• The green house effect: building greener to tackle climate change

    The UK’s housebuilders will have to consider much more than bricks and mortar if they are to do their bit for climate change. Every new home must now be designed and constructed for maximum energy efficiency. Simplistically, things appear to be on course, but remain work-in-progress. Across the industry, drums are being banged with little dissent about the why, what, and how, albeit with some variations in tune and tempo according to individual agendas. Perhaps not surprisingly, more clarity, less uncertainty and, inevitably, more tangible government support would be welcomed. The big number is the government target to build 300,000+ new homes annually by the mid-2020s (In 2020, the National House Building Council registered 123,000 homes, and 160,000 in 2019, pre-Covid). In context, a spokesman…

  • Apple slashes production of iPhone 13 as chip shortage bites

    Production bottlenecks at its suppliers Broadcom and Texas Instruments (TI) have meant Apple will not be able to produce the 90 million units in the last three months of this year that it originally envisaged, sources told the news website . TI typically provides Apple with display parts for the iPhone, while Broadcom has long supplied Apple with wireless components for the devices. The global shortage of semiconductors has been caused by several factors, including the Covid-19 pandemic causing facilities to close temporarily or scale down production, the sudden demand for chips to support remote work and study, and the ongoing trade war between the US and China. All this has resulted in serious supply issues for a range of industries, including the automotive sector, gaming, and consumer…

  • Will floating systems bring in a new wave for offshore wind?

    Offshore wind farms are becoming a familiar site in prime shallow-water locations around the world, from South Korea to the North Sea. Most of these are anchored in the seabed, but winds are stronger and more consistent further offshore, so energy companies are turning their attention to deeper waters unsuitable for anchored turbines. The final 9.5MW turbine was towed into position in what is currently the world’s largest floating offshore wind farm in August 2021, and the Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm was completed. The array of six Vestas turbines (five at 9.5MW and one 2MW) sits 15km off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland – Europe’s windiest country – in a location with a water depth of 60-80m. The larger turbines have a rotor diameter of 164m, and each blade weighs 35 tonnes. The 50MW…

  • The role of technology transfer in raising climate ambition

    Technology is clearly crucial to tackling the climate crisis. From solar panels and smart grids to electric vehicles and green steel, much of the policy plans relies heavily on innovation and new technologies. But since the development and implementation of these technologies is dominated by the richer, developed countries, the UN climate negotiations include a key idea known as ‘technology transfer’. This compels wealthier countries to support developing ones in accessing climate technology, a notion found in the original 1992 treaty that began the climate talks and later repeated in the Paris Agreement. This fits into a wider pillar of UN climate negotiations, which recognises that richer developed countries must take the lead in reducing their emissions and in supporting poorer countries…

  • Gadgets: Wundasmart heating, Airthings air monitor, Kardon speakers and more

    Wunda WundaSmart Smart central heating that’s different. Room thermostats are positioned away from radiators on stylish E-Ink control pads. Data is kept offline and private, with bank-level encryption when you access it remotely. Control via app, voice or use geofencing. From £199 wundasmart.co.uk Read Caramel’s hands-on review. Airthings View Plus The only air-quality monitor you can buy that measures radon gas as well as particulates (PM2.5 and PM1) plus metrics like CO 2 , humidity, temperature and air pressure. Integrate all that data into a smart home using IFTTT as well as Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. £259 airthings.com   ParcelHome ...

  • Letters to the editor: volume 16, issue 10

    Who benefits from incompatible batteries? Following a recent house move, I purchased a number of cordless tools, most of which use 18V battery packs. These are functionally identical, of similar capacity, shape and size, and use very similar cells inside, yet are totally incompatible between manufacturers. As not every manufacturer makes every type of tool, this means I have five different batteries and chargers for five tools, which is not only inconvenient and expensive, but hardly environmentally friendly. I am unlikely to use a drill, a lawnmower and a vacuum cleaner at the same time, so the ability to share batteries between tools would be extremely useful; three batteries and a single multi-charger would be plenty for my needs, saving money and the environment while leaving me with…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Hands-on review: WundaSmart smart heating control

    Gas prices are volatile and climate change is an existential threat. There has never been a better time to cut your fossil fuel use. Insulating your home is crucial. Dialling down one degree is great. Woolly jumpers are superb. Alternative heat sources are brilliant. And smart heating is part of the answer, at a domestic level. Do you find yourself heating the whole house, even if you’re only using one room? Does your house heat up on a schedule, even when there’s no-one home? Smart heating promises to replace your boiler controls – buttons, timers, thermostats – with a high-tech alternative. Basic smart heating controls give you app control of the boiler, to fix scheduling issues by putting whole-house heating controls at your fingertips. Systems like Wunda’s new WundaSmart add wireless…

  • Can hydrogen-powered flight trigger a reset for global travel?

    Transport systems all over the world are grinding to a halt. Urbanisation and all the competing demands for easy, low-cost mobility and logistics mean congestion and pollution. For all the protests over new airport runways, the building of yet more roads and the climate emergency, we continue to live with old transport infrastructures and only a piecemeal and tentative introduction of potential green replacements. What is needed is a powerful wave of new tech - transport's version of the internet technology revolution. Tech with such potential that it can drag the rest of the world - businesses, governments and regulators - along with it. The internet overcame a host of business frustrations and limitations - speed, efficiency, cost, awareness, access, market insight - and we need the same…

  • Carbon capture projects see rapid expansion in 2021

    According to the Global CCS Institute, the world’s total capacity for carbon capture increased for the fourth year in a row, by almost one-third over the previous year. “CCS is absolutely critical to achieving net zero emissions and we anticipate growth in the sector to continue as climate ambition is increasingly matched with action,” said Global CCS Institute CEO Jarad Daniels. “Although much more is required, commitment to climate action is progressing steadily and we’re seeing growing interest and support for CCS. As we accelerate toward net zero emissions by mid-century and establish clearer interim targets, CCS will be integral to the decarbonisation of energy, industrial sectors such as cement, fertilisers, and chemicals, and will open new opportunities in areas including clean hydrogen…

  • Rockets primed for UK launch in 2022 after spaceport deal

    If successful, the launch of the firm’s XL Rocket would mark the first rocket to go to space from the UK. The multi-launch agreement with SaxaVord, which operates the spaceport, will run for the next decade, giving Skyrora the ability to build towards its target of 16 launches a year by 2030. The Shetland spaceport site is expected to support a total of 605 jobs by 2024, including 140 locally and 210 across the Shetland region. A further 150 jobs will also be created through wider manufacturing and support services. It has been attracting growing interest from firms like Lockheed Martin, which confirmed it would transfer its satellite launch operations there once it is up and running. According to a study by Scottish Enterprise last year, income from Scotland’s space sector could reach…

  • COP26: Time to walk the walk

    Glasgow is about to host the first five-year review of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, and countries are expected to announce updates to their plans for reducing emissions, but many commentators are frustrated that new targets simply point to ambitions for, and not action on, climate change. The UK’s president designate for COP26, Alok Sharma, has outlined four goals for the climate change agenda. Principally, he wants to align every nationally determined contribution (NDC) with a goal of lowering the current 2°C global warming limit to 1.5°C. Countries are being asked to announce ambitious emissions reduction targets ahead of meeting in Glasgow. The other three goals are to help countries adapt to climate change and minimise losses caused by flooding and other weather-related…

  • COP26: Last chance for carbon trading?

    Carbon pricing mechanisms have long been considered an effective way to galvanise clean technology adoption and global emissions reductions, yet current schemes have been lacklustre. The imminent COP26 conference in Glasgow could change this. In 2005, the European Union (EU) established the world’s first international emissions trading system (ETS). Since then, similar mechanisms have proliferated, and today the World Bank records 64 carbon pricing arrangements in operation, up by six from the previous year. Most significantly, this year China launched its domestic ETS, which covers 30 per cent of its national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and is the world’s largest. Under Article 6 of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, brokered in 2015, leaders are tasked with negotiating a framework…

  • Spare wind energy could power hydrogen storage to supply UK in winter

    According to new research published by the Energy Networks Association (ENA), the country’s wind and solar farms produce enough spare electricity in spring and summer, when demand is lower, to produce green hydrogen to the equivalent capacity of 25 Hinkley Point C nuclear power plants. The hydrogen stored would provide the same amount of energy needed for every person in the UK to charge a Tesla Model S electric vehicle more than 21 times, in the autumn and winter months when energy demand is highest, creating a clean energy buffer that avoids having to manage limited energy supplies on the international markets. The research also finds that the UK has enough capacity to store the hydrogen in a combination of salt caverns and disused oil and gas fields in the North Sea, as well other locations…

  • Wearable display shines information through clothing

    The new technology, dubbed 'PocketView', can function as a standalone piece of tech or could be incorporated into existing or next-generation smart devices. Researchers created prototypes that mimic smartphones, pens, key fobs and other shapes and sizes. The display shines through fabrics to show notifications for email or messages, time, weather or other forms of basic information. “The idea is not to show all the information that you would normally see on your smartphone display,” said researcher Antony Albert Raj Irudayaraj. “These are displays that show minimal information. That’s good enough if you’re walking or biking, for example, to show basic navigation instructions. Or let’s say you received a message and don’t want to divert attention from what you’re doing. You can peek at the…

  • Short-haul flights under 300 miles dominate Europe’s aviation emissions, study finds

    The research, from the University of Manchester, identified a large number of flights covering distances less than 300 miles between cities that are connected to each other with public transport options. To create the data models, the researchers used a rapidly expanding data broadcasting system to track worldwide air traffic. Air traffic data was then integrated with aircraft emission models to produce quantitative estimates of the engine exhaust emissions of most aircraft types. Using the data, the team identified several short flights between several city pairs within the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Poland, that operated flights over flat terrain and distances below 200 miles. The most common routes in the data analysed included Copenhagen-Stockholm, Gothenburg-Stockholm; Rome…

  • The bigger picture: MingYang Smart Energy offshore wind turbine

    The MySE 16.0-242 by MingYang Smart Energy is a 16MW, 242m-tall turbine capable of powering 20,000 homes per unit (80GWh per year) over a 25-year life. Three propelling 118m blades will cover a 46,000m2 swept area. It will generate 45 per cent more energy than its predecessor, the MySE 11.0-203. Image credit: Cover Images The new hybrid-drive turbine model is designed for high-wind sites and will be capable of withstanding typhoon-class weather conditions. It has been certified by DNV and China General Certification Centre for design, and MingYang aims to install a prototype in 2023 and roll out commercial production in the first half of 2024. MingYang already offers a number of lightweight offshore turbine models – ranging from 5.5MW to 11MW; the new product sets…

  • Tesco and BT join calls for mandatory net-zero reporting

    Research from environmental charity WWF suggests that fewer than one in five of the UK’s largest public companies have credible plans to slash their emissions to net-zero. Under the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to within 1.5°C, the world must reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In June 2019, the UK became the first major economy to enter into law its net-zero target . However, it has only fully implemented 11 of 92 policy recommendations from the independent climate change committee and it is not on track to meet its long-term or medium-term carbon budgets A letter to ministers, which has been signed by more than 30 organisations, calls for large companies to be forced to disclose their plans for decarbonisation. It says the government should clearly…

  • View from India: Being connected and staying secure in a digital world

    Rapid digital adaptation is a Covid-led outcome and the expectations of digital services are much higher than pre-Covid times. Multiple surveys indicate that the digital investments which could have spanned over the next three to four years have happened in the last 18 months. The Government of India (GoI) has invested in various digital services. Take the case of e-RUPI, which is a person and purpose-specific digital payment solution. Cashless and contactless, e-RUPI is a QR code or SMS string-based e-voucher delivered to the mobile of the beneficiaries. Then there’s the Union Health Ministry's National Telemedicine Service, titled 'eSanjeevani', which according to recent reports has already completed 1.2 crore consultations. eSanjeevani is operational through two modes: eSanjeevani AB-HWC…

  • Solar-powered aircraft flown for nearly three weeks without landing

    Zephyr has flown six times so far, with four low-level test flights and two stratospheric flights. The stratospheric flights flew for around 18 days each, totalling more than 36 days of continuous flight from only two take-offs. Airbus ultimately believes that the aircraft could remain airborne for “months at a time” and could provide internet to both commercial and military customers. Zephyr could also help with disaster management scenarios, including monitoring the spread of wildfires or oil spills, due to its ability to provide persistent, long-term surveillance. Image credit: Airbus The unmanned glider, which is powered by two small propellers, could ultimately spend around six months continuously in the air and is cheaper and more environmentally friendly…

  • US particle accelerator to receive upgraded, UK-built detector

    Nuclear and particle physicists in the UK will lead preliminary work to help design its some of the detector technologies for the vast, complex experiment. They are supported with £3m funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The work will continue for almost three years. The Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) will be built on the existing Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) facility at Brookhaven, the only large particle accelerator in operation in the US. Particle accelerators like the RHIC accelerates beams of ions to near the speed of light and causes them to collide, revealing their internal structure. The EIC will be focused on the strong interaction, the strongest of the four fundamental interactions, which is responsible for binding the constituents of nuclei…

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  • Mesmerised crabs’ breeding habits inhibited by lure of undersea power cables

    The team from Heriot-Watt University showed that the electromagnetic field emitted from undersea power cables affects the crabs’ biology at a cellular level and stops them from moving. Researcher Dr Alastair Lyndon said: “When it’s at a strength of 500 microTeslas and above, which is about 5 per cent of the strength of a fridge door magnet, the crabs seem to be attracted to it and just sit still. “That’s not a problem in itself - but if they’re not moving, they’re not foraging for food or seeking a mate. The change in activity levels also leads to changes in sugar metabolism: they store more sugar and produce less lactate, just like humans.” The scientists observed around 60 crabs at the St Abbs Marine Station in the Scottish Borders and used its purpose-built aquarium laboratory for…

  • EV drivers hit the ‘Electric Road to COP26’ to demand faster global action

    EV drivers from 44 EV drivers’ associations will be calling for all new cars and light-duty vans sold in the 28 EU countries represented in the Global EV Drivers’ Alliance (GEVA) to have a plug by 2030 and to be fully zero-emission by 2035 at the latest. A rapid shift to zero-emission electric transport is currently being achieved in many countries and could be accelerated through supportive policies, the group says. Transportation accounts for 24 per cent of direct CO 2 emissions from fuel combustion globally, of which road vehicles account for nearly 75 per cent, according to GEVA. The Alliance is calling for action now to shift from vehicles burning fossil fuels to vehicles running on clean, renewable electricity. To take this message to COP26, EV drivers from Europe and the UK will…

  • View from Brussels: The repairman cometh

    According to polls carried out by the EU’s statistics office, 77 per cent of European citizens would rather repair their devices than buy new ones, while 79 per cent think that manufacturers should be legally obligated to make that practice more straightforward. Last week, both those wishes became more likely. Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s tech tsar, confirmed that the European Commission will next year publish its plan to offer citizens a ‘right to repair’ and that groups interested in the issue should now get in touch to help her staff draft the proposal. “As for anything in the tech market, users shouldn't be locked in with one supplier. We should be free to choose which device we buy, the data we share, the apps we use and where we go when we need something to be fixed,” the European…

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