• New plant lab will help scientists optimise crops for ‘tomorrow’s atmosphere today’

    A unique £3m facility at the University of Essex will help scientists optimise plant performance and increase their resilience as our climate changes. The University of Essex has announced a new flagship Smart Technology Experimental Plant Suite (STEPS). This facility will feature a commercial standard vertical farm unit installed by the Innovation Agritech Group, an indoor field that replicates real-world environments and suites in which CO2 concentration and temperature levels can be raised to imitate a warming planet. As our planet warms, conditions will get hotter and drier and the risks of flooding will increase, all of which will negatively impact agricultural yields. Using this facility, scientists will build on the university’s extensive research into plant productivity, photosynthetic…

  • CHIPS Act to triple US semiconductor production by 2032, report finds

    The US will triple its domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity between 2022 and 2032 following the introduction of the CHIPS and Science Act, according to a report. CHIPS (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) was signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022 and authorises roughly $280bn of new funding to boost domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors. The aim of the bill was to strengthen the supply chain and help the US compete against China and Taiwan, the largest producers in the sector. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), CHIPS will see the US will grow its share of advanced logic semiconductors (below 10nm) manufacturing to 28% of global capacity by 2032, up from 0% in 2022. China, on the other hand, is expected to produce…

  • As the Thames Barrier reaches 40, officials say it will need adaptations for rising sea levels

    As the Thames Barrier reaches its fortieth anniversary, officials have said it will need upgrades in the future to cope with rising sea levels and extreme weather caused by climate change. The structure – which has been operational since 1982 but was officially opened on 8 May 1984 – helps to protect areas of London lying in the floodplain from high tides and storm surges moving up from the North Sea. Discussions into building some form of enhanced flood protection along the Thames were spurred by the North Sea flood of 1953, which killed over 2,500 people across four countries. In its 40-year history, the barrier has closed 221 times for flood defence purposes, but a plan dubbed Thames Estuary 2100 is currently fielding options to extend its lifespan to the end of the century. At the…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Australia will ramp up production and use of gas until ‘2050 and beyond’

    A new policy published by the Australian government promises to prolong the production and use of natural gas throughout the transition to net zero emissions by 2050. The Australian government has released the Future Gas Strategy, a long-term framework that maps the country’s plan for gas production and consumption, and how this fossil fuel will support the country’s transition to net zero by 2050. Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of liquefied natural gas. While it currently accounts for 27% of the country’s existing energy needs, the bulk of it is exported to countries such as China, Japan and South Korea. The strategy outlines Australia’s commitment to supporting global emissions reductions to reach net zero emissions by 2050. But to do this gas production and exploration…

  • Space tech innovation boosted by £1.8m funding

    New funding from the UK Space Agency (UKSA) is backing nine projects with promising technologies to support space capabilities. The UKSA launched its £8.6m Enabling Technologies Programme (ETP) in 2022, in partnership with UK Research and Innovation’s Science and Technology Facilities Council. The programme aims to boost British organisations researching and developing new and emerging space technologies to help grow the UK space sector. “For almost two years, our ETP has been empowering scientists and engineers in universities, companies and research institutes to advance the technologies of tomorrow, demonstrating the UKSA’s commitment to harnessing the power of space to improve life for everybody,” said Paul Bate, UKSA chief executive. ETP funding has been divided across nine projects…

  • Renewable energy responsible for 30% of the world’s electricity supply in 2023

    A new report has found that for the first time 30% of electricity produced worldwide came from renewable energy sources, predominantly solar and wind. UK climate think tank Ember has published a report – Global Electricity Review 2024 – that analysed electricity data from 215 countries, as well as examining data from the highest carbon emitting countries and regions of the world. It finds that renewables generated a record 30% of global electricity in 2023. From the analysis, 2023 saw a 23% growth in solar generation, 10% growth in wind generation and only a 0.8% growth in fossil generation. “The renewables future has arrived. Solar, in particular, is accelerating faster than anyone thought possible,” said Dave Jones, Ember’s director of global insights. This surge in renewables has…

  • Ofcom sets out safety proposals to ensure tech firms keep children safe online

    Communications regulator Ofcom has laid out practical steps for tech firms to ensure children are better protected online under the Online Safety Act (OSA). Ofcom announced in April that it was preparing to launch a consultation on its draft children’s safety code of practice, under the OSA. This consultation opened today with measures that, according to Ofcom, will deliver a step-change in online safety for children in the UK. “Once these measures are in force we won’t hesitate to use our full range of enforcement powers to hold tech firms to account. That’s a promise we make to children and parents today,” said Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom chief executive. The consultation follows the results of Ofcom’s annual study published in April, which revealed the extent to which young children…

  • Microsoft signs carbon capture deal using controversial technology

    Microsoft has signed a deal with energy firm Stockholm Exergi to help it meet its ambitions to become a net zero carbon company by 2030 by absorbing emissions from biomass power plants. The deal will see some 3.33 million tonnes of permanent carbon removals from bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) at a plant in Värtan, Stockholm. But scientists have previously expressed doubt that this method of carbon removal is an efficient way to reduce global emissions. A 2018 letter to the European Parliament signed by nearly 800 scientists said that “cutting down trees for bioenergy releases carbon that would otherwise stay locked up in forests, and diverting wood otherwise used for wood products will cause more cutting elsewhere to replace them”. It called on the body to restrict…

  • Boeing’s Starliner crewed space launch postponed for safety check

    The launch of Boeing’s Starliner, which was heading for the International Space Station (ISS), was called off two hours before lift-off because of a problem with the spacecraft’s rocket. The CST-100 Starliner was scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral in Florida yesterday (6 May), in its first crewed test flight. The two Nasa astronauts – Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams – were heading to the ISS, where the Starliner would dock for around 10 days before returning to Earth. The two astronauts were in position ready for blast-off, but the decision was taken to halt the flight because of a potential issue with an oxygen relief valve in the Atlas rocket, which sits beneath the Starliner. According to the BBC, flight engineers discovered that the valve in the Atlas rocket, which is run…

  • UK start-up Wayve secures over $1bn to further progress its AI tech for self-driving vehicles

    Substantial investment in artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Wayve marks Europe’s largest AI funding deal to date and “anchors the UK’s position as an AI superpower”. The $1.05bn funding round, which includes investment from SoftBank Group as well as Nvidia and Microsoft, will enable the British company Wayve to develop and launch the first “embodied AI” technology for self-driving vehicles in the UK. The start-up, which has previously received funding from big name investors including Microsoft, Virgin and Baillie Gifford, was founded in 2017 with the aim of reimagining mobility through embodied intelligence. This embodied AI system, called AV2.0, allows vehicles to learn while driving in real-world environments, avoiding the need for mapping and laser-based sensors. As Wayve’s…

  • A singular nuclear explosion in space would threaten a ‘significant proportion of satellites’

    The explosion of just one nuclear weapon in space could destroy or permanently damage “a significant proportion of satellites” that are in orbit around the Earth, the UK’s ambassador to the UN has said. Dame Barbara Woodward, who was speaking at the UN General Assembly debate on the Outer Space Treaty, said: “The resultant radiation and debris would render many orbits unusable for a very long time. “There would be highly disruptive and possibly life-threatening consequences for those essential applications, maps, weather [and] risk-monitoring, which would affect all states, not least developing nations.” Woodward’s comments follow a vote from the UN Security Council in April that rejected a draft resolution introduced by Japan and the US that aimed to prevent the development and deployment…

  • UK government’s climate action plan is unlawful, High Court rules

    The High Court has ruled that the UK government’s latest climate action plan to reach net zero emissions is unlawful as the plan does not provide enough evidence that there are sufficient policies in place to combat climate change. In March 2023, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) approved its carbon budget delivery plan (CBDP). However, soon after the plan was published, environmental campaign groups including Friends of the Earth, ClientEarth and the Good Law Project took legal action on the grounds that the CBDP fails to properly account for how it would meet the UK’s domestic climate targets, as required by the Climate Change Act of 2008. In February 2024, former chair of the Climate Change Committee Lord Deben provided a witness statement in support of Friends…

  • Researchers from UK and Czech Republic partner to progress UK fusion plant

    The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) has formed a partnership with Centrum výzkumu Řež (CVŘ) to build a test rig that will provide critical data in the development of the UK’s first fusion plant. The UKAEA has signed a multi-year deal with the Czech Republic research organisation to enable unique testing of high temperature superconducting (HTS) tapes. Data from this testing will be critical in the development of the UK’s first prototype fusion energy power plant, the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP), which aims to be operational by 2040. STEP was first announced in 2019 when the UK government revealed it was committing £220m to the design of the plant. Three years later, in October 2022, it announced that it would be built on a site in north Nottinghamshire. The reason…

  • Uber faces £250m lawsuit from London’s black-cab drivers for ‘unlawful operations’

    More than 10,500 London black-cab drivers have launched a £250m lawsuit against ride-hailing app Uber for alleged unlawful operations in the capital from May 2012 until March 2018. When Uber arrived in London in 2012, the San Francisco-based tech company had its sights set on a share of the thousands of taxi rides that crisscross the capital every day. Soon commuters were opting for the convenience of hailing an Uber via an app rather than hanging around a street corner waiting for a black cab to pass. This invasion of Uber into the capital started off a long-simmering battle between the tech company and London’s black-cab drivers. This was largely based, according to Warwick Business School, on Uber’s early “cavalier approach to rules around insurance and driver ID”, which led to Transport…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • How hackable are our passwords? Very... according to new IET research

    New research from the IET reveals some worrying insights into the passwords we use for our internet-enabled devices, and some top tips about what we can do to make ourselves more secure. Today is World Password Day, which takes place every year on the first Thursday in May to promote better password habits. Passwords have been in the news already this past week with the UK government having enforced new regulations – the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) Act – that require manufacturers of internet-connected devices to implement minimum security standards against cyber threats. These new laws include manufacturers banning the use of weak or easily guessable default passwords such as ‘admin’ or ‘12345’. If the password is common, the user must be given the opportunity…

  • Partnership to recover used Nissan LEAF lithium batteries to give them a second life

    A new partnership between Nissan and Ecobat Solutions UK will investigate how to recover, repair and repurpose used electric vehicle (EV) batteries from UK salvage operators for second-life applications. Ecobat Solutions UK has announced that it has formed a partnership with Nissan to investigate how used EV batteries within Nissan LEAFs, which were first launched in 2011, can still have a useful life as part of the circular energy economy. EV battery recycling is an issue. While traditional lead-acid batteries are widely recycled, the same isn’t true for the lithium-ion versions used in EVs. These batteries not only contain hazardous materials, but also have a tendency to explode if disassembled incorrectly. In an article featured on the BBC, it is estimated that only about 5% of lithium…

  • EU awards €720m to seven renewable hydrogen projects that will begin production in five years

    The EU has awarded nearly €720m to seven renewable hydrogen projects with a combined electrolysis capacity of 1.5GW in the European Hydrogen Bank’s first subsidy auction. In November 2023, the European Commission launched the pilot auction under the European Hydrogen Bank to support the production of renewable hydrogen in Europe. The European Hydrogen Bank aims to support the scale-up of cleaner fuels that will help contribute to the decarbonisation of European industry, including sectors such as steel, chemicals, maritime transport and fertilisers. Funding for the subsidy auction comes from the Innovation Fund, a funding programme from the EU Emissions Trading System for the demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies. In February 2024, the commission revealed that the pilot…

  • Meta to be investigated by the EU for its handling of election disinformation

    The European Commission has opened formal proceedings against Facebook and Instagram over concerns the online platforms are not doing enough to counter the spread of election disinformation. The commission has announced it will carry out an investigation against Meta, the parent company of social media apps Facebook and Instagram, into whether it breached the Digital Services Act (DSA), a set of regulations designed to ensure the internet is safe and fair for all users. Under this law, which came into force in 2022, tech companies are obliged to abide by a number of content moderation policies and advertising practices. The EU will look into Meta’s suspected infringements and its policies and practices relating to deceptive advertising and political content on its services, including…

  • Researchers find way to convert methane emissions from landfill into sustainable jet fuel

    A chemical process using non-thermal plasma could contribute to a circular economy by converting methane emissions from landfill into sustainable jet fuel, according to new research. As organic waste decomposes in landfills, it releases a great deal of CO2 and methane. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that traps 86 times more heat in the atmosphere than CO2 over 20 years. Emissions from unmanaged landfills are set to double by 2050 as urban populations grow, which could seriously affect global warming. Indeed, satellite data has revealed that 1,256 methane super-emitter events from landfills occurred between January 2019 and June 2023. However, researchers at the University of Sydney have potentially found a use for all this methane gas in a chemical process that uses non-thermal plasma…

  • ESA’s solar wind mission is set to launch into space in late 2025

    The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced that the Smile (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) mission will launch on a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in late 2025. Smile is a collaboration between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The mission marks the first time that ESA and China have jointly collaborated to select, design, implement, launch and operate a space science mission. The objective of Smile is to measure the solar wind and its dynamic interaction with Earth’s magnetosphere while the spacecraft orbits around the earth. It marks the first ESA mission that will view the full Sun-Earth connection. The hope is that the mission will provide a greater understanding of the Solar System, particularly space weather and solar storms…

  • The Maintenance, Repair and Operations Supply Chain

    ERIKS has just released its new MRO Supply Chain report based on a major survey in association with the IET. The report covers five crucial areas concerning MRO procurement, the engineering stores function, and the MRO supply chain, highlighting several critical insights for operational efficiency. The five areas are: People and skillsFinanceProcurementPerformanceBusiness ImpactIn addition the report reveals major findings relating to: OutsourcingStock write-offsDowntime due to spare parts availabilityUnlock new Insights from ERIKS and the IET and use this research to identify problem areas and actionable insights to transform your MRO supply chain.Download your copy today and join the ranks of industry leaders dedicated to achieving excellence and innovation.

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • 200 clean energy projects to see grid connection dates brought forward under new scheme

    Electricity networks in England and Wales have enabled the grid connection offer dates of more than 200 clean energy projects to be brought forward under the National Grid’s Technical Limits acceleration programme. There is an urgent need to revamp the electricity grid to support the increase in renewable energy projects. The National Grid’s Electricity System Operator (ESO) anticipates that Britain’s electricity needs will rise by nearly 65% by 2035 as heat and transport are increasingly electrified; however, this influx is putting pressure on the grid’s current capacity. For that reason, in September 2023, the National Grid announced the Technical Limits acceleration programme. This collaborative effort between industry, Ofgem and government is allowing projects to connect to lower…

  • G7 countries to set a timeline for the phase-out of coal-fired power plants

    Energy and climate ministers from the G7 group of industrialised nations are currently meeting in Turin, where a deal is being agreed to phase out the use of coal power “in the first half of the 2030s” where the emissions have not been captured. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) held in Dubai during December 2023, it was decided that to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C the G7 group of industrialised nations – consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US – must phase out coal by 2030 and fully decarbonise electricity by 2035. While COP28 ended with no firm commitment in place by the G7, it looks as though this commitment may now take place following a meeting this week in Turin between the energy and climate ministers of the G7. In…

  • UK aircraft orders hit record high but deliveries continue to lag – latest figures

    Latest figures from ADS Group reveal that while UK commercial aircraft orders for Q1 2024 are up from 2023 figures, production challenges are continuing to cause a lag in deliveries. The ADS Group, the trade association for the aerospace, defence, security and space industries, has published its Q1 2024 results based on orders and reported deliveries of commercial aircraft by Airbus and Boeing. The results reveal that over 300 aircraft orders were placed in Q1 2024, a 9% improvement on Q1 2023 results. The number of aircraft on backlog order is 17% ahead of 2023, at 15,812. There are also 30,000 aircraft engines on firm order. While this shows increased confidence from manufacturers, ADS figures reveal how current production capacity challenges are affecting deliveries. In comparison…

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