• End of an era – UK’s last coal-fired power plant will shut for good on 30 September

    Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire will close at the end of September after nearly 60 years. It dominates the East Midlands skyline for miles around with its eight cooling towers and 199-metre-tall chimney. The power station began generating electricity in 1968 with a capacity of 2,000MW, enough to power two million homes. Now, 56 years later, decommissioning will begin in two weeks, signalling the end to polluting coal-powered electricity in the UK. It also signals the end of an era to those residents who live close to it. Talking to news agency AFP, David Reynolds remembered the site being built as a child. “It'll seem very strange because it has always been there,” he said. “When I was younger you could go down certain parts and you saw nothing but coal pits.” …

  • Editor's comment: Engineers are our best hope for solving the world’s biggest problems

    Let’s be honest, the world is not without its challenges at the moment: climate change, war, pollution, disease and much, much more. Typically these problems hit us almost overnight, while the solutions to them often take time to unfold. Those solutions largely result from dedication in the laboratories, workplaces and minds of scientists, engineers and technologists. Politicians play an important role of course, particularly when it comes to conflict, or the commitment to finance. But the mental heavy-lifting generally comes from the technology sector. So how are we getting on in solving these big societal issues? Well, not that brilliantly, it appears. Back in 2021 E+T started a project called Critical Targets in which we looked at seven global challenges. In each category we selected…

  • Autonomous pothole prevention could revolutionise road repairs

    Climate change, tight budgets and increasing traffic are making it hard to keep roads damage-free. Now technology is being used to find sustainable ways to tackle the problem. The Hertfordshire town of Potters Bar, in the commuter belt just north of London, isn’t the sort of place you would expect to come across robot technology being tested that could help solve a problem plaguing urban infrastructure across the world. Earlier this year, however, it hosted trials of an autonomous road-mending vehicle, which could soon be patrolling city streets and finding and fixing defects before they develop into potentially lethal fissures. The state of British roads was mentioned in all party manifestos at this year’s general election, reflecting how preoccupied the public is with it. Pothole fury…

  • EV production requires triple the workforce compared to traditional ICE vehicles

    US car manufacturers that have switched to making electric vehicles (EVs) have had to employ at least three times more employees, bucking expectations that the shift would require fewer workers, according to research. In theory, EVs should be easier to manufacture than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles because they have fewer moving parts and simpler powertrains. Unlike ICE vehicles, which require complex engines, transmissions and exhaust systems, EVs primarily consist of an electric motor, a battery pack and a simpler transmission system. But researchers at the University of Michigan have shown that plants in the ramp-up stages of transitioning to full-scale EV production required 10 times more workers to assemble every vehicle. At one plant, which has been producing EVs for over…

  • 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…

  • Intuitive Machines wins $4.8bn Nasa contract to support missions in near space

    Nasa has awarded Intuitive Machines a $4.8bn contract to support its future missions in the near space region, which extends from Earth’s surface to beyond the Moon. The five-year contract with the Houston-based space exploration company forms part of Nasa’s plans to deploy lunar relay capabilities and navigation services for its Artemis programme. Artemis will send commercial robot landers to the Moon on science scouting missions, place astronauts on the lunar surface and, in the long-term, establish a permanent base to facilitate human missions to Mars. According to Nasa, the extended coverage offered by lunar relays will play a crucial role in helping it establish a long-term presence on the Moon. Without them, landing opportunities at the Moon’s south pole will be significantly limited…

  • 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…

  • 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,…

  • 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 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

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