer ranges, interest is chiefly focused on electric propeller planes covering shorter distances. Propellers connected to electric motors are considered the most efficient propulsion system for regional and domestic flights but often create a lot of noise pollution. This noise not only disturbs air passengers but also those on the ground, as electric aircraft will need to fly at relatively low altitudes, with noise disturbance reaching residential areas and animal life. “We can see that the more blades a propeller has, the lower the…

  • Book review: ‘The Soviet Century’ by Karl Schlögel

    Among all the 18 chapters and 60-odd subchapters of this formidable volume, there’s one section conspicuous by its absence – the Soviet Union’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine. Before you rush in to correct me that it was not the Soviet Union but Russia that brutally invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, let me assure you that this isn’t a Freudian (or any other) slip on my part. My ‘mistake’ is deliberate - having spent 35 years of my life in that very ‘USSR’ I have good reason to assert that modern Russia is a logical successor and a legitimate heir of the Soviet Union, differing only in its somewhat diminished territory as well as its official name. The country that so treacherously and so unnecessarily attacked its ‘brotherly’ fellow-Slavic neighbour, remains in essence the same totalitarian…

  • Meta to lay off 10,000 employees in fresh round of cuts

    The latest losses are the second round of swingeing job cuts in less than six months, after the firm laid off 11,000 employees in November 2022. Representing roughly 13 per cent of its global work force, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg justified the cuts by saying that 2023 would be a “year of efficiency” for the firm. At its peak last year, Meta had 87,000 full-time employees. The forthcoming round of layoffs will affect its recruiting team this week, with a restructuring of its tech and business groups to come in April and May, Zuckerberg said in a memo. The next couple of months will also see restructuring plans focused on “flattening” the organisation, cancelling lower priority projects, and reducing its hiring rates. He also talked about improving organisational efficiency…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Hands-on review: Vactidy Blitz V8 cordless vacuum cleaner

    A(nother) new Chinese brand of home electronics launches, with a company name apparently based on a portmanteau word intended to encapsulate the core functionality of its products, kind of like a headphone company calling itself EarsMusic. As it turns out, Vactidy is actually a sub-brand of the more established parent company Proscenic, a number of whose own-brand vacuum cleaners we have previously enjoyed. Not that there's an awful lot to distinguish Vactidy products from those of Proscenic. Vactidy's Nimble T6 robot vacuum cleaner, for example, looks an awful lot like Proscenic's 850T robot vacuum cleaner and its cordless stick vacuums also clearly share design genes. Image credit: Vactidy With a name as specific as Vactidy, at least, we have to assume it's…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • UK has its ‘fingers in its ears’ on green investment, think thank says

    The UK must learn "urgent lessons" to avoid losing the global green race, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). The think tank has noted what it perceives as the government's "unwillingness to invest" in its industrial strategy.  The IPPR has called on the UK to put in place policies similar to those of the US and the EU in order to remain competitive in the renewables industry.  “The UK is in urgent need of renewal," IPPR said. “The country faces a series of challenges from stagnation and inequality, risks to national and energy security, to the climate and nature crises. Together they threaten to undermine the UK’s path to a sustainable economic future. “While our international competitors are deploying public investment and using industrial strategy to take…

  • US, UK and Australia will build nuclear submarines to ‘keep oceans free’

    The UK, US and Australia will work together “keeping our oceans free” with a new generation of nuclear-powered attack submarines, the three nations have announced, in what was perceived as an effort to counter China's maritime power.  The pact will allow Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines for the first time, using technology provided by the US and designs by British experts. As part of the agreement, the UK will also build next-generation submarines, which are expected to be in operation for the Royal Navy by the late 2030s. The boats will replace the UK’s seven Astute-class subs, although the government has not specified how many will be ordered.   The submarines have been described as the "largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal…

  • Smart homes offer solutions for seniors aging in place

    The luxury apartment has a collection of devices to die for. The smart lights, plugs, blinds and smarter coffee maker are voice-activated by Alexa on an Amazon Echo Show and linked up to the Withings bed sensor via an If This Then That app. “When you go to bed at night and it feels your weight going on the sensor, it will turn the lights off for you,” explains Kerry Stack, research and innovation lead at ExtraCare. “In the morning, when you get out of bed, the coffee machine will switch on and the lights will come on. By the time you come back from the bathroom, your coffee is brewed, and the blinds are open.” Welcome to the innovation apartment at Solihull Village, the latest development to be opened by The ExtraCare Charitable Trust, which describes itself as the UK’s leading not-for…

  • Shutdown of two nuclear power stations delayed until 2026

    Heysham 1 and Hartlepool nuclear power stations (pictured) are now expected to close in March 2026 – two years later than previously forecast. The extensions are expected to add 6TWh to Centrica’s electricity generation volumes between 2024 and 2026 which equates to around 70 per cent of Centrica’s total nuclear volumes in 2022, the company said in a regulatory announcement to investors. The extension comes amid turbulence and high prices in the gas and power markets following the invasion of Ukraine. The plants have a combined capacity of 2.3 gigawatts and currently provide around 5 per cent of Britain’s power supply. Hartlepool, which has been generating energy since 1983, was originally expected to shut down in 2009 but was given permission by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate…

  • Motoring into the IE5 era for energy efficiency

    Motors convert electrical energy into mechanical energy to drive parts. Today, they are ubiquitous, with estimates of over eight billion electric motors in use in the EU alone. They come in all sizes for use in homes, offices, factories, hospital equipment and factory equipment. They are estimated to account for over 50 per cent of global electricity consumption, and with rising fuel prices, energy-efficient operation has become an economic as well as an environmental issue. Making more energy-efficient motors available will contribute to reduced CO2 emissions and help countries achieve net-zero targets. Industrial motors are used to control torque and speed on conveyor belts, robotic arms, automated guided vehicles and in compressors to regulate the volume of air, gas or liquid running…

  • How the eVTOL industry overpromised on green

    Last year, while moving through the hordes of people at the first Farnborough Air Show in four years, it quickly became clear that a certain genre of stand had stolen the show. Huge crowds gathered to sit in model cockpits or walk around the fuselages of retired prototypes. Their promises were radical – a greener way to fly and the potential for a zero-emission aviation industry. According to the marketing material at least, this had the potential to change everything. Electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, or eVTOLs, represent a substantial leap forward in the aviation industry’s path to net zero. Due to limitations in battery technology, electrifying aircraft is no easy feat. The energy density of lithium-ion batteries is around 50 times less than that of jet fuel and thus makes…

  • Government aims to to ‘supercharge’ tech growth with 12 new investment zones

    The government is expected to provide £80m over the next five years to each of the new investment zones. The funds  can be directed towards tax relief for businesses, training and infrastructure. Officials said the Investment Zone plan is designed to accelerate research and development in the UK’s “most budding industries”. The announcement was made by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on Monday, but he is expected to unveil more details in tomorrow’s Spring Statement . The project is a scaled-down version of a plan first designed under former Prime Minister, Liz Truss, and has been framed under Hunt's ambitions to turn the UK into “the next Silicon Valley “. "True levelling up must be about local wealth creation and local decision-making to unblock obstacles to regeneration," Hunt said in a statement…

  • Machine-learning system sorts compostable from conventional plastic waste

    Compostable plastics, which are engineered to biodegrade under controlled conditions, have been increasing in popularity in recent years, but often look identical to conventional plastics and therefore get recycled incorrectly. Conventional plastic samples included PP and PET, often used for food containers and drinking bottles, as well as LDPE which is often used for plastic bags and packaging. Compostable plastic samples included PLA and PBAT, used for cup lids, tea bags and magazine wraps, as well as palm-leaf and sugarcane, both biomass-derived materials used to produce packaging. The samples were divided into a training set, used to build classification models, and a testing set, used to check accuracy. The researchers worked with different types of plastics measuring between 50mm…

  • Geothermal energy could provide electricity while capturing carbon emissions

    Using Geothermal-Bioenergy and Carbon Capture and Sequestration (BECCS) as an energy source could positively impact the environment, new research has shown.  Karan Titus, UC civil and natural resources engineering PhD student, has investigated this type of energy, and how it can be harnessed to remove carbon from the atmosphere.  The BECCS process involves  taking hot water from geothermal reservoirs and burning forestry waste to superheat it – generating electricity. The geothermal water is then injected back underground along with the CO 2  produced from the burning wood. “We are creating more clean, renewable energy, while indirectly removing CO 2 from the atmosphere," Titus said.  “We can also generate significantly more renewable energy using this process when compared to traditional…

  • UK risks ‘squandering’ its electric vehicle lead, industry body warns

    The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that while almost every EV component is already built in UK plants, the capacity needs to be scaled up rapidly to secure the sector’s long-term future. The SMMT wants the government to shore up Britain’s ability to compete as other countries increase backing for their own automotive sectors. This includes initiatives such as the US' $370bn (£306bn) Inflation Reduction Act and the EU's Green Deal Industrial Plan. The SMMT has set out a blueprint, dubbed the 'Green Automotive Transformation' strategy, designed to position Britain as one of the world’s most competitive locations for advanced automotive manufacturing. The UK plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, but MPs have warned that the government faces…

  • Meta working on social media platform to rival Twitter, reports say

    Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has revealed it is working on a new social network solely designed for sharing text updates. The new app could become the most high-profile rival to Twitter and Mastodon. The former has been rife with chaos since Musk's aggressive takeover, with the company struggling to hold onto its advertising base amid large-scale staff layoffs and a succession of outages for the platform. Meta's news was first reported by Money Control, citing Meta sources, with further details subsequently revealed by Platformer. Following these early reports, Meta confirmed the project. "We're exploring a standalone decentralised social network for sharing text updates," a Meta spokesperson said. "We believe there's an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Clean up your act: greenwashing in sport

    At a recent event run by the Global Sustainability Benchmark in Sports, Christian Hartmann, the company’s CEO, asked experts from a law firm what they saw for the future of sustainability in sport. “I was thinking they would say regulators and governments will start to set reporting standards [for things like emissions]”. Instead, the legal experts told him: “We’re expecting more lawsuits, because these organisations are claiming something that is not actually the case.” The claims those lawyers described can broadly be categorised as ‘greenwashing’. This is the idea that sports events, leagues, and individual clubs around the world are making a lot of noise about environmental initiatives which fail to stand up to scrutiny. If they continue claiming to be eco-friendly without being so, then…

  • Interview: Matheu Parr, ACCEL project lead, Rolls-Royce

    Describing the event as “a momentous occasion” and an “incredible achievement”, Matheu Parr recalls how Rolls-Royce Electrical’s demonstrator aircraft Spirit of Innovation set three world records. On 16 November 2021 the ACCEL (short for Accelerating the Electrification of Flight) project delivered top speeds over distances of 3km and 15km, and for the fastest 3,000m climb. With the records verified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the aircraft reached a top speed of 623km/h (387.4mph), making it the world’s fastest all-electric vehicle. The success of the government-backed project prompted the then UK business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to state that Spirit of Innovation would help to make electric flight part of everyday life, while stimulating the production of “cleaner, greener…

  • How to talk about climate action

    We know what must be done to combat climate change and the cost of failing to do so. We have known for decades, and yet the world is heading towards catastrophic heating of 2.7°C. Writing in 2020, Sir David Attenborough said: “Saving our planet is now a communications challenge. We know what to do, we just need the will.” This prompts the question: how we can rise to that challenge? According to the IPCC, the world’s leading scientific authority on climate change, we must almost halve global emissions by 2030 to keep warming within 1.5°C. Instead, we are on track to increase global emissions. To feel hopeless is not irrational. A 2022 survey conducted in 27 countries identified 20 per cent of respondents as climate ‘defeatists’ (believes humanity can reduce climate change but will fail…

  • Dott to refurbish its rental e-scooters in bid to cut emissions

    Initially taking place in Lyon, Dott’s e-scooters will undergo a complete refurbishment, extending their current three years of service by a further four years. By reaching a total lifespan of seven years, the programme avoids manufacturing and transporting new vehicles, which will reduce Dott’s carbon emissions by nearly 50 per cent, the firm said. Last year, the government legalised the private use of e-scooters in a move aimed at improving road safety and lowering the UK’s overall carbon emissions from transport. This is despite warnings from some campaigners that the vehicles are dangerous following a freedom of information request which revealed that accidents had rocketed by around 82 per cent from 2020 to 2021. Dott said its teams of mechanics plan to fully refurbish over 2,000…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • HSBC buys Silicon Valley Bank UK in rescue deal

    The UK government has struck a last-minute rescue deal for SVB UK, as it aims to reassure the thousands of science and technology companies that have accounts with the bank.  The news follows the implosion of California-based Silicon Valley Bank, which US regulators shut on Friday.  The collapse of SVB - which had an estimated $2.9tn of assets - has been described as the biggest financial crash of an individual bank since 2008.  After frantic weekend talks between the government, regulators, and prospective buyers, it was agreed that the UK arm of the collapsed bank would be acquired by HSBC for a symbolic £1.   The acquisition made “excellent strategic sense” and would complete immediately, said HSBC’s chief executive Noel Quinn. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed the sale on Twitter…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • The bigger picture: Danuri lunar orbiter

    A South Korean spacecraft has captured stunning new images of the lunar surface and Planet Earth. Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, also known as Danuri, is South Korea’s first ever spacecraft to orbit the Moon. Launched on a SpaceX rocket from the US in August 2022, it began travelling towards the Moon and was inserted into lunar orbit late in December. The precise detail of the camera on board the lunar orbiter means it is possible to see craters on the lunar surface from close-up, as well as the vast size of Earth in the background. The images are a test of the lunar orbiter, which itself is a major test of South Korea’s plans to explore space. Image credit: Cover Images Such images of the Moon will allow scientists to find a landing location for future exploration…

  • Where have all the batteries gone?

    The collapse of battery manufacturer Britishvolt and its plans to build a new gigafactory sent a message to the emerging electric vehicle industry that mass production of EVs in the UK may no longer be viable. Even now, with the plant under new ownership, the focus for the time being at least is on making batteries for energy storage and the defence industry, rather than for EVs. With domestic car production down to its lowest level for 66 years, what can the industry do to adapt and overcome this latest setback? The transition to EVs is gaining momentum year-on-year, and without significant investment, the UK could fall behind other countries. From a tier-one supplier’s perspective, the lack of a clear EV proposition that includes battery manufacturing capabilities makes the UK a less…

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