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Climate change contributed to Libya’s devastating floods, study finds

The research team found that c limate change, civil war and international sanctions all contributed to the devastation caused by the destruction of two dams that released an estimated 30 million cubic metres of water into the city of Derna. A team of researchers at World Weather Attribution raced to understand the causes of the disaster. Their report found that climate change made the levels of rainfall that devastated the Mediterranean in early September up to 50 times more likely in Libya and up to 10 times more likely in Greece. The team also stressed that Derna residents were made more vulnerable due to factors such as building homes on floodplains, chopping down trees and not maintaining dams. “The interaction of these factors, and the very heavy rain that was worsened by climate…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
UK council’s trial smart street lamps equipped with 5G and EV chargers

The £4m pilot study will receive £1.3m in central government funding alongside extra money from local authorities including Cambridgeshire, Tees Valley, Kingston upon Thames, Westminster, Oxfordshire and North Ayrshire. In addition to connectivity and EV charging, the lampposts can be equipped with technology to monitor air quality and display public information. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said that by trialling different uses across the participating areas, the pilot will be able to demonstrate how the technology could become an integral part of UK infrastructure in the future. The system could be particularly useful for expanding 5G networks, as far more cell towers are needed to provide full coverage than previous generation networks. The central government…

E+T Magazine
Microsoft's reworked Activision deal gets preliminary UK approval

Microsoft's $68.7bn (£55bn) acquisition of Activision Blizzard is one step closer to being finalised in the UK after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) gave preliminary approval to the amended deal. The UK watchdog had blocked the acquisition over worries it would “alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market”, leading to reduced innovation and fewer choices for UK gamers. In response, the company reworked the agreement, offering to sell Activision’s non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment as a way to assuage the regulator's concerns. Microsoft said its new proposal was a “substantially different transaction” to the one proposed in 2022. The revised transaction would allow Ubisoft to commercialise these rights to other cloud gaming services providers…

E+T Magazine
Comment: Why technological transformation matters in manufacturing

As Wales Tech Week draws closer, visitors can expect digital transformation in manufacturing to be one of the main focuses. I spoke to experts in the industry to see how manufacturing businesses stand to reap huge benefits from tech advances including digital transformation. The nature of the factory floor and supply chains continues to evolve, hailing a new era of efficiency and agility driven by automation, data analytics, and interconnected systems. Innovative technologies have the potential to revolutionise every aspect of the value chain. From product design and production processes to sales, supply chain management and customer engagement, digital transformation is enabling manufacturers to drive improved productivity, innovation, sustainability, and skills development. ‘It doesn…

E+T Magazine in Manufacturing
Nasa’s plan to bring back Mars samples is not 'credible’, says review

The Mars Perseverance rover, which landed on the planet in 2021, has already been tasked with collecting samples of rock, regolith and atmosphere that will ultimately be sent back with Nasa’s sample retrieval lander (SRL). Expected to launch in 2028, the plan is to land the SRL on Mars where it will remain in place to receive the collection of samples collected by Perseverance. The lander would be the first to bring along a rocket and two helicopters that will be designed to send the samples into Mars’ orbit to meet the earth return orbiter, which would then take the samples the rest of the way home. But the review board identified a number of issues with the current plan that could hamper efforts to retrieve the samples unless a thorough revamp of the project is carried out. It said…

E+T Magazine in Space
US proposes strict space junk rules for private firms to cut collision risk

It requires commercial space operators to choose from among five options to dispose of the upper stages of launch vehicles, including conducting a controlled re-entry moving the upper stage to a ‘graveyard orbit’ that lies away from common operational orbits sending the upper stage on an Earth escape orbit retrieving the upper stage within five years performing an uncontrolled atmospheric disposal. The last option would give firms 25 years for the upper stage to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. “Given that the entire mission lifetime of upper stages and their components is quite short, and spent upper stages pose a significant risk of debris propagation the longer they are in orbit, it may be appropriate to have a shorter disposal timeline of five years or another time period…

E+T Magazine in Space
Scotland signs ‘blueprint’ deal with onshore wind industry

The Onshore Wind Sector Deal has been hailed as providing a “blueprint” for the rest of the UK. The goal of the agreement is to support the Scottish government in reaching its target of 20GW onshore wind by 2030, a figure more than double Scotland’s current operational capacity of 9.3GW. The deal sets out how both parties will work together to deliver onshore wind farms quickly, sustainably and to the benefit of both local communities. Measures include ensuring the time onshore wind farms take to go through planning is halved to just 12 months and engaging with local communities to agree a package of community benefits. The deal also committed signatories to creating a sustainable solution for the recycling, refurbishing and repurposing of decommissioned wind turbine component…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
George RR Martin, John Grisham, Jodi Picoult and other authors sue ChatGPT owner

The author of the Game of Thrones series of books is among a group of 17 writers who have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the Microsoft-backed company of using their copyrighted novels to train its popular artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. The proposed class-action lawsuit was filed late on Tuesday by the Authors Guild representing 17 writers, including Jodi Picault, Jonathan Franzen, John Grisham and George RR Martin. In the filing, the authors said OpenAI copied their works “wholesale, without permission or consideration” and fed them into its chatbot. In doing so, they claim OpenAI endangered their ability to make a living off their work, as ChatGPT allows anyone to generate texts that they “would otherwise pay writers to create”. “These algorithms…

E+T Magazine
Automakers slam Sunak's decision to delay petrol car ban

The British automative industry, which has spent billions of pounds on transitioning to electric vehicle (EV) production, has criticised the government's policy U-turn, saying that the change of plans would disrupt supply chains and slow down the electrification of the industry. Following widespread speculation , Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday he would push back the ban on the sale of new petrol cars from 2030 to 2035, with the aim of easing the financial burden on households. “We seem to have defaulted to an approach which will impose unacceptable costs on hard-pressed British families,” Sunak said, stressing that maintaining the targets would have risked “losing the consent of the British people”. The 2030 ban was introduced by Boris Johnson's Conservative government,…

E+T Magazine
Hunterston B defuelling marks end of an era for UK’s second-generation nuclear plants

AGRs were the second generation of nuclear reactors to be built in the UK – the first being Magnox reactors. They use carbon dioxide as coolant and have been the backbone of the UK’s nuclear power fleet since the 1980s. Seven AGR stations comprised of fourteen reactors (two at each station) were built between the 1960s and 1980s – Hunterston B, Hinkley Point B, Dungeness B, Heysham 1, Hartlepool, Heysham 2 and Torness. But there are now just four reactors still operating, which are all expected to be closed by the end of the decade. In 2020, EDF announced it would close Hunterston B the following year, two years earlier than planned, after various fractures were found in about 10 per cent of the graphite bricks in the reactor core. The defuelling of Hunterston B’s Reactor 3 took around…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
Unmodified smartphone makes first-ever call using satellite-based 5G

Texas-based start-up AST SpaceMobile has been building the first space-based cellular broadband network designed to be accessible by standard smartphones in a bid to provide consistent coverage everywhere on the planet, including at sea and in flight. Earlier this month, the firm successfully tested the technology by placing a 5G phone call from Hawaii in the US to a Vodafone engineer in Madrid, Spain, using AT&T spectrum and AST SpaceMobile’s BlueWalker 3 test satellite. The call was placed on September 8 from an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone located near Hana, Hawaii, in a wireless dead zone. In a separate test, the company broke its previous space-based cellular broadband data session record by achieving a download rate of approximately 14mbps. In June, AST SpaceMobile…

E+T Magazine in Space
Major methane leak detected from space

A major UK methane leak has been mitigated after being spotted from space. The leak occurred over three months at a gas main operated by Wales and West Utilities. It was found by researchers from the University of Leeds in September 2022 using data from satellites. The team was studying the ability of sensors mounted on telecommunication towers to measure greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, when they identified an unusually large source of methane emissions near a landfill site close to Cheltenham. The team alerted researchers from R oyal Holloway , University of London, who visited the site and confirmed the leak. The site was releasing methane at a rate of over 200kg/hr. After the leak was confirmed, researchers alerted the pipe owner, who took immediate action to mitigate it. The repair…

E+T Magazine in Space
Volvo to make its last diesel vehicle in ‘early 2024’

The announcement makes it one of the first legacy car makers to take this step. It has already announced plans to sell only fully electric cars by 2030 ahead of aims to become carbon neutral by 2040. Last year, Volvo said it would cease development of new combustion engines in a bid to shift R&D spend towards EVs. “Electric powertrains are our future and superior to combustion engines: they generate less noise, less vibration, less servicing costs for our customers and zero tailpipe emissions,” said Jim Rowan, chief executive at Volvo Cars. “We’re fully focused on creating a broad portfolio of premium, fully electric cars that deliver on everything our customers expect from a Volvo – and are a key part of our response to climate change.” It was recently reported that the Prime Minister…

E+T Magazine in Automotive Engineering
Comment: How can we cope when volatility becomes the norm?

It’s always been the case that we’ve needed to adapt during volatile times. But more recently it seems that volatility has become a permanent state of being - whether it’s driven by the climate crisis, geopolitical tensions or a global pandemic. While upheavals can be disruptive, the pressure to change the way we do things can also bring out the best in us. Benjamin Franklin was once accredited with saying “out of adversity comes opportunity”, so we could say with equal measure that volatility breeds innovation. A recent study by McKinsey found that business leaders believe 50 per cent of all revenue generated over the next three years is expected to come from products and services that are not in existence today. They put this down to significant technological change and increasing demand…

E+T Magazine in Manufacturing
Edinburgh tram project suffered ‘litany of avoidable failures’, inquiry finds

Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (Tie), the delivery company set up and wholly owned by City of Edinburgh Council, has been accused of incurring a “litany of avoidable failures”, which caused delays and increased the costs of building Edinburgh’s tram. The tram line runs an 8.7 mile (14km) route from Edinburgh Airport to the city centre. The line opened in 2014, five years later than planned and £400m over budget. The delays and cost increases of the line triggered the launch of an inquiry, which has been looking into the scheme for the past nine years. The concluding inquiry report highlights the principal causes of the project’s failure, including a departure from the initial procurement strategy; a failure to work collaboratively with the council and other partners; delays in design…

E+T Magazine
European spending on motorways outpacing railway investment, research finds

The study, which was carried out by the Wuppertal Institut and T3 Transportation Think Tank on behalf of the environmental charity, looked at the investments in road and rail infrastructure by the 27 EU countries, as well as Norway, Switzerland and the UK. It found that European countries have spent approximately €1.5tn (£1.3tn) on road infrastructure and only €930bn on rail in the last three decades. “Millions of people outside cities have no option but to own a car to get to work, take kids to school or access basic services, living in areas with little or no public transport,” said Lorelei Limousin, Greenpeace EU senior climate campaigner. “This is a direct result of governments dismantling local and regional rail networks while pouring money into roads. Climate pollution from transport…

E+T Magazine in Road transport systems
Government to delay key green targets

The British premier is expected to announce the new measures in a speech later today. Sunak confirmed he was reassessing his party’s environmental commitments after the BBC reported late on Tuesday that the government was looking at delaying the deadlines for six important targets meant to support the UK’s green transition. Some of the reported measures include pushing back the ban on the sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035; phasing out 80 per cent of new gas boilers , rather than all of them, by 2035; delaying the ban on off-grid oil boilers to 2035; pledging to not introduce new home energy e fficiency regulations for landlords or homeowners; and ruling out taxes to discourage flying. “For too many years politicians in governments of all stripes have not been…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
Online Safety Bill finally passes after years of delay

The Bill will supposedly make the UK “the safest place in the world to be online” by ensuring that online companies do not subject their users to racism, sexual abuse, bullying, fraud and other harmful material often found on the internet. In its original form, the bill gave regulators wide-ranging powers to sanction digital and social media companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. However, it has been significantly watered down in revisions over the past year. Technology secretary Michelle Donelan said: “The Online Safety Bill is a game-changing piece of legislation. Today, this government is taking an enormous step forward in our mission to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. “Our common-sense approach will deliver a better future for British people…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Lack of charging points and subsidies dampens consumer demand for EVs

The latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), an industry body, find that EVs will command nearly 18 per cent of the new car market by the end of the year. Fleets of corporate vehicles are leading the electric transition, but the end of incentives for private consumers is dampening mass market demand, the body said. Last year, the Department for Transport announced the closure of the grant scheme for electric cars, claiming that a “mature market” has already been created. The SMMT criticised the move at the time, saying it sent the “wrong message” to consumers. It is now calling for support for private buyers to be reinstated in line with incentives provided to businesses. The removal of the Plug-in Car Grant left Britain as the only major European market…

E+T Magazine
Upcoming Sizewell C nuclear plant kicks off search for private equity investment

The facility is expected to cost at least £20bn and generate energy at a more expensive price when compared to renewables such as wind and solar. However, it would offer baseload capacity for the grid, which the latter do not. The project is planned to commence before 2024, with construction taking between nine and 12 years, depending on developments at the oft-delayed and over-budget Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. French energy giant EDF, which also holds a major stake in Hinkley, initially owned an 80 per cent share in the Sizewell C project, with the state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group funding the remaining 20 per cent. But last year, security concerns about China caused the government to buy CGN out of the development for just over £100m, meaning it is now co-owned…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
UK watchdog cautions over lack of competition in AI market

The UK’s competition watchdog has set out a list of principles designed to avoid any company obtaining a dominant position in the AI sector, and ensure that AI models are accountable and competitive. In its latest report, the CMA has focused specifically on foundation models – large-scale AI models such as OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Meta’s Llama 2 that can be adapted to downstream customer applications, meaning that they are intended to be built on by developers of customer-facing apps and services. The regulator said that AI would bring many benefits, but warned against the risk of a proliferation of false information , fraud and fake reviews. In addition, the monopolisation of the industry by one or a few firms could lead to higher prices and worse-quality products. “It is essential that these…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Korean researchers develop AI-based pothole inspection tool

The system is designed to review primary pothole information detected by the pothole detection program operated by the Land Management Office. This is a mobile-based application used for detecting potholes. However, due to limitations in device performance, high-specification programmes cannot run on mobile devices. This means that what is flagged as a pothole by the systems is often not so, and instead correlates with shadows, lane markings and tires – a mistake that the new system aims to address. The solution developed by the KICT team aims to counter this tendency. Using AI tools, the researchers designed a system that can e xclude objects other than potholes from the primary pothole information transmitted to the server, effectively selecting the real ones. Once the training of the…

E+T Magazine in Road transport systems
UK’s water supply at risk from infrastructure underinvestment, Lords warn

In a letter addressed to environment secretary Thérèse Coffey, the Lords criticised the government’s “lack of leadership and deep-rooted complacency” following the committee’s inquiry into water regulator Ofwat. It also said the government was dismissive of its report and made claims that its recommendations were outside the scope of its inquiry, which was an attempt “to avoid parliamentary scrutiny”. The report looked at Ofwat’s recent performance , in particularly its monitoring of water firms and overuse of storm overflows, as well as its efforts to secure future water supplies. It said Ofwat needed to go further to hold water companies to account for environmental pollution as well as ensure that companies invest sufficiently in water infrastructure. An E&T investigation last year…

E+T Magazine in Water Supply
First companies awarded carbon storage licences in the UK

The UK has awarded 14 companies 21 carbon capture and storage licences in oil and gas reservoirs and saline aquifers in the North Sea and East Irish Sea, spanning 12,000 km². The locations could store up to 30 million tonnes of CO 2 per year by 2030, approximately 10 per cent of the UK’s annual emissions, which amounted to 341.5m tonnes of CO 2 in 2021. Shell, Perenco and Eni have all been awarded licences off the coast of Norfolk in sites that could form part of the Bacton Energy Hub. This would be a carbon storage, hydrogen and offshore wind project that could provide low-carbon energy for London and the south-east “for decades to come and help in the drive to net zero greenhouse gas emissions,” according to the NSTA. Other locations are at sites off the coasts of Aberdeen, Teesside…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change

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