• Circular economy around offshore wind 'could create 20,000 Scottish jobs'

    The ‘ End of Life Materials Mapping for Offshore Wind in Scotland ’ report, produced by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland, has identified the vast quantity of materials needed to develop the Scottish offshore wind market. The report also highlights how these materials could be refurbished, remanufactured and recycled from wind turbine decommissioning to reduce waste and generate economic opportunities. The report considers how the offshore wind sector could develop between now and 2050. It sets out the huge supply chain opportunity created by the volume of projected growth across Scotland as a result of the Scottish Government target to increase capacity to 11GW of offshore wind in Scotland by 2030, the ScotWind leasing round, and the…

  • View from Brussels: EU is making a lithium rod for its own back

    The current generation of battery technology requires lithium, so as electric vehicle sales constantly increase and more renewable energy comes online - requiring storage - demand is only set to increase. In 2020, the European Union added lithium to its list of critical raw materials, which is reserved for materials that are either essential to EU policy goals or which face supply shortages. In lithium’s case, it was the first criteria that secured its inclusion. Brussels has big plans to snag a chunk of the global battery-production market, by increasing both manufacturing of the final product and the mining and refining of raw materials. The likes of France and Germany have started to stump up billions of euros to build gigafactories as demand for vehicles in particular increases, while…

  • Retailer warns of emissions caused by ‘shipping air’ to UK homes

    Every year, 85 million m 3 of air – enough to fill 34,000 Olympic swimming pools – is being shipped to UK homes, according to a study commissioned by packaging giant DS Smith.  This "air-commerce", as the research dubs it, is caused by packaging companies using oversized boxes to package items bought by UK customers, resulting in the use of 9,291 extra tonnes of cardboard – at a cost of £39.4 million and 480 million m 2 of plastic tape – an area approximately the size of West Yorkshire. The use of oversized packaging is not only cost-inefficient but also produces high levels of carbon emissions.  According to DS Smith, UK 'air-commerce' is responsible for generating 86,071 tonnes of excess carbon dioxide emissions annually, equivalent to nearly 5 million online delivery journeys.  …

  • After All: Call it ‘ex-cru-dition’, or ‘exped-ruise’ – the journey was still great!

    “Dear expedition members! Good morning!” The loud velvety voice of David Berg, the expedition leader, coming from a carefully concealed and un-switch-off-able intercom (like a KGB bugging device) is filling my spacious cabin. It is 6am, and initially everything in me rebels against waking up. I want to stay in my super-comfortable king-size bed, to keep being rocked gently by the ocean waves, soothed even further by the ship’s cutting-edge stabilisers. But my travel-hungry mind is already half-awake and ready for another day of adventures and close encounters with the magnificent wild nature of the remote Scottish islands. The question that is bothering me now is whether the Zodiac landing on the island of St Kilda (or Foula, or Staffa) is going to be ‘wet’ or ‘dry’, and that should dictate…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Leaked ‘Uber Files’ reveal company lobbied politicians and dodged laws for years

    An unprecedented leak of over 124,000 documents obtained by The Guardian and dubbed the "Uber Files" have shed light on the ethically questionable practices that fuelled the ride-hailing company’s global growth. The leak spans a five-year period when Uber was run by its co-founder  Travis Kalanick. The documents reveal that the company lobbied political leaders, billionaires and oligarchs and breached local laws and taxi regulations in order to take its cab-hailing service into cities around the world.  The files include 83,000 emails and 1,000 other documents involving conversations between Kalanick and his top team of executives, as well as international lobbyists, spanning 2013 to 2017.  The files involve top political figures such as French President Emmanuel Macron and ex-EU digital…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Satellite-based 5G network to provide global coverage for smartphones

    The firms hope their network will allow smartphones to access a 5G connection almost anywhere on Earth and provide complete global coverage for wideband data services, including places normally only covered by legacy satellite phone systems with limited data-connectivity capabilities. The benefits of 5G connectivity via low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites are expected to include coverage in extreme geographies or remote areas across seas, oceans and other locations where terrestrial coverage is absent. It is envisaged that the widespread connectivity will boost 5G smartphone subscriber roaming service capabilities, as well as enabling global connectivity for transportation, energy and health sector 5G use cases. The space-based network could also be used as back-up support for terrestrial…

  • Sponsored: 3D printing carbon fibre for lightweighting and metal replacement

    Join Stratasys engineer, Matt Jones, as he deep-dives common applications, design considerations and real-world case studies of 3D printing carbon fibre parts in traditional industries and manufacturing environments. Expect to also hear how production grade 3D printers offer the high level of reliability, accuracy, and repeatability that today’s manufacturers need. Finally, we will walk a virtual manufacturing production line to identify tooling, jigs, fixtures, and production parts along the way and show the comparison between traditional and additive manufacturing. The webinar will feature real world examples of companies and applications from a wide variety of industries including automotive, aerospace and precision engineering firms. To find out how you might benefit, proven methods…

  • Hans Blix: The engineer of peace

    Sweden has long been an outpost of peace in Europe. The Nordic country has not experienced war in over 200 years. In the 20th century, Swedish statesmen have been great peace brokers and humanitarians. I am in Stockholm to interview perhaps the last of their breed, Hans Blix. Former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the former Iraq War weapons inspector, he was world-famous 20 years ago for stopping moves that would have given legal cover to the Anglo-American war on Iraq. Perhaps our long-planned interview is exquisitely badly timed, as the Iraq war has faded into history and now there is another conflict in Ukraine, with a clear villain that occupies all our attention. On the other hand, maybe it is useful to have a broader perspective and realise that other great powers…

  • Collapse of energy firms could cost households £164 each

    The charity Citizens Advice said the total bill for the broad collapse of energy firms in the wake of soaring oil and gas prices stands at about £4.6bn nationally. Some customers were also found to have missed out on credit refunds, as well as struggling to fix inaccurate bills in the process of switching to a new provider. While smaller energy firms that collapsed typically entered into administration and had their customers moved to a new provider, Bulb’s sizable customer base meant it was too big for the government to allow it to go through the normal process that suppliers entered. The taxpayer bailout was the biggest since Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Halifax Bank of Scotland in the 2008 financial crisis. The charity called on the government to “urgently review…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Elon Musk attempts to pull out of $44bn Twitter takeover deal

    Tesla and SpaceX owner Elon Musk is seeking to end his $44bn (£36bn) bid to buy Twitter. In a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, the billionaire's team allege that the social media company had breached the agreement with Musk by providing “false and misleading” statements regarding the number of spam and bot accounts on the platform.  The announcement is the latest twist in a long-running saga after the world's richest person announced hit intention to buy Twitter in April 2022, only to place the deal "on hold" the following month.  However, the billionaire might still be forced to go through with the acquisition. Shortly after Musk's filing was made public, Twitter's chairman Bret Taylor publicly revealed the company's intention to pursue legal action to enforce the agreement…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Bizarre Tech: Building Brick Waffle Maker, Petvation Smart Door and Hunting Game Box

    Building Brick Electric Waffle Maker Let’s make a waffle kingdom!!! I am a massive waffle fan. I don’t, however, have a waffle maker, otherwise I would forever be eating them and staying inside. Because waffles are so much better than having a social life. Anyway, this product seems to encourage you to play with your food, which is pretty much not what I’ve been instructed to do my entire life, but hey. The Building Brick Electric Waffle Maker creates 14 interlocking building-brick-shaped wafflies. You can stack them up and make structures like towers, houses, or spaceships. You could even cut the little pieces up and make dragons or waffle monsters. I’m not sure how well the interlocking of the bits would work, unless you like your waffles solid as... well... bricks. The Waffle Maker…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • As industry goes all-in on automation, what happens next?

    While the world put itself on hold for much of the past two years, I found myself busier than ever – collaborating with various global companies to urgently accelerate their automation strategies. Now, with plenty of interested parties keen to play catch up, I’m often asked for my take on the state of the nation in automation. My answer? It’s exciting times, but there are plenty more challenges to face. Let me explain. In recent years when we talked about automation in industry, the conversations were predominantly focused on manufacturing, specifically in high-volume lines in the automotive industry. That world is history. Industry is all-in on automation as businesses scramble to realise new use cases from retail, logistics, wholesale and warehousing to pharma, medical devices and the broader…

  • View from India: Private space tourism could redefine recreation

    The Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (In-Space) has begun to promote space activities in the private sector. With an intention of providing a level playing field, In-Space made news recently as it authorised two early birds to launch their payloads: Dhruva Space Pvt. Ltd. from Hyderabad and Digantara Research & Technologies Pvt. Ltd. from Bangalore are the first ones to mark this new beginning. Dhruva Space Satellite Orbital Deployer (DSOD 1U), a technology demonstration payload, was authorised. As a space technology start-up, Dhruva Space focuses on building space engineering solutions necessary for application-agnostic satellite platforms. For its part, Digantara Research & Technologies develops end-to-end solutions for safe and sustainable space operations through its…

  • Dear Evil Engineer: How many balloons do I need to make an elephant fly?

    Dear Evil Engineer, I own a flying circus – by which I mean not a barnstorming troop but, quite literally, a circus that flies. My clowns, acrobats and circus animals wear kerosene jetpacks throughout the performance, ensuring an excellent view for all members of the audience. However, I’ve found that the loud noise of their customised jetpacks tends to alarm my dancing bears, elephants and poodles, preventing them from performing to the standard I expect. I’ve come up with an idea for an alternative mode of flight: gigantic helium balloons, which I could additionally monetise as advertising space. So, how much helium will I need to lift a dancing elephant? And is this helium shortage I keep hearing of going to cause a problem – is there enough helium for my dozen elephants to continue…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Plant matter could produce more green energy, researchers say

    Renewable energy originating from plant matter could lessen our dependence on fossil fuels, according to new research.  A team of scientists at Michigan State University (MSU) have been able to leverage chemical tools to find a new path toward renewable energy sources and reduce energy costs by using plant matter.  Through a novel "electrocatalytic" process, the researchers used electricity and water to break the strong chemical bonds in biomass or plant matter. By applying this process to lignin, a carbon-rich biomass component that is usually discarded or simply burned as a byproduct of making paper, scientists may be able to produce electricity as well as destroy environmental pollutants.   The findings of their research have been published in the journal Nature Communications.   …

  • The bigger picture: Smallest robotic crab

    Engineers from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, have developed the smallest-ever remote-controlled walking robot – a tiny peekytoe crab. Just a half-millimetre wide, the minute crabs can bend, twist, crawl, walk, turn, and even jump. Image credit: Cover Images The researchers also developed millimetre-sized robots resembling inchworms, crickets, and beetles. Although the work is exploratory at this point, researchers believe their technology might bring about micro-sized robots that can perform practical tasks inside tightly confined spaces. The research was published in the journal Science Robotics. Image credit: Cover Images ...

  • How green is the Commonwealth Games?

    The organisers of this year’s Commonwealth Games, taking place in Birmingham from 28 July, say they are meeting a bold ambition: to create the most sustainable Commonwealth Games yet. “Sustainability was set out as an important strategic priority right from the beginning,” explains Jess Fidler, head of sustainability at Birmingham 2022. “Our sustainability pledge sets out the aims and ambitions of the Games across seven pillars, covering social and environmental aspects of sustainability.” The plans detailing how they will achieve this are comprehensive and include several firsts. “We will be the first Commonwealth Games to create a carbon-neutral legacy,” says Fidler. “We will also be the first to measure our social value, and the first to have a dedicated ethical trading manager.” The…

  • Rising oil refiner margins blamed for soaring fuel costs, Competition Authority finds

    The review, which was requested by business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng last month, found that while crude oil prices have been rising over the last year, there has been a “growing gap” between that price and the wholesale price of petrol and diesel. The ‘refining spread’, or the margin charged by refineries on each litre of fuel, was found to have tripled in the last year, from 10p to nearly 35p per litre. Over the same period, the so-called ‘retailer spread’, or the difference between the wholesale price and the price charged to motorists, fluctuated but remained about 10p per litre on average. On the whole, the 5p fuel duty cut appears to have been implemented, with the largest fuel retailers doing so immediately and others more gradually. Significant differences in fuel prices were…

  • Letters to the editor: volume 17, issue 7

    Structures that last through time The April 2022 issue of E&T looked at current and future uses of concrete in construction. Here in Quebec, Canada, cold weather down to -35°C in winter and hot weather up to +37°C during summer has a major and violent impact on concrete structures. The atmospheric humidity, hot-cold cycles and the use of de-icing salt on roads and bridges has also contributed to the rapid degradation of everything made of concrete that is located outside. Bridges, overpasses, sidewalks, buildings, monuments, statues... everything. The quality of concrete was not very high in the past, and some say the new material is much better performing. But still, even today, we can see cracks forming in concrete that was poured just a year ago. In the past decade, after the collapse…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Hands-on gadget review: Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro

    This new watch from the Chinese phone brand offers enhanced dive abilities and more sports and wellness apps than ever, plus the world’s first all-ceramic smartwatch. I tested it in the standard titanium finish, a 46mm watch face that’s 10.9mm deep. That makes it chunky, the size you’d expect from a dive watch historically aimed at men (as if our poor lady wrists can’t cope…). The watch’s large AMOLED colour display is lush, responsive and has a wide viewing angle. Another advantage of the size is that it can accommodate a big battery with a 14-day life (or eight days of heavy use). It’s also available in white ceramic– in fact, that version is the world’s first all-ceramic smartwatch. At the time of writing, this was £200 more expensive than the titanium. The GT 3 Pro Ceramic is a bit…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Solar pasteurisation could provide clean drinking water for those with poor access

    Poor access to safe drinking water is a major issue for around a third of the world’s population, especially for those living in rural areas. Because of the abundant sunlight in many of these regions, solar disinfection technology holds great promise. The researchers studied the pros and cons of five of the most common solar-based disinfection technologies that are applied at their point of use: semiconductor photocatalysis to produce hydroxyl radical, dye photosensitisation to produce singlet oxygen, UV irradiation using LED powered by a photovoltaic panel, distillation using a solar still, and solar pasteurisation by raising the bulk water temperature to 75°C. “It’s really the first analysis based on how much sunlight there is around the globe, and how we can utilise the sunlight for…

  • Tokyo 2020 Olympics paved the way for decarbonised sports events, study says

    The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have demonstrated that major international sports events can significantly reduce their carbon footprint, if organisers are willing to make some changes, according to a new study by Japan's Chukyo University. A team of researchers reached this conclusion after looking at the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic had on the carbon emissions of last year's Olympic Games – pushed back from their original date of 2020 due to international lockdown measures.  The results showed a dramatic decrease in the competition's environmental impact, compared to that of previous years, and shed light on possible steps that large international events can take in the future to contribute to decarbonisation efforts. Due to the pandemic, the number of inbound event-related personnel…

  • Ukrainian government requests ‘dronations’ to build an army of drones

    The wars of the 21st century are being fought in the sky and with the latest technology, as shown by Ukraine's commitment to build an "army of drones" that will support the country's resistance against the Russian invasion that began in February. With this goal in mind, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has created a global donation initiative called United24. The project calls for international donors to provide funds that the Ukrainian military will use to purchase drones, as well as direct "dronations" of unmanned aerial vehicles. "The 'army of drones' will allow us to constantly monitor the 2,470km-long [1,530-mile] front line and to field an effective response to enemy attacks, using modern technology," said Col Oleksii Noskov, assistant commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Gadgets: Huawei Watch GT 3, Garmin Varia RCT715, Prêt à Pousser Multo and more

    Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro A top-notch watch with enhanced dive abilities and more sports and wellness apps than ever. Available in titanium (for a 14-day battery life) or ceramic (the world’s first ceramic smartwatch). The screen is stunning, like an infinitely customisable high-end watch. From £299.99 huawei.com Read Caramel's hands-on review. Traintrackr London Underground Traintrackr’s gloriously geeky visualisation of live data is more art than journey planner. This London Underground map features 333 RGB LEDs that update ten times a second, thanks to a Wi-Fi connection to live data from Transport for London. The company also makes digital weather maps. £249 traintrackr.co.uk Prêt à Pousser Multo ...

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

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