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Major electrical engineering project under way to connect the UK’s biggest gigafactory to the grid

National Grid has started work on connecting the UK’s largest electric vehicle (EV) battery factory to the grid. Tata Group’s £4bn gigafactory is being built on a former munitions works near Bridgwater, Somerset. Agratas, the subsidiary firm overseeing the new project, said the 40GWh factory on the 620-acre Gravity Smart Campus will create up to 4,000 direct jobs and many more as part of the supply chain. Due to open in 2026, the gigafactory aims to supply almost half of the batteries needed by the UK’s automotive industry by the early 2030s. National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) is building two interim 33kV connections to power the facility until a new high voltage 400kV transmission substation at Woolavington, built by National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET), is complete…

E+T Magazine in Power Equipment
Baltic states disconnect from Russian power grid to join EU grid

The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have cut ties with Russia’s power grid and switched to the EU continental grid. During a ceremony held in Vilnius, Lithuania, ministers from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to officially connect their electricity grids to the European grid. A few days earlier, they had disconnected from the Russian power grid. These states will now rely on connections with Finland, Sweden and Poland. The Baltic states split from the the Soviet Union in 1991; however, they have remained reliant on Russia’s power grid. While they had announced their attention to achieve energy independence from Russian in 2018, this process was sped up following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. While they stopped…

E+T Magazine
Underground climate change damaging city foundations

Climate change could be having significant effects below the Earth’s surface that are only just starting to receive the attention they warrant. Warnings about the possible consequences of climate change tend to focus on the most dramatic and visible effects. The ice caps diminish, major cities flood as sea levels rise, urban areas become uninhabitable due to increasing temperatures – all are easy to depict even if the scenario is decades away. Increasingly, scientists are warning that we should start looking down and assessing how human activity and the extreme weather conditions attributed to it are slowly but surely undermining the infrastructure we rely on. Whether it’s making buildings unstable, corroding pipes and cables or disrupting road surfaces, underground climate change is an…

E+T Magazine in Built Environment Technologies
Ultrasonic waves guide electric sparks through the air and around obstacles – new study

A new study has demonstrated how ultrasonic waves can be used to transport electricity through the air and around obstacles. The formation of electric sparks is chaotic, with branches splitting out in random directions. The path of the electrical current is guided by subtle differences in air density and charge, and attraction to conductive materials, such as metal. For these reasons, electricity is difficult to precisely control. Take a lightning bolt, for example. However, a new study has demonstrated a way to guide electric sparks through the air. Researchers at the University of Helsinki, the Public University of Navarre in Spain and the University of Waterloo in Canada have shown how ultrasonic beams can direct high-voltage sparks. The researchers claim that the method allows sparks…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Keir Starmer urged to reject new North Sea oil field over climate concerns

Climate researchers have called on Keir Starmer not to approve the development of a major new oil field in the North Sea. The Treasury has reportedly been considering giving the project the go-ahead as part of plans to maximise the UK’s economic growth. But the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment warned that the project would jeopardise efforts to keep domestic carbon emissions in check while undermining the UK’s reputation for climate leadership. After the Oil and Gas Authority gave the go-ahead for developing the Jackdaw project in May 2022, experts warned the previous Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, that “if the UK allows any new development of oil and gas fields, it will severely undermine … claims of leadership by contributing to further oversupply of…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
Researchers identify bacteria that break down at least three types of ‘forever chemicals’

Researchers have identified a strain of bacteria that can eat PFAS or “forever chemicals”, as well as some of their toxic byproducts. Since their invention in the 1940s, poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) have spread worldwide. They represent a group of around 12,000 different chemicals and are known as ‘forever chemicals’ because of their unbreakable chemical structure. Due to their handy water-repelling properties, PFAS have been widely used for decades in non-stick cookware, waterproof cosmetics, firefighting foams and clothing. A study led by researchers at the University at Buffalo in New York has identified a strain of bacteria that can break down at least three types of PFAS, as well as mop up some of the toxic byproducts created in the bond-breaking process. Having…

E+T Magazine
EU-backed project to protect marine ecosystems from underwater noise pollution

Partners in the LOWNOISER project aim to “address the critical environmental challenge of underwater noise pollution from shipping”. Underwater radiated noise from shipping is a significant source of continuous underwater noise pollution. It has been found to impact marine species that rely on sound for survival such as whales, disrupting their communication, navigation and reproduction. The European Commission has highlighted this issue in its Marine Strategy Framework Directive, which requires 80% of habitat sizes for target species to remain free from biologically harmful noise levels. The four-year LOWNOISER project led by Norway’s Maritime CleanTech is an initiative aimed at tackling noise pollution. Funded by €6.3m from the EU, the project brings together 15 partners to develop…

E+T Magazine in Air Pollution
MPs warn £22bn carbon capture plan is an unproven gamble that could raise energy bills

The UK government should reassess its decision to spend £22bn on “unproven” carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have said. Britons are currently facing some of the “highest energy bills in the world” alongside other cost of living challenges. CCS, the capture and underground storage of carbon before it is released into the atmosphere, is viewed by the government as essential to its 2050 net zero goals. In particular, it is considered to be a useful tool for sectors such as shipping and aviation where reaching net zero is very challenging with current technology. In December, two major carbon capture projects in Teesside were greenlit, with construction expected set to start in mid-2025. But the PAC said there are no examples of CCS…

E+T Magazine in Management of Technology
Ultra-thin graphene smart sensor shows potential in remotely tracking healing wounds

Researchers have developed a laser-induced graphene sensor material that when embedded into a bandage could enable improved tracking of healing wounds. Wearable sensors have many applications, one of which is to remotely monitor a patient’s wound while it heals. The challenge, however, is that these sensors are not able to distinguish different signals when they occur at the same time – for instance, between temperature and physical strain. Researchers from Penn State University and China’s Hebei University of Technology have addressed this issue by developing a new type of flexible sensor material using graphene that can accurately measure different signals, such as temperature and physical strain, simultaneously. Huanyu ‘Larry’ Cheng of the department of materials science and engineering…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Government must track data centre water usage to meet sustainability goals – report

The government needs to keep track of the water and energy use in the UK’s data centres to ensure the sector is growing in a sustainable way, a report has urged. Data centres typically use water for cooling purposes as heat can be dissipated through evaporation, which is more energy efficient than air conditioning. They also consume a significant amount of energy to keep large numbers of servers online. But, in a new report, the National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC) has urged the government to ensure companies are accurately reporting the environmental impact of their data centres as the sector grows rapidly, in large part because of the broad adoption of AI services. It said data centres should be designed to use a minimal amount of water and critical raw materials. The government…

E+T Magazine in Artificial Intelligence
‘World’s first’ lab-grown meat pet food goes on sale

UK start-up Meatly has launched a cultivated meat product for pets – the first company to sell cultivated meat in both the UK and EU. Meat production is extremely carbon intensive, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. While the vast majority of meat is eaten by humans, a significant amount also makes up the 10.5 million tonnes of pet food sold in Europe each year. In a bid to feed pets more sustainably, Meatly – in collaboration with plant-based dog food brand The Pack – has been working towards producing lab-grown meat products for pets. The company claims the new Chick Bites product has been produced from a single sample of cells taken from one chicken egg, from which enough cultivated meat could be produced to feed pets forever. This process, it says, produces…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
Starmer slashes red tape on planning rules in bid to attract raft of new nuclear power plants

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has unveiled plans to build a new suite of nuclear power plants in the UK, alongside a revamping of the planning rules to prevent local interests from derailing nationally significant projects. In particular, the rule changes are aimed at making it easier to build small modular reactors (SMR), which are easier to scale and more affordable than traditional nuclear power plants, albeit with a lower power output. The entirely factory-built facilities can be transported as modules and assembled on-site, radically reducing construction activity and making SMRs a commodifiable product. In September, Great British Nuclear shortlisted Rolls-Royce SMR alongside entrants GE Hitachi, Holtec Britain and Westinghouse Electric Company to build the new plants. Each Rolls-Royce…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
Industry insight: Big business and start-ups collaborating to push innovative tech forward

The ABB Startup Challenge is bringing innovative start-ups and ABB together to co-develop solutions to complex energy and climate challenges, says Massimo Muzzì, head of strategy, business development and sustainability at ABB Electrification. What is the ABB Startup Challenge and how does it promote innovation? The ABB Startup Challenge is an annual competition for start-ups to develop novel and more sustainable solutions to our most pressing challenges, primarily in the electrification space. It’s been running for five years, and we look for start-ups with strengths that can amplify our core competencies. For example, in 2024, we focused on how AI solutions could enhance energy industry systems, from dynamic grid management to decarbonising commercial buildings. Winning entrants are…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
Cellular concrete offers viable environmental alternative in earthquake-prone areas

Researchers in Ecuador say cellular concrete is a sustainable and structurally resilient alternative to traditional concrete for earthquake-resistant buildings. The construction industry significantly contributes to global energy consumption and carbon emissions. This is predominantly through the structural materials used, mostly cement and steel. The production of cement, the key ingredient of concrete, generates around 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2 every year – about 8% of the global total. Finding viable alternative materials is challenging, not least in earthquake-prone areas. A team of researchers in the faculty of sciences, engineering and construction at UTE University in Ecuador studied whether cellular lightweight concrete (CLC) offered both an environmentally friendly and earthquake…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation
MOD successfully trials robot dogs for bomb disposal

In a trial by the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD), advanced robotic systems – including robot dogs – have successfully demonstrated their capability to detect and defuse bomb threats. Bomb disposal operations are extremely hazardous. To significantly reduce the risk to military personnel, the MOD is trialling a new approach to performing bomb disposal operations. In trials led by the MOD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), bomb disposal robot dogs were used to detect and defuse bomb threats. In a series of scenarios, the robot dog was asked to perform tasks including opening and closing doors autonomously, navigating stairs, inspecting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and firing disruptors at the IEDs to render them safe. Other robotic systems used in the trial included…

E+T Magazine in Robotics
Government pledges £2.65bn to strengthen UK flood defences amid rising climate risks

The government will commit £2.65bn to shoring up the UK’s flood defences as climate change threatens homes in low-lying areas. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the money will benefit around 52,000 properties by March 2026 when the new defences are expected to be completed. The frequency of extreme weather events in the UK and around the world is continuing to rise as climate change warms the planet. But the UK is particularly susceptible because of its geographical location, sitting between warm tropical air from the south and cold polar air from the north. According to a study last year, extreme UK rainfall experienced during autumn and winter 2023/24 was made 10 times more likely because of human-induced climate change. Defra said the Labour government…

E+T Magazine in Management of Technology
Chip pioneer Jensen Huang among winners of 2025 QEPrize for Engineering

The 2025 Queen Elizabeth Prize (QEPrize) for Engineering has celebrated seven pioneers in the field of AI, including Nvidia’s founder and CEO Jensen Huang. The QEPrize is awarded annually to engineers responsible for ground-breaking innovations that have been of global benefit to humanity. This year’s prize has been awarded to seven engineers who have made seminal contributions to the advancement of modern machine learning, a foundational component driving progress in AI. Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, John Hopfield, Yann LeCun, Huang, Bill Dally and Fei-Fei Li have all been pivotal in advancing the three core pillars of modern AI: algorithms, hardware and datasets. The groundbreaking research of Bengio, Hinton, Hopfield and LeCun into artificial neural networks has enabled machines…

E+T Magazine in Artificial Intelligence
The world's most dangerous jobs push human limits

Demands of modern infrastructure continue to push people’s physical abilities to the limit. But what are the most challenging and dangerous jobs? Despite rigorous safety procedures, some jobs remain inherently risky. Technicians still climb hundreds of metres up tall, narrow towers to inspect telecommunication masts or wind turbines; saturation divers at offshore oil and gas facilities remain below the surface for days; and tunnellers work tens of metres below ground with millions of tonnes of earth above them. Gone are the old days when, as one veteran engineer put it, if you were a ‘single guy’ with no family, you were the one delegated to take the risks. Today, work has been transformed by technology and a sea change in safety mindset and culture over the last decade. But some industries…

E+T Magazine in Fossil Fuels
‘World’s largest’ sail-powered cargo ship launched in Turkey

Neoliner Origin, the world’s largest cargo ship to be powered primarily by sails, has been launched at RMK Marine shipyard in Tuzla, Turkey. The French shipping company Neoline began construction of the 136-metre-long and 24.2-metre-wide ship in November 2023. Its ambition was to build a vessel as efficient as possible when delivering freight across the oceans. With its two 90-metre masts and 3,000 square metres of sails, Neoline says that the Neoliner Origin will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% compared with conventional ships of an equivalent size. Offering a low-carbon option for maritime freight, 60-70% of the vessel’s propulsion power comes from wind. Additionally, it also uses hybrid diesel-electric power and generates energy from its own wake to reduce emissions…

E+T Magazine in Marine Transport
DeepSeek R1 shakes up AI: The cost revolution that could change everything

The furore that erupted in January around the China-developed DeepSeek R1 AI model saw leading technology and energy stocks tumble sharply. But what might all this mean for future AI research and adoption? A much wider reassessment of the global shape of the market, particularly the potential and cost of generative AI (GenAI), is likely to rumble throughout 2025. The money men have been seriously spooked. That is not the whole story, but you must still start there. Because one of the questions set to come out of the debate concerns where their investments may now go. At the tumble’s January low-point, Nvidia, the largest producer of AI GPUs, saw its share price fall by 17%, wiping nearly $600bn off its valuation. The other members of tech’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ – Apple, Microsoft, Amazon…

E+T Magazine in Business Planning
Energy price spikes across Europe will fall if 2030 renewables targets hit, new study finds

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have calculated that sticking to national renewable energy targets will reduce the intensity of price spikes. A new study shows that every European country would see energy price volatility fall by 2030 if natural gas dependency is cut and commitments to green energy are met. The UK and Ireland would be among the biggest beneficiaries, with electricity prices predicted to fall by around 45% compared with last year. Several of the Nordic nations could see over 60% reductions in electricity costs by 2030, while Germany could experience a 34% price drop. “The volatility of energy prices is a major cause of damage to national economies,” said Laura Diaz Anadon, professor of climate change policy at Cambridge. “Consumers are still reeling from…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
NHS launches major trial to test AI in early breast cancer detection

The NHS is launching a major trial assessing how AI could be used to catch breast cancer at an early stage. Nearly 700,000 women across the country will take part in the trial, with AI being used to assess the screenings alongside radiologists. The Department of Health and Social Care hopes that if the trial is successful, it could free up hundreds of radiologists and other specialists across the country to see more patients and tackle rising cancer rates. The EDITH trial (‘Early Detection using Information Technology in Health’) is backed by £11m in government support via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women, with around 55,000 people being diagnosed with the disease every year. Currently, women between…

E+T Magazine in Artificial Intelligence
Public support for net zero hinges on energy bills not rising, survey finds

With support for net zero hinging on the amount households pay on energy, Octopus Energy is calling on the government to make urgent market reforms. An Octopus Energy survey, conducted by market research agency Opinium, found that the cost-of-living crisis was still the most pressing issue facing UK households. Almost 90% of respondents identified energy bills as the top priority for the government to help reduce household expenses. While the findings show that the UK’s net zero ambitions remain popular, with twice as many people supporting net zero as those who don’t (43% v 20%), seven out of 10 supporters (71%) said their backing hinges on energy prices not rising. Greg Jackson, founder of Octopus Energy, said: “British people support net zero, but not if bills rise. We need to reform…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Self-healing asphalt made from biomass waste could help cut UK pothole costs

A type of self-healing asphalt made from biomass waste could help to cut the UK’s massive pothole bill, which is estimated at £143.5m annually. A team of scientists from Swansea University and King’s College London used machine learning to design the material, which is able to mend its own cracks without the need for maintenance or human intervention. Recent figures from RAC revealed that pothole-related breakdowns jumped by a fifth (17%) in the final three months of 2024 compared with the previous quarter. Cracks form when bitumen – the sticky black material in the asphalt mixture – hardens through oxidisation, but the exact processes behind this are not entirely known. The team has found a way to reverse cracking and develop methods to ‘stitch’ asphalt back together, creating more…

E+T Magazine in Research and Innovation

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