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Race for the moon: Lunar ventures surge as £120bn space economy emerges

There is money to be made on the Moon, but you must hurry – the Earth’s natural satellite is getting a little crowded. In the clean rooms of satellite manufacturer SSTL, based in Guildford, Surrey, a unique spacecraft is just coming together. The Lunar Pathfinder will be one of the first communications satellites built to make money on the Moon. The spacecraft, dreamed up by the pioneering British small satellite manufacturer in the mid-2000s, will be about as big as a fridge, weighing 300kg and orbiting the Earth’s natural companion in an elliptical orbit that will take it over the lunar poles. While the satellite will zip over the north pole in a few minutes only several hundreds of kilometres above the crater-riddled surface, it will linger for hours over the south pole during the distant…

E+T Magazine in Space
Algorithms boost real-world quantum applications

Developing new quantum algorithms could help us model the batteries and chemicals of the future. It’s a hard pill for some industries to swallow, but our energy and manufacturing status quo is no longer fit for purpose. Our reliance on fossil fuels is driving up carbon emissions, climate change and global warming. Our increasing demand for technology and digital services is depleting some of our rarest resources. Our laboured adoption of renewable energy and sustainable manufacturing is creating economical and societal risks. There is a solution in sight: quantum computers promise to speed up material modelling in a way that helps us discover and commercialise new materials for batteries, solar panels, chemicals and more. By using quantum mechanics to solve problems that are unsolvable…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Could plastic-eating microbes solve the world's waste problem?

Using microbes to recycle plastic waste back into its constituents offers great promise – especially as the first commercial facility has just begun construction. Plastic pollution is a huge problem, but one that society – and industry – is determined to solve. While most plastics can be mechanically recycled through cleaning, shredding and remelting, recycling rates remain low. The process also affects physical properties, which limits the amount of recyclate that can be used in a new product. New techniques are emerging to overcome this limitation. Chemical recycling, for instance, uses high heat to break plastics into their original monomers, which can be repolymerised. But a more sophisticated approach – using plastic-degrading enzymes – could do this more efficiently. What’s more,…

E+T Magazine in Waste Management
Biotech’s broken promises: Why the biofuel revolution never happened

It seemed at one stage, a decade or two ago, that biotech was going to be the next big thing in all sorts of fields – fuel, medicine, materials. But it has proved to be more difficult than at first thought. It’s easy to see why there is such enthusiasm for biosynthesis. Jean-François Bobier, partner and vice president of deep tech at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), points to the bioethanol industry as an example of how agriculture combined with industrial processing has reached the government-mandated 10% of the US car-fuel supply at near parity with the price of gasoline. To get there, farmers used crops that have received some genetic engineering and intensive breeding strategies. When the US introduced its renewable fuel standard programme almost 20 years ago, proponents of synthetic…

E+T Magazine in Biotechnology
E+T Critical Targets: Is the technology sector on target?

What progress are we making in solving the world’s greatest engineering challenges? Three years ago, E+T undertook a project called Critical Targets during the 150th anniversary celebrations of the IET. The idea was to draw a line in the sand with some of the greatest challenges facing society and the planet – more specifically, areas in which the engineering and technology sector is providing the foundations for resolving those problems. In this article, we look at those Critical Targets in the company of ‘champions’ for each one – often the same champions from 2021. Three years is not that long, yet it has been a tumultuous spell in our history, with a pandemic stagnating economies and altering the way we live and work, conflicts with far-reaching economic consequences – such as in Ukraine…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
UK risks ‘digital Windrush scandal’ as eVisa system comes into force, campaigners warn

The UK government’s eVisa scheme risks a “digital Windrush scandal” when it comes into effect early next year, according to the Open Rights Group (ORG). The scheme, which was first announced in 2021, is a digital system that replaces physical immigration documents with an online record of an individual’s immigration status. The eVisa allows users to prove their right to work, rent or stay in the UK without needing a physical document. It aims to streamline the immigration process and make it more secure by reducing the risk of lost or stolen documents, but ORG has said it could lead to a scenario where people who have the right to be in the UK are unable to prove it. The campaign group has called for the scheme to be stopped before it comes into effect on 1 January 2025. Migrants from…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Oxford Street pedestrianisation finally gets the green light, London’s mayor confirms

London’s Oxford Street is set to be pedestrianised, years after it was first attempted, mayor Sadiq Khan has announced. The pedestrianisation plan was first announced in 2017 and would have seen extra seating installed for shoppers and a new 800-metre-long work of public art for the length of the carriageway. But Westminster Council vetoed the plan over concerns from local residents about the impact the plan would have on their transport options. Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner is now expected to sign off on the scheme that would give the mayor powers to override the council. Khan said the plan would help increase visitor numbers to the area and create new jobs. More than 500,000 people visit Oxford Street every day, which generates approximately 5% of the capital’s economic output…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
UK government announces £88m fund to boost zero-emission vehicle tech

A joint industry and government fund will award £88m across 46 projects that are developing a range of green vehicle technologies. The funding, with £44.5m coming from government and £43.5m from the automotive industry, has been awarded through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC). This non-profit organisation facilitates funding to UK-based research and development projects developing net-zero-emission technologies. Two of the biggest recipients of the £88m fund include Protean Electric and Gordon Murray Group. The total investment in these two projects is £22.5m, including £11m through the APC’s collaborative R&D competition announced last year. Protean is a Surrey-based automotive technology company working to bring to market power-electronics products, including in-wheel motors to…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
Google backs satellite constellation that detects wildfires before they get out of control

Google has invested in satellites that can detect wildfires from space soon after they begin. The first satellite in the FireSat programme is expected to launch early next year, although once complete, the constellation will consist of over 50. Google, which is providing $13m to the initiative led by the Earth Fire Alliance, said it will be able to “detect and track wildfires the size of a classroom within 20 minutes”. Wildfires are becoming increasingly common due to hotter and drier climates around the world. Firefighters typically have to rely on satellite imagery that is either low resolution or only updated a few times a day, making it difficult to detect fires until they’ve grown significantly larger, which makes them harder to combat. The satellites use a set of custom infrared…

E+T Magazine in Satellites
Researchers genetically engineer ‘golden lettuce’ with high levels of beta-carotene

Spanish scientists have used a biotech technique to significantly multiply the beta-carotene content of a lettuce, giving the leaves a nourishing boost as well as a golden hue. Lettuce does not pack an overly nutritious punch. Mostly containing cellulose and water, it has very few phytonutrients compared to other vegetables. A research group at the Research Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology (IBMCP), a joint centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), has developed a method to significantly increase the phytonutrients in leafy green vegetables such as lettuce. This includes the phytonutrient beta-carotene, a red-orange pigment found naturally in some plants that contain antioxidant properties that converts to…

E+T Magazine in Biotechnology
Rise of data centres and AI to further exacerbate global copper demand, warns miner BHP

BHP, the world’s largest mining company, expects global copper demand to rise to 52.5 million tonnes a year by 2050, a 72% increase from 2021. According to GlobalData, more than 709 copper mines are in operation globally, with the largest being the Escondida mine in Chile, which produced an estimated 882,100 tonnes of copper in 2023. While this may sound like a lot, the red metal is expected to be in short supply over the coming decades given demand growth from green energy sectors such as offshore wind and solar farms and electric vehicle batteries, not to mention the copper required for upgrades to the electricity grid. BHP, which operates and owns just under 60% of the Escondida mine, has said that the world would need to double the amount of copper produced over the next 30 years…

E+T Magazine in Artificial Intelligence
UK should tax jet fuel to raise up to £5.9bn a year, campaigners say

The UK could raise an extra £5.9bn a year in revenue if jet fuel was taxed, campaigners have said. Road fuel duty is currently levied at just under 53p a litre, and accounts for approximately 5% of government revenues. However, unlike drivers, hauliers, rail operators and farmers, airlines do not pay tax on the fuel they burn. In 2023, airlines burnt roughly 11.1 million tonnes of jet fuel – almost the same amount of petrol as was burnt in the UK last year. The Transport & Environment (T&E) think tank estimated that the government could raise anything from £400m to £5.9bn annually depending on the routes covered and tax rate applied. It suggested applying a 9p fuel duty rate to kerosene starting in 2025 and raising this on an annual basis until it matched road fuel duty by 2030. It also…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Confidence among UK manufacturers up despite economic downturn in the sector

Make UK’s latest Manufacturing outlook report reveals that despite a downturn in the sector’s output and growth, business confidence is the highest it has been in 11 years. The manufacturers’ organisation, along with accountancy and business advisory firm BDO, has published its report for the third quarter of 2024. This is the first report since the change of government in July 2024. The findings reveal that there is yet to be a clear sign of any improvement in the sector’s economic performance. The findings show output figures have turned negative for the first time in four years (+9% in Q2 to -2% in Q3), but are forecast to jump by a third in the next quarter. Domestic orders have weakened (decreasing from +14% in Q2 to +7% in Q3), but export orders (+11%) are currently exceeding…

E+T Magazine in Management of Technology
Labour may scrap pledge to ban new petrol vehicle sales by 2030, report claims

Labour could renege on its manifesto pledge to restore the 2030 ban on petrol and diesel vehicles, The Sunday Telegraph has claimed. In October 2023, Rishi Sunak reduced ambitions on a number of green policies, including postponing the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles to 2035. While consumer adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) has been steadily rising over the past decade, a recent flatlining in sales has led to calls from the domestic automotive sector to halve VAT on new EVs amid concerns that the 2030 date won’t be met under current market conditions. The Sunday Telegraph reports that the government is now considering allowing hybrid vehicles to be sold up until 2035 in a relaxation of its initial pledge to scrap the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines by…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Comment: Why identity verification is key to keeping large-scale sporting events safe

With cyber attacks increasingly targeting large-scale sporting events, Rob Otto, EMEA field CTO at Ping Identity – a global software company specialising in identity management solutions – explores why identity verification is critical to the physical and digital security of such events. This Summer’s Olympic Games in Paris saw hackers target the official Olympics’ mobile application with phishing attempts and a coordinated attack made on the French high-speed rail hours ahead of the Games’ opening ceremony. Despite the biggest sporting events of the year – the Olympic and Paralympic Games – having finished, we must continue to remain vigilant at similar large-scale sporting events. How to mitigate cyber attacks Identity verification is a critical component in ensuring the physical…

E+T Magazine in Cybersecurity
BMW collaborates with the University of Zagreb to optimise battery cell production

BMW Group’s Battery Cell Competence Centre (BCCC) in Munich, Germany, and the University of Zagreb’s Regional Centre of Excellence for Robotic Technology (CRTA) in Croatia are collaborating to advance the production of battery cells with the help of AI. With the increased drive towards electric vehicles (EVs), automotive companies like BMW are focused on developing high-voltage batteries. With the battery cell being a central component of these high-voltage batteries, achieving optimal battery production is a crucial aim. For this reason, BMW has chosen to collaborate with researchers with specific knowledge in this area. The industry-academia collaboration between BMW and the University of Zagreb began at the end of 2023 with the launch of the INSIGHT project (Intelligent Data Models…

E+T Magazine in Power Conversion
Access to digital tech is ‘a basic human right’ for 19 million UK adults living in digital poverty

While our society becomes increasingly reliant on digital technologies for essential services, education and employment, more than 19 million adults and one in five children are living in digital poverty, according to the Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA). Today (12 September) marks the second annual End Digital Poverty Day, an initiative launched by the DPA, an independent charity of which the IET is a founder partner. This campaign raises awareness of the millions of adults and children across the UK lacking access to digital technologies such as laptops, which is contributing to a widening digital divide in underserved communities. Elizabeth Anderson, chief executive of the DPA, said: “With so much of our lives continuing to revolve around digital, it is imperative that digital access…

E+T Magazine in STEM Education and Skills
UK elevates data centres to critical infrastructure status for stronger cyber defences

The government has begun classing data centres as critical infrastructure – which gives them greater protection – because of their importance to the UK’s cyber security and economy. The critical national infrastructure (CNI) designation is given to systems considered necessary for a country to function and upon which daily life depends. The list was last updated in 2015 when the space and defence sectors were classed as CNI. Other key assets include energy and water supply, transportation, health and telecommunications. Technology secretary Peter Kyle said that giving data centres the same protections should make them less likely to be compromised during outages, cyber attacks, and adverse weather events. This also puts them on an equal footing with other key utilities. The impact of…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Nasa engineers fix a clogged thruster issue onboard the 47-year-old Voyager 1 spacecraft

Voyager 1 uses its thrusters to stay pointed at Earth so that it can receive commands and send back science data, but after 47 years in space some of the fuel tubes had become clogged. The Voyager 1 probe was first launched by Nasa in 1977 on a path that eventually led both it and its sister spacecraft, Voyager 2, outside the solar system altogether. Each are on their own journey into the cosmos, with Voyager 1 travelling more than 24 billion kilometres from Earth, and Voyager 2 more than 19 billion kilometres. Both have flown past Jupiter and Saturn, while Voyager 2 also flew past Uranus and Neptune. Being Nasa’s longest-running spacecraft, they have both faced problems due to longevity. In October 2023, Voyager 1’s onboard computer was sending back garbled status reports and so Nasa…

E+T Magazine in Space
2,500 job losses at Port Talbot steelworks confirmed amid government negotiations

Port Talbot steelworks is facing 2,500 job cuts, the government has confirmed. Tata Steel announced it was closing the plant in January as it struggled to compete with cheaper steel from China and Europe. This was just months after the government struck a deal with Tata to invest £500m in the plant to help it transition over to electric arc furnaces (EAFs) so it could produce low-carbon steel. The Department for Business and Trade estimates that efforts to switch over to EAF technology will reduce the UK’s overall CO2 emissions by around 1.5%. Talks have been ongoing between the government, Tata and trade unions to improve the redundancy package for workers. There will now be a minimum voluntary redundancy pay-out of £15,000 for full-time employees plus a £5,000 ‘retention’ payment, as…

E+T Magazine in Management of Technology
Hinkley Point B reaches defuelling milestone with removal of nuclear fuel from its first reactor

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has overseen the completion of defuelling Reactor 4 at Hinkley Point B power station. EDF, which operates the site, has also announced that alternative saltmarsh locations are now being sought for Hinkley Point C following a public consultation earlier this year. Hinkley Point B power station, situated near Bridgwater, Somerset, generated electricity from 1976 until 2022. The process of defuelling the power station is currently under way. A key milestone in this process has now been reached with Reactor 4’s defuelling. This ONR will also oversee similar work about to begin on defuelling Reactor 3. “Defuelling is the process of safely removing the spent nuclear fuel from the reactors, which removes the vast majority of the radioactive hazard,”…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
Amazon Web Services to spend £8bn to build UK data centres

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has said it will spend £8bn in building data centres across the UK, creating an expected 14,000 jobs in the process. Chancellor Rachel Reeves welcomed the investment from the online retail giant’s cloud computing arm and said she personally met with the firm last week to secure the five-year investment. AWS said the 14,000 jobs would be needed for the firm’s data centre supply chain such as construction, facility maintenance, engineering and telecommunications, as well as other jobs within the broader local economy. According to Amazon, the investments will contribute an estimated £14bn to the UK’s total GDP from 2024 to 2028. With news this morning that the economy unexpectedly flatlined in July with regards to GDP growth, Reeves said that overcoming “14 years…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
Robot starts two-week mission to extract melted debris from Fukushima nuclear plant

A crucial operation to remove a small amount of radioactive debris from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant is underway by plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco). In 2011, a massive earthquake and resulting tsunami wrecked the Fukushima nuclear power plant beyond repair. The Fukushima meltdown was considered the worst nuclear disaster since that at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in April 1986 and prompted the declaration of a 30km evacuation zone around the Japanese plant. Seven years after the disaster, a Greenpeace report found that radiation levels in the area continued to be up to 100 times higher than normal. Tepco is currently engaged in a decades-long effort to decommission the plant. This includes dealing with large amounts of highly radioactive melted fuel inside three reactors…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
Schneider Electric to invest £42m in Yorkshire manufacturing facility

Schneider Electric plans to build a £42m facility in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, that will build equipment aimed at supporting the UK’s transition to cleaner energy systems. The firm said the new facility will be nearly three times the size of its existing Scarborough site and create an additional 200 jobs. It aims to make the plant net zero by early next year with a focus on sustainable manufacturing. Approximately 30% of the facility’s energy needs will be met by a state-of-the-art solar energy system, with solar panels covering half of the roof. Any additional energy drawn from the national grid will be “renewable certified”. The facility will employ Schneider’s EcoStruxure platform for intelligent energy management, including light sensors and automated heating and cooling systems…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy

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