• Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software under investigation after low-visibility crashes

    US regulators have launched an investigation into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software after a number of crashes were reported when it was being used in an area of reduced road visibility. Rather than using expensive lidar hardware – the approach favoured by other driverless tech firms such as Google’s sister firm Waymo – Tesla’s Autopilot uses cameras, ultrasonic sensors and radar to see and sense the environment around the car. Tesla has said Autopilot enables vehicles to steer, accelerate and brake within their lanes, while FSD lets vehicles obey traffic signals and change lanes. The company has said both technologies “require active driver supervision” with a “fully attentive” driver whose hands are on the wheel and that they “do not make the vehicle autonomous”. However, the…

  • Volcanic magma could power next-gen geothermal energy systems, say scientists

    A team of international scientists working at the Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT) in Iceland are exploring how energy extracted directly from magma could be used for next-gen geothermal systems. Geothermal energy is a largely unexplored renewable resource. With 99.9% of our planet being at a temperature greater than 100°C, scientists are investigating how we unlock this almost unlimited resource of magmatic heat. While there are geothermal systems that tap into hot water deep underground to generate electricity, scientists have now been wondering whether these systems could make use of magma’s extreme temperature. In 2009, it was discovered that Krafla, an active volcano in north-east Iceland that last erupted in the mid-1980s, hosts a geothermal system that consists of a highly evolved magma…

  • UK urged to redirect military resources toward green manufacturing and climate goals

    The UK government should redirect military industry resources towards addressing the climate crisis and improving the domestic economy, a report from the Common Wealth think tank has urged. In 2023, global military spending reached $2.4tn, with the UK ranking sixth in spending, allocating more funds as a proportion of GDP than peers such as France and Germany. Furthermore, there is cross-party consensus to increase military spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2025. The report, A Lucas Plan for the twenty first century, is based on 21 extended interviews with current and former workers in the UK’s military industry. It urges the government to adopt an alternative strategy that would repurpose parts of the UK’s military industry towards civilian sectors with a focus on green manufacturing. Currently…

  • Tesco announces 15-year plan to buy enough solar energy to power 144 large stores

    Tesco has signed a major power purchase agreement (PPA) for solar energy that will see it buy enough electricity for an estimated 144 large stores. Britain’s largest supermarket chain said it would purchase 65% of the solar power generation from Cleve Hill Solar Park in Faversham, Kent. The site is home to the UK’s largest solar and battery storage project, with a capacity of 373MW. It began construction in early 2023 and is set to become operational in early 2025. Tesco said the 15-year agreement represents the largest corporate PPA for solar power in the UK yet. Once complete, Cleve Hill will house more than 560,000 solar panels alongside energy storage infrastructure. The solar park will provide up to 10% of Tesco’s total UK electricity demand. Over the past five years, Tesco has announced…

  • CAA to relax drone rules from 2027 to allow for remote infrastructure inspections

    New rules allowing drones to be flown beyond the visual line of sight could unlock their potential to inspect infrastructure such as power lines and wind turbines, as well as increase site security. According to a roadmap from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), routine drone inspections could take place by 2027. This would greatly reduce cost in comparison to human-led operations, which often involve hazardous scenarios requiring stringent safety rules. While some drones have been flying beyond visual line of sight in the UK for several years, these flights are primarily trials under strict restrictions. The regulator’s new rules will include activities where drones can remain at low heights close to infrastructure or near buildings where there is little or no potential for any other…

  • Comment: Helping AI come out of the shadows

    Teams should always be encouraged to find innovative applications for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to streamline workflows. However, in a phenomenon known as shadow AI, many employees are using the technology in ways that are not being sanctioned by their employers. This is a problem and not one that is not going to go away any time soon. A recent study from Deloitte found that only just under a quarter of those who have used GenAI at work believe their manager would approve of how they’ve used it. The unsanctioned use of AI could put an organisation in serious legal, financial, or reputational risk. Yet, nearly one-third of employees admitted in a separate survey that they placing sensitive data into public GenAI tools. Unsurprisingly, 39% of respondents in the same study…

  • From the archives - Concorde, Mary Rose and gasoline pump

    Tanya Weaver looks back at a famous archeological feat, a gasoline pump lacking cars to fill up and a legendary plane’s final flight. 139 years ago Foot on the gas On 5 September 1885 the first gasoline pump was invented. However, the car had not yet been created. The pump, which featured marble valves, a wooden storage barrel and a wooden plunger to reliably dispense kerosene, was sold by its inventor Sylvanus Bowser of Fort Wayne, Indiana, to the owner of a nearby grocery store, where it was used to dispense kerosene for use in lamps and stoves. His design helped reduce dangerous spillages. Having patented his pump in 1887, Bowser later improved upon his ‘filling station’ design and began selling it to the first automobile-repair garages in 1893. Image credit | Getty21 years ago…

  • Vast unveils plans for Haven-2 space station as potential ISS successor

    Space firm Vast has revealed the first designs for its proposed successor to the International Space Station (ISS). Nasa currently plans to decommission the ISS in 2031 while supporting the creation of private Earth-orbiting space stations to be used by multiple customers both private and public. The ISS has had its operating lifespan extended numerous times over the course of its operation. Nasa is currently overseeing its Commercial LEO Destination (CLD) program, which will decide which firm will build the ISS successor, and is expected to select its Phase 2 winner in mid-2026. If selected, Vast plans to have the first module of its Haven-2 space station fully operational in orbit by 2028. The firm said it would be able to get the module in orbit quickly due to the significant private…

  • Tokamak Energy hopes its pilot fusion energy plant could be built within a decade

    Tokamak Energy has released initial designs for its pilot fusion energy plant, which it hopes can be built within the next decade. The early look into the plant was presented at the industry-leading Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Plasma Physics in Atlanta, Georgia, last week. If fully realised, the design will be capable of generating 800MW of fusion power and 85MW of net electricity – roughly enough to power and heat more than 70,000 American homes. The plant will include a complete set of new-generation high-temperature superconducting magnets to confine and control the deuterium and tritium hydrogen fuel in a plasma many times hotter than the centre of the sun. Initial designs are for the tokamak to have an aspect ratio of 2.0, plasma major radius…

  • UK considers mandating USB-C as universal charging port for electronics

    The UK government is looking into whether to mandate a common charger for electrical goods as part of efforts to cut down on e-waste. In 2022, the EU introduced similar rules mandating that all small- and medium-sized portable devices have a USB-C charging port by 28 December 2024. The rules mean that USB-C ports need to be the standard for mobile phones, tablets, headphones, e-readers, low-powered laptops, keyboards, computer mice, earbuds, smart watches and electronic toys. However, as the UK had already left the EU by then, those rules did not apply to it. The government at the time said it would not introduce similar rules. Nevertheless, the Office for Product Safety and Standards has launched a call for evidence for adopting similar directives as it believes they would benefit…

  • Google signs deal for small nuclear reactors to power AI

    Google will buy nuclear energy generated by small modular reactors (SMRs) in a bid to power its increasing reliance on AI. SMRs are easier to scale and more affordable than larger nuclear power plants. The entirely factory-built facilities are typically transported as modules and assembled on-site, which reduces construction activity and makes SMRs a commodifiable product. Google has signed a deal with California’s Kairos Power to build six or seven reactors, with the first being completed in 2030. The search engine giant plans to operate all its data centres and offices on carbon-free energy by 2030 by funding various clean energy projects and technologies. But despite its efforts, the firm’s carbon emissions have actually increased by 50% over the last five years due to its increasing…

  • Stansted Airport’s £1.1bn expansion will see upgraded terminal and security systems

    A £1.1bn expansion of London’s Stansted Airport has been announced that will create an additional 5,000 jobs and see an extension to its existing terminal. The plans were first announced at the government’s International Investment Summit and follow record-breaking passenger numbers for the airport in 2024 so far. The £600m extension to the airport’s existing terminal will take up the majority of the funds, creating more seating areas plus new shops, bars and restaurants. While planning permission for the extension was secured last October, Stansted only released its first design mock-ups of the new terminal yesterday. Stansted is the UK’s fourth busiest airport after Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester respectively. Some of the new funding will be used to deliver a 14.3 megawatt on-site…

  • ‘A day for the engineering history books’ as SpaceX catches giant Starship booster

    SpaceX’s quest for rapid reusability is a step closer as the company successfully caught the Starship rocket booster for the first time as it returned to Earth after launch. The 400-foot-tall uncrewed Starship rocket was launched for the fifth time yesterday (13 October) from its Starbase site in south Texas at 7.25am local time. The mission was to break new ground for Starship: rather than have its first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, land in the ocean, as is typical, it returned directly to its launch mount. Three minutes and 40 seconds after lift-off, Super Heavy separated, turned and reignited 13 Raptors (SpaceX-designed rocket engines) to head back toward the Texas launchpad. SpaceX then slowed the booster as it approached the mount, and a pair of huge mechanical arms reached…

  • £1.5m solar heat installation project takes shape on the roof of the British Library

    Solar tech company Naked Energy is installing the UK’s largest solar heat project across 712.5m2 of roof space on the Grade I listed building. The installation is expected to reduce the building’s CO2 emissions by 55 tonnes and generate 216MWh of energy annually – the equivalent of powering and heating a community centre or swimming pool for a year. Naked Energy’s technology combines solar photovoltaic and thermal (PVT) technology to generate both electricity and heat from a single collector. These solar PVT collectors, called VirtuPVT, which Naked Energy says are the highest energy density solar technology in the world, can deliver a peak efficiency of 80%, converting 20% of the sun’s energy to electricity and 60% to heat. Being modular in design, these collectors can easily be installed…

  • Direct air capture plant in Canada aims to remove up to one million tonnes of CO2 a year

    London start-up Mission Zero Technologies (MZT) is working with Montreal-based Deep Sky, the world's first tech-agnostic carbon removal project developer, to validate its electrochemical direct air capture (DAC) technology. MZT’s compact modular DAC system has been delivered and installed at Deep Sky’s carbon removal innovation and commercialisation centre, Deep Sky Labs, in Alberta, Canada. Powered by renewable solar energy, Deep Sky will use MZT’s containerised system to recover CO2 from the atmosphere for permanent storage underground. The aim is to initially demonstrate carbon removal on a small scale using MZT’s technology through capturing up to 250 tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere each year. Having validated the technology, the DAC system will then be scaled into a commercial…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Climate change could push endangered whale sharks into ship collisions, study finds

    Climate change could increase the risk of whale sharks colliding with large ships, according to a University of Southampton study. The authors predict that increased ocean temperatures will push this already endangered species into new habitats crossed by busy shipping lanes. Such a move could increase the chance of collisions by up to 15,000 times by the end of the century compared with the present day. Lead author Dr Freya Womersley said: “These shifts in the whale sharks’ habitat were most extreme under high-emission scenarios. A global reshuffling could lead to core habitat losses in some areas as well as increased co-occurrence with shipping traffic as oceans warm and other variables change.” Whale sharks, the world’s largest fish, are highly mobile and responsive to changes in temperature…

  • Iberdrola to invest £24bn in UK green energy, boosting grid capacity and renewables

    Iberdrola, which owns ScottishPower, has committed to spend £24bn on upgrading the UK’s green energy infrastructure in a doubling of its initial investment plans. Investment in renewable energy generation has exceeded investment in transmission capacity over the past decade, resulting in bottlenecks in the electricity network. The current infrastructure is reaching its capacity and is unable to transport much more electricity without reinforcing the network. Earlier this year, National Grid’s Electricity System Operator said the UK’s grid needed a major revamp in order to connect a raft of new offshore wind facilities set to be built off the Scottish coast, costing an estimated £58bn. Iberdrola said that two-thirds of its investment would be directed to transmission and distribution networks…

  • Interview: Alexis Dabee-Saltmarsh on the HiVE Project and the future of STEM education

    With building work almost complete, the High Value Engineering (HiVE) project is looking to welcome its first cohort of students to its high-tech facility. The 22,000-square-foot HiVE facility in Ebbw Vale, Wales, is the result of a £12m investment by the UK and Welsh governments to turn a redundant factory into a state-of-the art training and education establishment. Kitted out with various technologies, robotics and manufacturing equipment, the HiVE will to be used by both post-16 students and businesses, as well as by local primary and secondary schools, to help expand students’ STEM knowledge and skills. Alexis Dabee-Saltmarsh, lecturer in motorsports, aeronautical and composite engineering at nearby higher education college Coleg Gwent, has been involved in the project since its…

  • Rising costs for Hinkley Point C prompts EDF to seek £4bn from private investors

    EDF, the French energy firm building Hinkley Point C, is reportedly trying to raise an additional £4bn to fund the megaproject as costs continue to spiral. According to Bloomberg, EDF is seeking to raise funds by offering investors a stake in the project, although it has pledged to return their funds if the construction is not completed. The interested parties include infrastructure and sovereign wealth funds. Once complete, Hinkley Point C will be the UK’s first new nuclear plant in a generation. Its two nuclear reactors are expected to be able to generate enough low-carbon electricity to power around six million UK homes. However, the project has faced repeated delays. In 2013, EDF estimated that the plant would begin operations by 2023. It now says the first generator won’t be ready…

  • With customer demand fuelling the rise of the hybrid, where does that leave EVs?

    Automakers are facing a dilemma - with demand for hybrid cars burgeoning but having already invested in building pure EV platforms, what should they do now? Sheena Patel, an EV sector specialist at management consultancy Vendigital, discusses. The latest data on new car registrations in September 2024 from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders confirms that sales of new hybrid EVs rose 2.6% year on year, with plug-in hybrids up by 32.1%. Hybrid EVs now represent 14.2% of the total market. Meanwhile, sales of new battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) are growing, but not quite as quickly as predicted, and new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles still make up more than half of all new car uptake. The global picture is similar, if not further skewed in favour of hybrid…

  • Global floating offshore wind project pipeline increases by 9% during past year – new report

    The global pipeline of floating offshore wind projects has expanded in the last 12 months from 285 to 316, which equates to an increase of 244GW to 266GW, or 9%, according to the Floating Offshore Wind Taskforce. Its new report – Floating Wind: Anchoring the next generation offshore – ranks the UK as second-best in the world for fully operational floating offshore wind projects. Of the 15 fully operational projects, Norway is in the top position with 94MW (three projects) and the UK in second with 78MW (two projects), followed by China with 40MW (five projects), Portugal with 25MW (one project) and Japan with 5MW (two projects). The report finds that, globally, 102MW are under construction (four projects), 7.3GW are consented or in the pre-construction phase (22 projects), 21.6GW are…

  • Government urged to spend £1.9bn a year to transition oil and gas workers into renewables

    The government should provide £1.9bn annually to support offshore oil and gas workers in transitioning to the renewable energy sector, say climate groups. Sixty-five climate organisations, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Extinction Rebellion, signed an open letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves urging her to ring-fence the funding until 2030 as part of the government’s clean energy transition plans. The suggested spending includes £1.1bn a year to develop permanent, local jobs in manufacturing plants for wind turbines, an additional £440m on top of the £1.8bn already committed through the National Wealth Fund to help decarbonise British ports, and £355m to develop a dedicated training fund for offshore oil and gas workers. The letter arrives three weeks before the next Budget…

  • Form Energy secures $405m to advance iron-air battery technology for grid-scale storage

    US firm Form Energy has secured $405m (£310m) from investors to progress its battery technology that is longer lasting than lithium-ion. Most modern tech, including smartphones, electric vehicles (EVs) and grid-scale storage, uses lithium-ion batteries. But the technology is prone to degrading over time, particularly if frequently charged and discharged in full cycles. Manufacturing them also requires rare and expensive materials such as lithium and cobalt, leading to environmental concerns around mining and disposal. Instead, Form uses an iron-air battery system that is effectively based on a reversible rusting process capable of discharging energy for around 100 continuous hours. While they are too heavy to be used in consumer gadgets or EVs, they are ideal for use in grid-scale storage…

  • AI and electronic tech to replace line umpires at Wimbledon from 2025

    The line umpires who officiate matches during the Wimbledon championships will be replaced by Live Electronic Line Calling (Live ELC) next year, breaking a 147-year tradition. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club has announced that, from 2025, officiating technology will be in place for all championships and qualifying match courts. This Live ELC technology, called Hawk-Eye Live, will be used to give the ‘out’ and ‘fault’ calls. To ensure that a match or tournament is conducted according to the International Tennis Federation rules of tennis and other competition regulations, officials preside over the court. These include line umpires, who are usually each assigned a line and will call if a shot lands outside a line or indicate if it was in. From 2025, the Live ELC technology…

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