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BP further scales back renewables ambitions with shelving of 18 hydrogen projects

Oil giant BP has announced that as part of its cost-saving ambitions it has “focused its portfolio”, which includes killing off 18 early-stage hydrogen projects. BP has released its Q3 2024 financial results, which was delivered during a video presentation and published in a 32-page report. Murray Auchincloss, BP’s CEO, who took on the role earlier this year, started off by highlighting how its operations are doing, which he said are running well “supporting delivery of an underlying profit of $2.3bn in the quarter”. However, this profit is down from last quarter ($2.8bn to $2.3bn), and to help drive improvements he said that the company will “reshape [its] portfolio to set up BP to grow value and returns”. This reshaping of the portfolio includes the killing off of 18 early-stage hydrogen…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
Comment: Biotechnology’s potential in the fight against climate change

Tim Dafforn is professor of biotechnology at the University of Birmingham, IET vice-president and chair of the IET Policy Oversight Committee. They say that when one plans for the future, one should look at certainties and construct your plan around them. Paying tax, the law of physics and – in my opinion – the failures of the England cricket team are all certainties in our world, but global climate change represents perhaps one of the most certain certainties of the new millennium. Given the requirement that we plan to avert this truly existential crisis, it is clear that our technological foundation must move away from its petrochemical base. One clear option is offered by the emerging biotech sector. Biotech is truly one of the only technological platforms that can replace hydrocarbons…

E+T Magazine in Biotechnology
Plastic on beaches identified from space using satellite imaging tool

A satellite imagery tool that is able to spot plastic pollution building up on beaches 600km below could be used to help tackle the world’s ocean waste problem. According to US environmental advocacy group Ocean Conservancy, 11 million metric tons of plastic enter our oceans every year. This is in addition to the estimated 200 million metric tons that are already there. Satellite technology is already used to track the massive amounts of plastic floating around our oceans – from relatively small drifts containing thousands of plastic bottles, bags and fishing nets to gigantic floating trash islands like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is three times the size of France. Now researchers from Australia’s RMIT University have used satellite imagery to pick up on differences in how…

E+T Magazine in Waste Management
Labour’s 2030 grid decarbonisation plans at the ‘limit of what is feasible’

Labour’s aim to decarbonise the UK’s electricity grid by 2030 is a “huge challenge” but achievable with the right policy incentives, the newly-formed National Energy System Operator (NESO) has said. The state-owned body, which operates both the electricity and gas distribution systems, said the goal was at the “limit of what is feasible” but could be done if a variety of measures were quickly implemented. In October, NESO was acquired by the government from National Grid in a £630m deal that gave it greater powers to align future strategy for the energy grid. In its manifesto, Labour set itself a lofty goal of entirely decarbonising the UK’s energy grid by 2030 – bringing forward the already-ambitious 2035 target. But for this to be achieved, green energy infrastructure needs to be installed…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Vodafone-Three merger could get go-ahead, says UK’s competition watchdog

Following an 18-month investigation, the UK’s competition watchdog says the proposed £15bn merger between Vodafone and Three could get the green light if concerns are addressed. In 2023, Vodafone and Three announced they were set to merge. The £15bn tie-up would reduce the number of mobile network operators from the ‘big four’ to three, with the other two being O2 and EE. The merger would create the largest mobile operator in the UK, with more than 27 million customers. In March 2024, UK watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) referred the Vodafone-Three deal to an in-depth probe. It said the deal risked leaving consumers worse off, with concerns that the merger would result in higher prices for consumers and businesses and lower investment. The proposed deal also sparked…

E+T Magazine in Telecommunications
Next-gen materials blast off to the ISS for testing in harsh space environments

A new generation of materials that could be used to build spacecraft are on their way to the International Space Station (ISS) to be rigorously tested. Developed by researchers at the University of Bristol, the carbon-fibre reinforced composites will need to survive extreme temperatures between -150°C and +120°C, space debris travelling at speed, severe electromagnetic radiation, high vacuum and atomic oxygen that erodes even the toughest materials. The composites will be placed on the Bartolomeo platform, located on the front of the ISS, where they will orbit Earth up to 9,000 times over the next 12 to 18 months at speeds of 17,000mph (27,400km/h). “Space is the most challenging environment for which to design new materials. You’re pitting your materials expertise, skills and ingenuity…

E+T Magazine in Space
US firm Joby Aviation completes first international air taxi flight in Japan

Joby Aviation’s electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) has taken off from Toyota’s technical facility in Shizuoka, completing its first test flight outside the US. eVTOL aircraft represent a substantial leap forward in the aviation industry's path to net zero. Designed for short-range travel, these aircraft are targeting the on-demand air taxi market for use by commuters, business travellers and tourists in predominantly urban areas. One of the major players in the eVTOL industry is Californian company Joby Aviation, which was founded in 2009 and has received $1.7bn in funding to date. Developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service, Joby believes that ridesharing in the air is an invention that will shift the way people live and move, tackling both congestion and…

E+T Magazine in Aerospace
US firm’s three-wheeled solar-powered car successfully completes first function test drive

Aptera Motor’s production-intent solar-powered electric car has successfully undergone a test drive conducted in a San Diego car park. Since 2019, San Diego-based Aptera Motors has set a goal of developing a solar-powered electric vehicle (sEV). In this pursuit, the firm has now announced it has reached a significant milestone – the successful first drive of its latest “production-intent” (PI2) vehicle, which will now be used for real-world validation and testing. The first in a series, Aptera Motors says the PI2 has been engineered to rigorously test the production-intent design, production components and critical performance metrics such as range, solar charging capability and efficiency. According to the company, the PI2 doesn’t need to be plugged in to recharge and instead gets…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Vodafone unveils space-saving 5G mast design

Vodafone has unveiled a new space-saving 5G mast design that could lower the number of masts needed in some areas. The new technology could also help to reduce numbers of street-level equipment cabinets and could boost the capacity and speed of Vodafone’s mobile network. The new mast design, called ‘quad stack’ by network engineers, has been designed with London in mind. Built-up areas often have less space for masts, so they need to be slimmer, with a smaller footprint as a result. The downside to this is that they cannot host all the antennae and radio units needed to provide 2G, 4G and 5G services to the surrounding area. The problem is especially acute in parts of the country where Vodafone shares masts with other mobile operators – needing a second mast to do so. The firm recently…

E+T Magazine in Telecommunications
UK aerospace engineering company Reaction Engines enters administration

Reaction Engines’ 30-year ambition to develop an engine for hypersonic flight is at risk as it goes into administration. British accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has published a statement on its website announcing it has been appointed as joint administrators of Reaction Engines after the company was unable to raise the funding to continue operations. Reaction Engines, founded in 1989, is a privately-owned aerospace engineering research company with headquarters in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. For most of these 35 years, the company has been focused on the development of SABRE (Synergetic Air Breathing Rocket Engine), a new class of engine combining the fuel efficiency of a jet engine with the power and high-speed capability of a rocket. The aim is to eventually use this heat exchanger…

E+T Magazine in Space
Microsoft builds data centres out of wood in a bid to cut its rising carbon emissions

Microsoft has started building data centres using fire-resistant wood in an effort to cut carbon emissions and use more climate-friendly building materials. Engineers are using a material known as cross-laminated timber (CLT) in combination with steel and concrete, which it estimates could reduce the embodied carbon footprint of two new data centres by 35% compared with conventional steel construction, and 65% compared with typical precast concrete. Because engineered wood is naturally low in carbon, abundant and easy to manufacture, CLT has been in increasingly wide use in the US and Europe, where it has been a staple of green building for at least a decade. In 2021, Microsoft built its new Silicon Valley headquarters out of CLT, as part of the company’s first large-scale use of the material…

E+T Magazine in Electronic Materials
India’s Chandrayaan-4 mission to Moon’s south pole planned for 2028 launch

India aims to launch its Chandrayaan-4 mission to the Moon’s south pole by 2028, bringing back 3kg of lunar samples. The lunar south pole has been a target of several recent lander missions and is a focus of intense scientific interest as there have been indications that its craters may harbour natural resources such as water ice, the main prerequisite for long-term human presence on the Moon. Just a few days ago, Nasa revealed that its Artemis III mission – which aims to return humanity to the Moon – has proposed landing regions all located near the lunar south pole. India, which is very much part of the race to the Moon, has now announced its Chandrayaan-4 mission. It aims to collect around 3kg of lunar samples from an area near the Moon’s south pole and deliver them to Earth. This…

E+T Magazine in Space
Volvo Cars to buy out Northvolt from battery-making joint venture

Volvo Cars has released a statement declaring that it plans to take full ownership of Novo Energy, a joint venture between Volvo and the Swedish battery company Northvolt. Novo Energy was launched between the two Swedish companies in June 2021. The aim of this joint venture was to build the next generation of pure electric Volvo cars. Volvo, which is majority owned by China’s Geely, says it plans to become a fully electric car maker by 2030. With Northvolt being a homegrown battery technology company specialising in lithium-ion technology, a collaboration between the two seemed an obvious one. The pair said it would collaborate across R&D and battery production, for which a new 50 GWh gigafactory would be built in Gothenburg to enable the production of tailor-made batteries for the car…

E+T Magazine in Power Conversion
TfL plans purpose-built solar farms to power London Underground

Transport for London (TfL) is seeking partners to build a network of purpose-built solar farms that will be used to power the London Underground. The proposals could bring up to 64MW of electricity to the network, or approximately 5% of the electricity needed to run the entire network. The project is part of broader efforts to power all of TfL’s operations using 100% renewable energy by 2030. TfL said the projects will link directly to the London Underground, bypassing the National Grid entirely, while in the longer term private wire schemes could generate further savings. TfL is the largest single electricity consumer in London with a demand of approximately 1.6TWh per year – equivalent to the electricity consumed by around 420,000 homes. “By opening up new opportunities in the energy…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
EU confirms which space firms will build its satellite network for secure broadband

The European Commission has confirmed it will sign contracts with leading space firms on the continent to build a multi-orbit satellite internet constellation capable of providing broadband internet from space. The IRIS constellation (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite) is currently planned for deployment by 2027 and will compete with other constellations outside of the control of the EU, such as Starlink, OneWeb or Amazon’s forthcoming Kuiper project. Once deployed, it will provide secure connectivity services to the EU and its member states, as well as broadband connectivity for governmental authorities, private companies and European citizens, while ensuring high-speed internet broadband to cope with connectivity dead zones. The European Commission…

E+T Magazine in Satellites
Next-generation driverless delivery robots capable of tackling ‘complex urban settings’

Texas firm Avride has revealed the next generation of its fleet of pavement delivery robots, which are equipped with a new four-wheeled design to enhance manoeuvrability. In the UK, some early trials of automated deliveries by both drone and robot are underway but have yet to see a broader roll-out. Avride has been operating a commercial delivery service using its robots since 2021 on the Ohio State University and the University of Arizona campuses, as well as some districts in Moscow, Russia. Its latest robots are capable of up to 13 hours of continuous movement and travel at 3-5mph while navigating pavements. “In our new model, we’ve transitioned to a fundamentally different and ground-breaking chassis design,” Avride said in a blog post. This includes transitioning from the six-wheeled…

E+T Magazine in Control and Automation
BAE Systems invests £220m to significantly upgrade UK aerospace technologies factory

BAE Systems’ Rochester-based Electronic Systems business is to undergo significant renovation to create a new 32,000 square metre factory. Over 1,600 people are currently based at the facility working on various advanced aerospace technologies such as head-up displays, helmet-mounted displays, flight control computers and active control sticks for civil and military aircraft worldwide. The site is also part of the company’s Electronic Systems global support service centre, which provides repairs to commercial airliners. BAE Systems is investing £220m to upgrade this facility to combine manufacturing, engineering and office space in a flexible working environment. The company expects the increased capacity provided by the upgrade will enable it to create 300 jobs over the next five years…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
US shipping could be cost effectively decarbonised by 2035, study finds

A significant portion of the US shipping fleet could be electrified cost effectively by 2035, helping to make a dent in the carbon emissions from the sector, researchers have said. Shipping represents around 3% of total US greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. It is considered to be a sector that is hard to decarbonise as electrifying ships is considerably more challenging than electrifying cars from both a technical and a market perspective. A ship is also a much bigger capital investment than a car and has a lifespan of several decades. While better battery technology in recent years has meant electric vehicles with longer ranges, ships are vastly heavier than cars and can travel very long distances between ports. These heavy weights and long distances have led to concerns that…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
Interview: The 'godfather of wind energy’ on 50 years of turbines and the future of renewables

Co-winner of the 2024 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, industry legend and ‘godfather of wind energy’ Andrew Garrad discusses his long and distinguished career, the sector’s half-century of growth and what’s in store for the future. There are few in the world of wind power better placed to discuss its transformational impact on the global energy mix than Andrew Garrad. Joint winner of the 2024 edition of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize), along with his colleague Henrik Stiesdal, Garrad has overseen the emergence of electricity from turbine technology since his Oxford University undergraduate days – when renewables were a ‘fringe’ subject – through to his retirement half a century later, when wind power has taken its place as a mainstream contributor to the UK energy…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Belgium to build 3.5GW artificial energy island off its coast

Elia Transmission Belgium has secured €650m to realise the first phase of the Princess Elisabeth Island project, an artificial energy island off the Belgian coast. ETB, Belgian’s electricity system operator, and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed a €650m ‘green credit facility agreement’ to start work on the project. This artificial island, constructed between 2024 and 2027, will be located about 27.9 miles off the Belgian coast in the North Sea and within the Princess Elisabeth wind zone. Consisting of wind turbines, as well as both high-voltage direct current and alternating current infrastructure, the project aims to integrate 3.5GW of offshore wind capacity into Belgium’s electricity grid, with the potential to power more than three million households. ETB says that…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
What the budget to ‘restore economic stability’ means for engineering and technology

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered Labour’s first budget since the party took to power in July 2024. Rachel Reeves stood up in the House of Commons to deliver the budget, marking the first time a Labour government has announced a budget in 14 years and the first time a female chancellor has done so in the 800-year history of the role. Since she stepped into the job in July, Reeves has made it clear that she has inherited a “£22bn black hole in public finances” from the previous Conservative government. In the House of Commons she started off the over 80 minute-long budget speech by saying: “The only way to drive economic growth is to invest, invest, invest. To deliver that investment we must restore economic stability and turn the page on the last 14 years.” She stressed that the…

E+T Magazine in Management of Technology
Saudi Arabia opens Sindalah luxury island as first phase of Neom megaproject

Saudi Arabia has opened the first area of its Neom megaproject, a luxury island known as Sindalah that is aimed at wealthy tourists. Neom is intended to be an independent, liberal, high-tech megacity with its own tax and labour laws and judiciary. It will cover three countries (Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan) across 26,500km2 of empty desert along the Red Sea. The Sindalah section of the project has been in the works for around two years and utilised a 30,000-strong workforce at its peak to bring it to reality. It marks a significant step towards Saudi Arabia’s effort to boost its tourism offering. The island is located in the Red Sea, five kilometres off the Neom coastline in northwest Saudi Arabia. The luxury resort destination is spread over 840,000 square metres and is aimed squarely…

E+T Magazine
Rolls-Royce SMR partners with Czech power firm to bring small modular reactors to Europe

Rolls-Royce SMR has signed a deal with Czech power company ČEZ Group to expand production on its small modular reactors (SMRs). SMRs are easier to scale and more affordable than building larger nuclear power plants. The entirely factory-built facilities can be transported as modules and assembled on-site, radically reducing construction activity and making SMRs a commodifiable product. Another advantage is that SMRs can meet smaller, localised power demands, be scaled up for larger demand or used to complement renewable energy sources. As part of the deal, ČEZ will deploy up to 3GW of electricity in the Czech Republic, using power plants developed by Rolls-Royce SMR. Tufan Erginbilgiç, CEO of Rolls-Royce, said: “We have a shared vision, and ČEZ further strengthens our ability to build…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
UK government invests £68m to transform brownfield sites into land for new homes

The UK government is to provide councils across the UK with a multi-million-pound funding boost to help unlock disused brownfield sites and get the “country building again”. When Labour came to power in July, it pledged to build 1.5 million new homes in the form of new towns and ‘Georgian-style’ houses. To do this, the government said it would reform compulsory purchase compensation rules, allowing more sites to be unlocked for affordable housing development, as well as relaxations over building in the grey belt – defined as brownfield sites and poor-quality areas in the green belt. The government has now announced it is committing to this pledge with an investment of £68m that will be divided among 54 councils across the UK to transform brownfield sites into land suitable for building…

E+T Magazine in Management of Technology

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