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Designing Hyper Energy Efficient Facilities

This webinar will mainly focus on some key regulations and standards for: Last update of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD 2024), published in the Official Journal of Europe on May 8, 2024Deploying and prescribing building automation, controls and building management standards as key contribution for the Energy performance of buildings (ISO 52120-1, IEC 63044 Serie,etc.)Prescribing the measures required for energy-efficient and prosumer electrical installation in buildings (IEC 60364-8 Serie)Being prepared for Buildings Electrical Flexibility (EN 50491-12 serie, IEC 63402 serie, example of GOFLEX indicator-France)Designing and measuring Energy data collection for buildings in conjunction with ISO 50001 (EN 17267, IEC 62974-1, IEC 61557-12)This Webinar offers a guide to these…

E+T Magazine
Thermal Health Monitoring for the Built Environment: Accelerating Product Development with COMSOL Simulations

This webinar will explore how lean technical teams can leverage simulation to reduce the cost and increase the speed of product development cycles in the advanced materials sector. In developing next-generation printed electronic sensors for thermal health monitoring, Vector Homes has invested in digital tooling to accelerate development. Digital twins are used to verify printed sensor performance and guide future design iterations. Collaborations with the Energy House 2.0 allow for characterising in situ real-world performance in a state-of-the-art environmental chamber. Vector Homes is working to accelerate and decarbonise affordable house-building in the U.K. It is collaborating with housing associations, contractors and developers to reduce the cost, carbon footprint, and complexity…

E+T Magazine
Scientists urge drastic cuts to nitrous oxide emissions to prevent rampant global warming

Emissions of potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N20), which have been rising steadily since 1980, could have “dire consequences for the planet”, researchers from the Global Carbon Project (GCP) have said. It’s estimated that agricultural production accounted for around 74% of human-driven N2O emissions in the 2010s – a gas thought to have 300 times more global-warming effect than carbon dioxide. In a report – Global nitrous oxide budget (1980-2020) – researchers attribute its production primarily to the use of chemical fertilisers and animal waste on croplands. It is also produced from stationary combustion sources, predominantly from the burning of coal at electric power plants. At a time when greenhouse gas emissions must decline to reduce global warming, in 2020 and 2021 nitrous…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
New report calls for urgent action as shipping industry falls behind climate goals by 17%

A report from the Sea Cargo Charter reveals that the shipping industry fell behind minimum international climate goals by 17% on average in 2023 – a shortfall of 165 million metric tonnes of CO2e. Shipping accounts for 3% of global CO2 emissions. Currently, dry bulk, general cargo and tankers account for around 400 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. With global trade predicted to quadruple by 2050, there is an urgent need for the industry to reduce emissions. The UN maritime agency, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), sets climate goals for the maritime industry. In July 2023, the IMO revised its greenhouse gas (GHG) strategy, setting a new ambition to reach net zero GHG emissions from international shipping by 2050. The Sea Cargo Charter (SCC), a global transparency initiative…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
EU study finds pricing carbon emissions does not result in economic losses for regulated firms

A EU study examining the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) policy found that pricing carbon emissions does not have a negative economic impact for those manufacturing firms regulated under the policy. A study by Imperial College Business School, in collaboration with the University of Virginia and University of Mannheim, examined whether the ETS, which came into force in 2005, has resulted in a decline in economic activity for those manufacturers that have been regulated under the policy. The ETS is a ‘cap and trade’ policy that establishes a price for the right to emit CO2. This is achieved by imposing a cap on the total emissions from more than 12,000 power and manufacturing plants in 31 countries across Europe. The cap covers 40% of the EU’s emissions. The researchers found the manufacturing…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
Yara officially opens Europe’s largest green hydrogen plant in Norway

Norwegian chemical company Yara International has opened the largest green hydrogen and green ammonia production facility in Europe at Herøya Industrial Park, Norway. During an inauguration event, the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, officially opened Yara’s 24MW renewable hydrogen plant at Herøya Industrial Park. Hydrogen at the plant is produced with electrolysis of water and renewable energy, replacing natural gas as feedstock. This shift is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 41,000 tonnes annually from the site. Since it was founded in 1905, Yara has established itself as a global crop nutrition company, producing, distributing and selling nitrogen-based mineral fertilisers and related industrial products. Its ambition now is to drive the green transition…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Evil Engineer: The Bioship of my dreams

This month, the Evil Engineer brings a villain reaching for space with an unconventional ship back down to Earth. Dear Evil Engineer, You might recognise my name. I am indeed that biotech entrepreneur, who – after making Evil + Treachery magazine’s 30 Under 30 list in 2018, then the cover two years later when my start-up reached unicorn status – was exposed by a newspaper investigation and companion documentary series. Since then, I’ve been charged with a list of crimes that would make an FTX founder blush. My lawyer has advised me that I am certain to be condemned to decades in prison. So, I’m going to forfeit my bail and escape somewhere with no extradition treaty: space. I plan to drift through space for the rest of my life, an astronomical nomad. For this, I’ll need a spaceship…

E+T Magazine in Space
Brompton’s new folding bike features wheel rims made from 100% post-consumer aluminium scrap

On its mission to manufacture a completely net zero bike by 2050, London-based folding bike company Brompton has partnered with Hydro, a German aluminium and renewable energy company, to create an aluminium wheel rim made with 100% recycled, post-consumer aluminium scrap. Founded in 1975, Brompton still makes every one of its folding bikes by hand in its London and Sheffield factories. Featuring a three-part fold, a Brompton is able to transform into a small locked package in under 20 seconds. Having become a certified B Corp recently and with the aim of producing net zero bikes by 2050, Brompton is now looking to its supply chain and the environmental footprint of the materials used during manufacturing. According to a study by the European Cyclists’ Federation, the materials used to…

E+T Magazine in Recycling
Nokia CEO makes world’s first ‘immersive’ phone call over a cellular network

Nokia has made the first cellular call using the new 3GPP Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS) codec, which enables users to hear 3D spatial sound in a fully immersive real-time experience. Currently, calls via smartphones over a cellular network are monophonic: the audio is compressed into a single channel rendering the sounds flatter and less detailed. However, Nokia has been working to change that with IVAS, a new voice and audio codec standardised by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), which brings together standards organisations to develop mobile protocols. IVAS technology, which is part of the upcoming 5G Advanced standard, enables high-quality, live immersive audio across any connected device, including smartphones, tablets and PCs. The technology enables a three…

E+T Magazine in Telecommunications
Extreme weather causes $41bn in damages and 2,500 deaths in just six months

Extreme weather has been responsible for an estimated $41bn in damages and 2,500 deaths in just the six months since COP28, Christian Aid has said. The charity pinpointed four extreme weather events in that time that were all scientifically shown to have been made more likely or more intense by climate change. These included: – Flooding in south and south-west Asia, which killed at least 214 people and resulted in $850m in insured damages in the UAE alone. – Simultaneous heat waves in west, south and south-east Asia that killed over 1,500 people in Myanmar, despite the fact that heat deaths are “notoriously under-reported”. The heatwave is expected to slow growth and increase inflation. – Finally, cyclones in east Africa, which caused flooding that killed 559 people, and was made about…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
Genetics testing company 23andMe to be probed over a data breach that affected 7 million users

Data protection watchdogs in Canada and the UK have announced a joint investigation into a data breach at genetics testing company 23andMe that affected seven million customers in 2023. Since 2006, San Francisco-based genetic testing company 23andMe has sold over 12 million DNA testing kits. It analyses customers’ saliva to provide insights into health and ancestry. In October 2023, 23andMe reported a security breach in which hackers gained access to the personal information of millions of customers by using old passwords. In some cases, the information accessed included family trees, birth years and geographic locations. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the UK and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) will examine the scope of information that was exposed…

E+T Magazine in Computing
Apple to integrate AI into MacOS, iOS and Siri later this year

Apple has announced plans to integrate AI, including ChatGPT, into its mobile and desktop operating systems, as well as its Siri personal assistant. Dubbed ‘Apple Intelligence’, the plan will see its devices gain new abilities, such as being able to understand and create language and images, take action across apps and draw from personal context to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks. The new features could be particularly useful in educational settings, where they will allow users to tidy up notes taken during meetings or seminars. A ‘Rewrite’ tool can alter text for use in specific situations, such as a presentation or a meeting. Apple has long positioned itself as an advocate for privacy online, but maximising the utility of AI as a personal assistant relies on understanding personal…

E+T Magazine in Computing
The EU’s initiative to create a highly accurate digital twin of Earth goes live

The European Commission has activated the Destination Earth (DestinE) digital twin system from the LUMI Supercomputer Center in Kajaani, Finland. Launched in 2022, DestinE is a flagship initiative of the European Commission that aims to develop a highly accurate digital twin of the Earth. The model will monitor, simulate and predict the interaction between natural phenomena and human activities. The aim is that with this data we will be better prepared to respond to major natural disasters, adapt to climate change and assess the potential socioeconomic and policy impacts of such events. “The launch of the initial Destination Earth is a true game changer in our fight against climate change,” said Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age. “DestinE…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
LinkedIn forced to disable advertising tool for European users in compliance with EU ‘rulebook’

LinkedIn has disabled a feature allowing advertisers to target European users based on membership in ‘LinkedIn Groups’ after concerns over compliance with rules set out in the European Commission’s Digital Services Act (DSA). In August 2023, Europe’s landmark rules for online platforms – the DSA – came into effect, which aims to rein in Big Tech and protect the safety of users online. The law aims to create a ‘rulebook’ for online platforms by regulating companies’ content moderation policies and advertising practices. It also requires that platforms share details of their algorithms with regulators and, in certain cases, independent researchers. The latest platform to make changes under this act is Microsoft-owned LinkedIn. Following complaints that advertisers were able to target users…

E+T Magazine
UK energy import reliance will grow if renewables are not boosted, think tank warns

As the North Sea’s oil and gas output declines, the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) calls on the next government to support renewable energy to prevent reliance on foreign energy imports over the next five years. The UK climate think tank has published a new report – Future energy security – that finds that the rise in British renewables will play a much larger role in bolstering the UK’s energy security than potential new domestic oil and gas production. The UK’s energy mix is currently dominated by oil and gas, and the decline in North Sea oil and gas production since the turn of the century has caused imports to rise. According to the report, in 2024 around 66% of the end-use energy used by consumers requires imported energy. This includes imported gas and oil-based fuels…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Group of 17 secondary schools in London collectively decide to ban smartphones

A group of state schools in Southwark, south London, have announced they will go smartphone-free, including confiscating phones used at school. There has been much media coverage in recent years of young people’s addiction to their smartphones and encountering potentially harmful content online. In April 2024, Ofcom revealed that around a quarter of children aged five to seven (24%) own a smartphone. It also found that the use of social media sites or apps in this age group has increased year-on-year. The UK government has saod that it is aware of this growing issue but has yet to take decisive regulatory action. At the end of last year, it announced it was looking at different options to improve parental controls and regulate the online world, with an outright ban for under-16s being…

E+T Magazine in STEM Education and Skills
Engineering report calls on next government to commit to a bold, long-term industrial strategy

The National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC), led by the Royal Academy of Engineering, has launched a policy document that is calling on the next government to take a bold, long-term and holistic approach to tackling complex challenges. The report – Engineering a resilient and prosperous future: policy priorities for the next UK parliament – which is directed to all political parties, outlines the importance of engineering to help tackle the complex challenges we are facing today. It argues that reversing persistently low economic growth involves fostering innovation, supporting small businesses and investing in strategic sectors. This will enable the UK to tackle climate change, upgrade our ageing infrastructure and build warm and healthy homes, as well as shape the role the UK plays…

E+T Magazine
Over 40 companies show commitment to stop space junk by signing ESA’s Zero Debris Charter

More than 40 companies, research centres and international organisations have signed the Zero Debris Charter from the European Space Agency (ESA), showing a commitment to ensure future missions become debris neutral in space by 2030. According to ESA, there are currently 130 million pieces of space debris larger than a millimetre orbiting Earth. Not only does this ‘space junk’ pose a threat to satellites and spacecraft, several of which have been damaged or destroyed already, but once a week a satellite or rocket body reenters uncontrollably through our atmosphere. In November 2023, ESA introduced an internal standard to significantly limit the production of debris in Earth and Lunar orbits by 2030 from its own missions. This ‘zero debris approach’ will rely on debris mitigation and remediation…

E+T Magazine in Space
Clean energy investments expected to hit $2tn in 2024 – double that of fossil fuels

Global investment in clean energy technologies and infrastructure is expected to hit $2tn (£1.6bn) in 2024, twice that likely spent on fossil fuels, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said. But while the figures suggest ramping-up investment in low-carbon energy, the amount spent on oil and gas is still too high to meet 2050 climate goals. The increased funding was largely due to improving supply chains and lower costs for clean technologies, the IEA report found, although it warned that that there are still “major imbalances” and shortfalls in energy investment flows in many parts of the world. It highlights the low level of clean energy spending in emerging and developing economies outside China, which is set to exceed $300bn for the first time – led by India and Brazil. Yet…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Boeing’s oft-delayed Starliner achieves first manned flight

Boeing’s long-delayed Starliner finally achieved its first crewed launch yesterday, which saw Nasa astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams undertake a 25-hour flight to the International Space Station (ISS). The lift-off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which is located on an island off the coast of Florida, was achieved without a hitch just before 11am local time on Wednesday morning. “This crew flight test represents the beginning of a new era of space exploration as we watch astronauts Wilmore and Williams put Boeing’s Starliner through its paces on the way to the ISS,” said Ted Colbert, CEO for Boeing Defense, Space & Security. “This is a great start. We look forward to getting the astronauts safely to the space station and back home.” The launch of Starliner means…

E+T Magazine in Space
UK quantum company reaches new milestones on the path to powerful quantum computers

Quantinuum has announced that its H-Series processor has surpassed the ability to be simulated by the world’s best supercomputers, enabling the company to “extend the lead in the race towards fault tolerant quantum computing.” The UK quantum computing company has announced a major qubit (or quantum bit) count enhancement to its flagship System Model H2 quantum computer from 32 to 56 trapped-ion qubits. Formed in 2021 by Honeywell and Cambridge Quantum, Quantinuum has to date raised approximately $625m to further the development and commercialisation of quantum computing. Its mission is to see the quantum computing industry depart the era when quantum computers could be simulated by a classical computer. This has been achieved, with the announcement that its upgraded H2-1 from 32 to 56…

E+T Magazine in Computing
Moving towards low-carbon industry with proactive services for motors and drives

As the world advances to a low-carbon future, industrial businesses should be looking to significantly reduce their carbon footprint. As Erich Labuda, ABB’s president of motion services, writes, one answer lies in proactively servicing motor-driven systems. Electric motor-driven systems serve as a critical part of global industry, powering everything from manufacturing and transportation to vital infrastructure. Collectively, industrial businesses around the world run on more than 300 million of them. Nevertheless, many of these systems are not operating at peak efficiency, and this is having a huge impact on both business and the planet. If all these motor-driven systems were optimised, global electricity usage could be reduced by up to 10%, according to the International Energy Agency…

E+T Magazine in Power Utilisation
Harnessing the power of AI and machine learning to accelerate AEC projects

Arnab Ghosh, global sales engineering director at Accuris, a provider of technology solutions to optimise workflows, looks at how harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies can help accelerate the design and construction of large infrastructure projects. The architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries have long been characterised by formal processes and rigorous methodologies, honed over decades of informed engineering practices. When it comes to the design and planning of large-scale critical infrastructure projects – such as airports, bridges and ports – the sheer volume of factors to consider is astronomical. From identifying and adhering to stringent regulatory standards to navigating variables like climate change, traffic implications…

E+T Magazine in Artificial Intelligence
Lack of skilled electricians to meet net zero targets, warns trade association

The Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) is calling on the next government to prioritise investment in the electrical skills necessary to achieve the UK’s net zero goals. As we ramp up the installation of renewable technologies in our transition to net zero, such as solar panels, heat pumps and electric vehicle infrastructure, the demand for a skilled electrical workforce to install and maintain these technologies is becoming increasingly urgent. However, the ECA, a UK trade association representing electrical, electrotechnical and other engineering contractors, warns that the industry faces a significant shortfall in skilled electricians. According to ECA, despite over 20,000 aspiring electricians enrolling in classroom-based electrical courses annually, fewer than 10% advance to…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy

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