• Sponsored: Decarbonising buildings through improving efficiency and renewables

    Buildings, which are concentrated in urban areas, are part of the emissions problem. They can also be part of the solution if they are sustainably constructed and responsibly maintained. Investors, designers, and facility managers can contribute to emissions reduction and help achieve the net-zero emissions target by adopting energy efficiency measures, digitalization, and using distributed energy resources (DERs) with a microgrid. New technologies that improve energy efficiency and standards such as IEC 60364-8-1 and IEC 60364-8-82 are available today. The challenge will be identifying and incorporating the best design solution and managing them effectively to capture the most value in terms of emissions reduction. Key Learning Points: Understand how new technologies like digital solution…

  • Bank financing for low carbon energy has stalled since 2016

    The data, produced for Sierra Club, Fair Finance International, BankTrack and Rainforest Action Network, indicates major failings by financial institutions to help meet global commitments on net zero emissions by 2050. This is despite that fact that many of them are part of the UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance which commits to aligning their lending and investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050. According to the industry-led Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), low-carbon energy investments need to account for at least 80 per cent of energy investments compared to fossil fuels (4:1) by 2030 to reach climate goals. “Many banks claim that they continue to provide financing for fossil-fuel clients in order to help those clients in their climate transition,” said…

  • UK unveils first fully autonomous bus service

    The UK's first zero-emission self-driving bus service has started a trial on public roads to serve Milton Park, a business, science and technology park located in Oxfordshire. The buses will be operated by First Bus, as part of a project to explore “the art of the possible”. The pilot project will analyse how passengers, drivers, other road users and pedestrians respond to autonomous buses, the company said.   The project involves two all-electric fully autonomous vehicles on public roads. The self-driving minibus is already in operation, with a full-size single-decker to be added later this year for journeys between the park and Didcot Parkway railway station.  The £4.3m project received a £3m grant from the government alongside commercial and private sector funding. …

  • Data and AI projects to help NHS tackle winter crisis

    These projects have been launched by Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) with funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). One of the projects would use  AI to "digitally mimic" households struggling with the impact of the cost of the living crisis to understand the effects of cold homes on health , while another looks at helping reduce ambulance wait times.  Other studies also include using hospital data to speed up patient flow through emergency departments, as well as using machine learning to predict peaks of infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – a common bug that can cause serious illness in young children. The 16 projects were selected in December 2022 and are expected to deliver findings by the end of March. Despite the tight deadline, the…

  • Worst energy suppliers for household support named

    So far, £5.7bn has been provided to 99 per cent of households in Great Britain through the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS), with 71 per cent of all prepayment vouchers redeemed. Figures released today reveal the voucher redemption rates for the EBSS broken down by supplier. E Gas and Electricity is at the top, with an 85 per cent success rate, with soon-to-be-defunct Bulb coming in second at 79 per cent. The fewest redemptions include Good Energy, Utilita and Scottish Power, with the government calling on them and others to make sure they are doing all they can to ensure that customers with prepayment meters know what to look out for and how to redeem their vouchers. EBSS is designed so that customers receive the discount in the same way they pay their energy bills, such as via direct…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • UK Space Agency announces £50m for next-gen satellite coverage

    The agency said projects could be integrated with 5G networks for upgraded infrastructure that enables new services such as drones, driverless haulage and space-based networks that could rival cable-based terrestrial ones. Britain is currently the leading non-US manufacturer of satellites, with 47,000 people employed in its space industry and plans to develop multiple potential microlaunch sites, including two vertical launchpads in Scotland. Companies receiving the new funding could help to pave the way for services that can provide better-quality connectivity in remote and hard-to-reach places; higher bandwidth; lower latency, and increased security. The government has previously been warned that rural areas that cannot access superfast internet speeds will be left behind the rest of…

  • UK ploughs millions into chemical recycling research despite greenwashing claims

    Figures obtained by E&T through freedom of information rules show that £18,534,000 was awarded to chemical recycling projects by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) between 2018-2022. Chemical recycling is a broad term used to describe a range of technologies which the petrochemical sector claims can recycle plastic that is traditionally difficult to deal with mechanically by turning plastic waste back into its molecular building blocks. By far the most prevalent type of chemical recycling, pyrolysis, is a process in which plastics are broken down into a range of basic hydrocarbons by heating in the absence of oxygen. The primary product is pyrolysis oil, which can be refined into fuels or further processed to create chemicals or plastic. Gasification uses high temperatures with low volumes…

  • National Grid warms up three coal plants during cold snap

    Britain’s electricity generators have been forced to warm up coal-fired power stations for the second time this winter.  The ESO (Electricity System Operator) branch of the National Grid said the three generators - two at Drax's site in North Yorkshire and one at West Burton in Lincolnshire - will not necessarily be needed, but that the instructions were given in preparation for tighter supply margins during the cold snap.  The plants on standby were originally set for retirement, but their lives were extended through this winter in a bid to boost supplies amid energy security fears. “Our forecasts show electricity supply margins are expected to be tighter than normal on Monday evening,” the ESO said. “We have instructed coal-fired power units to be available to increase electricity supplies…

  • Pakistan suffers nationwide power outage

    Pakistan suffered a nationwide power outage that left nearly 220 million people without electricity for several hours today (Monday January 23) due to a technical fault. The country’s Ministry of Energy said in a statement the system frequency of the country’s National Grid went down at 7.34am local time.  “System maintenance work is progressing rapidly,” the tweet added. All the country's major urban centres were affected by the outages, including the biggest city Karachi, the capital Islamabad, as well as Lahore and Peshawar. Energy minister Khurram Dastgir Khan told a local TV channel that the national grid switches off power-generation units temporarily at night during the winter to save fuel costs. However, this measure left  technicians unable to boot up the system all at after…

  • UK lagging behind rivals on green growth, CBI warns

    The body, which represents British businesses, said the UK is has lost out on estimated £4.3bn of green growth market value in Europe alone and in April will fall from 5th to 30th place in OECD table on tax competitiveness. It urged the government to bring forward market-making mechanisms like Contracts for Difference (CfD) that have “proven success” in the renewables sector and could be applied to other technologies like hydrogen, carbon capture and sustainable aviation fuels. CfDs incentivise investment in renewable energy by providing direct protection to developers of projects with high upfront costs and long lifetimes against volatile wholesale prices. The government should also use regulation to stimulate domestic demand for green technologies as is being done for electric vehicles…

  • View from India: Cheetah tourism, anyone?

    Long and slender bodied, cheetahs are the world’s fastest animal. The swift-moving spotted cat had occupied parts of Central India. They were officially declared extinct in 1952 due to extensive hunting as well as ecological changes. The present generation may not have seen cheetahs. Now this could be slated to change. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh (MP) has issued an official statement that MP may start cheetah tourism in February. The cheetah is the world’s fastest land animal, capable of speeds touching 70 miles (112km) an hour. It’s a sight to behold and they are being introduced in India through Project Cheetah. As indicated by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) this is the world’s first inter-continental large wild carnivore translocation project. In October…

  • View from Brussels: Rail travel gets New Year boost

    Supporting Ukraine’s resistance against Russia’s invasion was the main theme of a meeting between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron this weekend, but other issues also made it onto the agenda. Rail fans will be delighted to hear that the two leaders wholeheartedly back plans to link the capital cities of their nations by high-speed rail, which would theoretically allow travellers to reach Berlin or Paris within seven hours. Currently, high-speed travel requires a change at stations such as Cologne or Frankfurt, padding the journey time out to more than eight hours. By regular intercity trains, the trip can take more than eleven hours. Flights between the two capitals take just under two hours, but with transfers to suburban airports and waiting times factored…

  • New emperor penguin colony uncovered by satellite

    The newly discovered colony, announced to mark Penguin Awareness Day, brings the total number of known emperor penguin breeding sites around the coastline of Antarctica to 66 - half  of which were discovered by space satellites The colony is located at Verleger Point, West Antarctica,  at 74° 42’ S, 136° 11’W , and has around 500 birds. The site was identified thanks to penguin guano stains visible in images from the European Commission’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite mission. These were then compared to high-resolution images from the MAXAR WorldView3 satellite for confirmation.  A new emperor penguin colony has been discovered in Antarctica using satellite mapping technology Image credit: MAXAR Technologies 2023/BAS Emperor penguins are the biggest of the

  • Google parent company Alphabet axes 12,000 jobs globally

    Google’s parent firm Alphabet has said it will cut about 12,000 jobs worldwide, becoming the latest player in the technology industry to significantly reduce its workforce.  The news was revealed in an email to Google employees that was later shared in a company blog post . The job cuts represent about 6 per cent of the group's global workforce and will affect "roles across product areas, functions, levels and regions", according to Sundar Pichai, Alphabet's CEO.  Similarly to the leaders of Amazon and Microsoft, Pichai c ited a changing "economic reality" as the reason for the layoffs. The explanation made a veiled reference to the looming global recession and the changes in consumer behaviour following the Covid-19 pandemic.  "Over the past two years we’ve seen periods of dramatic…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Boeing receives Nasa award for greener, more fuel-efficient airliner of future

    Under a Funded Space Act Agreement, Boeing will work with Nasa to build, test and fly a full-scale demonstrator aircraft and validate technologies aimed at lowering emissions. Nasa will invest $425m over the next seven years, while Boeing and its partners will contribute the remainder of the agreement funding, estimated to be around $725m. As part of the agreement, the agency also will contribute technical expertise and facilities. “Since the beginning, Nasa has been with you when you fly. Nasa has dared to go farther, faster, higher. And in doing so, Nasa has made aviation more sustainable and dependable. It is in our DNA,” said Nasa administrator Bill Nelson (pictured below). “It’s our goal that Nasa’s partnership with Boeing to produce and test a full-scale demonstrator will help lead…

  • Government pledges £32.5m to decarbonise industry

    The second phase of the Red Diesel Replacement Competition will provide a £32.5m funding package to support innovative projects that are developing greener energy alternatives, the government has announced. The funding is expected to be focused on greener alternatives to red diesel such as electrification and green hydrogen, providing a pathway for industry to cut  emissions and energy costs.  Red diesel - also known as gas oil - is a type of fossil fuel commonly used for off-road, heavy-duty vehicles and machinery, such as bulldozers and cranes. In April 2022, the government made changes to red diesel eligibility, restricting the use of the fuel in most sectors, as a way to pave a path towards net zero. In September of that year, the Red Diesel Replacement Competition was launched to…

  • UK to bring in deposit return scheme for plastic bottles and drink cans from 2025

    The scheme will cover England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is set to be introduced in 2025. Scotland already brought in legislation in 2020 for its own deposit returns scheme, which will see consumers paying a 20p deposit for every bottle or can from August this year. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said the new legislation follows “extensive work with industry” to prepare them for the necessary changes including setting up infrastructure and amending labelling. The introduction of a DRS has been planned since 2018 and was initially due to be launched in 2023, but this was delayed until late 2024 and now 2025. The scheme would include special machines, known as reverse vending machines, and designated sites where people can return their bottles and receive their…

  • EU countries urge bloc to set end date for new CO2-emitting trucks

    The European Commission is set to propose tougher CO 2 standards next month for heavy goods vehicles to comply with the bloc's climate change goals. It has already set more ambitious targets for cars, including a 2035 deadline for all new cars sold in Europe to have zero CO 2 emissions. Next month's EU proposal should set a 100 per cent zero-emissions target for heavy duty vehicles, the four countries said. They did not specify a target date, but said it must comply with the EU's goal to have zero net greenhouse gas emissions across its economy by 2050. "The upcoming revision of the CO 2 standards for HDVs [heavy duty vehicles] provides a unique opportunity to send a strong signal to the market and incentivise a timely transition," the countries said in a joint document, published today…

  • AI walking stick helps blind people to navigate

    The researchers said the walking stick could one day help blind people carry out tasks from shopping for a box of cereal at the grocery store to picking a private place to sit in a crowded cafeteria. The white-and-red walking stick includes a camera and computer vision technology to help it map and catalogue the world around it. It then guides users by using vibrations in the handle and with spoken directions, such as “reach a little bit to your right”. “AI and computer vision are improving, and people are using them to build self-driving cars and similar inventions,” said doctoral student Shivendra Agrawal. “But these technologies also have the potential to improve quality of life for many people. “Imagine you’re in a café,” he added. “You don’t want to sit just anywhere. You usually…

  • The eccentric engineer: diving to Pluto

    Getting people and machinery to France was in some ways the easy bit of D-Day. Keeping them supplied when they got there was a lot harder. The War Office estimated that 60 per cent of all supplies by weight needed in France took the form of petrol and oil alone, so how were they going to get it there? The obvious solution was tankers, but there were concerns that deep-water facilities in Europe would be destroyed and shallow-draught ships might struggle in the choppy waters of the English Channel, especially under enemy fire. Some fuel could be brought in jerrycans – 20 million of which were prepared for the journey – but what was needed was a backup and that took the form of one of the war’s most overlooked engineering marvels: Pluto – the PipeLine Under The Ocean. Laying a pipeline across…

  • View from Brussels: MEPs want more video-game regulation

    According to a report authored by the Parliament, there should be harmonised rules that allow parents in particular to know more about the content of the games their children play, as well as the amount of money they spend while playing the game. Features like loot boxes – which offer players a random selection of virtual items – and gold-farming – which allows players to exchange in-game currency for real-life money – have become commonplace in modern games. However, there are concerns that younger gamers in particular can be targeted by these features and that gold-farming could be linked to financial crimes and human rights abuses. MEPs are keen to draw a line in the sand as a result. The report calls on the European Commission – the executive branch of the EU – to come up with a video…

  • Book interview: ‘All in on AI’ by Thomas Davenport

    When it comes to recognising what artificial intelligence can do for their businesses “most companies are just scratching the surface”, says Thomas H Davenport, co-author of ‘All in on AI’. “They have a few pilots or proofs of concept under way that don’t really have any substantial impact on their businesses,” he continues. “But in our book, we describe the extreme adopters: those who are doing many things with AI, some of which have the potential to transform their strategies, business models or key business processes.” Observing these “highly aggressive” companies will give other, more reluctant adopters, ideas about how they should proceed with AI, he argues. Subtitled ‘How Smart Companies Win Big with Artificial Intelligence’, the book’s message could not be clearer. Whichever way…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Crown Estate signs deal to build six offshore wind farms

    The Crown Estate has signed deals with four energy companies to build offshore wind farms that could help decarbonise the UK's energy grid.  The proceeds from the wind farms - estimated to be around £1bn per year - will be used for the “wider public good”, rather than as a funding boost for the monarchy, the King has announced.  The deals have been struck between the Crown Estate and companies including BP, Total and Germany’s RWE, and were greenlit by then-business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng in July 2022. The leases have now been signed for the six wind farms, which have a generation capacity of 8 gigawatts (GW). Three of the projects are off the coast of North Wales, Cumbria and Lancashire and the other three are in the North Sea, off Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The Crown Estate – an…

  • UK government hits targets for decarbonising car fleet

    According to the Department for Transport (DfT), some 25.5 per cent of all government cars are now low-emission vehicles. This comes ahead of plans to make the entire fleet fully zero emission by 2027. Greening commitments set by Defra from 2021 to 2025 required that a minimum of a quarter of its car fleet be switched to ultra-low emission vehicles by the end of 2022. The 25.5 per cent figure was reached in September, just 3 months ahead of schedule. Technology and decarbonisation minister Jesse Norman said: “As the UK moves towards a cleaner transport network, the government is doing its part, with over 25 per cent of its central car fleet being battery-powered three months earlier than planned. “It’s critical that progress in decarbonising fleets is matched elsewhere. We will continue…

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