• 20GW of green energy projects fast-tracked for grid connection

    The new energy infrastructure will start with 19 battery projects amounting to around 10GW that will be given the option of connecting to the grid about four years earlier than they otherwise would have done. A further 10GW will be unlocked in the Midlands, South West of England and South Wales, which includes a raft of low-carbon technology projects, bringing forward some ‘shovel ready’ schemes by up to five years. National Grid said the accelerated 20GW of projects equates to the capacity of six Hinkley Point C nuclear power stations. Developers looking to connect renewable energy projects have previously told E+T that they face delays of up to 15 years to connect to the electricity grid. In June there were around 220 projects due to connect to the national transmission system before…

  • First transatlantic flight powered by sustainable aviation fuel given green light

    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it had carried out technical assessments of Virgin’s plans, including undertaking ground testing with Rolls-Royce on a Trent 1000 engine running on 100 per cent SAF. SAFs are typically derived by combining jet fuel with alternatives such as biofuels or recycled oils from industrial food facilities to achieve carbon savings of up to 70 per cent. They are often considered to be the most carbon-efficient option for aviation given the limits of current technology, which leaves electric and hydrogen planes in the prototype stage for now. Currently, SAF is approved for use in all aircraft, but only in blends of up to 50 per cent with conventional jet fuel. Virgin Atlantic was awarded up to £1m of UK government funding in December 2022, following a challenge…

  • WeWork valued at just $50m as it files for bankruptcy

    The story of the meteoric rise and fall of WeWork has come to an end, as the SoftBank Group-backed start-up has filed for bankruptcy in the US as a means of grappling with debts of billions of dollars. With its provision of shared working space, WeWork was once seen as the future of the workplace. The company, once valued at $47bn (£38bn), is now worth less than $50m (£41m), based on its latest share price. The filing is expected to give the company protection from its creditors and landlords as it restructures its vast debts.  A WeWork spokesperson said about 92 per cent of the company's lenders had agreed to convert their secured debt into equity under a restructuring support agreement.  WeWork has more than 700 sites around the world and around 730,000 members, but the bankruptcy filing…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Sizewell C to build desalination plant to meet its water needs

    With the UK’s ageing fleet of eight nuclear power stations needing to be replaced, and only EDF’s Hinkley Point C undergoing construction, Sizewell C will play an important role in backing up renewable energy in the switch away from fossil fuels. The project is expected to be finished by 2036 at the latest and will provide 7 per cent of the UK’s electricity needs. Desalination is expected to become an important future technology in the UK as the effects of climate change put greater strain on water supplies in rivers and reservoirs. To reduce the impact of the plant on the environment, Sizewell C is in discussions with EDF Energy Nuclear Generation to agree on a supply of zero-carbon electricity from the neighbouring power station Sizewell B. This will reduce the need to run the desalination…

  • FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty of fraud and money laundering

    A jury found the founder of FTX guilty on seven counts of criminal fraud, closing a chapter on one of the most publicised trials of the cryptocurrency world.  The jury delivered the verdict after less than five hours of deliberations, leaving the judge to decide on a sentence that could send Bankman-Fried to prison for as many as 115 years. The former billionaire, 31, was arrested in the Bahamas and extradited to the US after FTX went bankrupt last year. The downfall of the crypto exchange and its sister hedge fund Alameda Research rattled financial markets and caused Bankman-Fried to lose his estimated $26bn (£21bn) fortune.  “Sam Bankman-Fried thought that he was above the law,” said attorney-general Merrick Garland. “Today’s verdict proves he was wrong.” The ‘crypto king’ was accused…

  • Europe’s ‘first operational orbital spaceport’ built on remote Norwegian island

    Andøya Spaceport will be used to launch satellites from European commercial space company Isar Aerospace (IA). When fully constructed, the facility will host several launch pads, with IA gaining exclusive access to the first launch site, which was built to its specifications. It includes a launch pad, payload integration facilities and a mission control centre. The launch site will support the two-stage launch vehicle Spectrum, which is set to carry out final stage testing by IA. While the designs have been completed, the vehicle is currently in the production phase, including construction on the flight engines. The rocket stages will then have to undergo a series of tests that will verify that the systems meet all necessary requirements for flight. Image credit: Isar…

  • UK and US launch AI safety institutes

    The announcements took place during the inaugural AI safety summit, a meeting of w orld leaders, computer scientists and tech executives held this week at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire – the home of codebreaking and computing .  The UK’s AI institute has been presented as an evolution of the Frontier AI Taskforce created in June, with a similar leadership, as Ian Hogarth has agreed to continue in his role as chair . Celebrated AI researcher Yoshuo Bengio will be taking the lead on the production of the institute’s first report. The institute will “help spur international collaboration on AI’s safe development” by forming partnerships with research bodies such as the Alan Turing Institute, leading AI companies such as Google DeepMind, and nations including Singapore and the US. Sunak…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Thousands of Port Talbot jobs at risk as Tata Steel announces net loss

    Tata Steel workers have been left at a standstill as the company cancelled a scheduled press conference at the last minute, in which it was expected to reveal its decision to close the two Port Talbot blast furnaces, employing 4,000 people. The company had even held a meeting with union representatives earlier that day, in which the plans were framed within the company’s decarbonisation and cost-cutting push. However, the board meeting ended with no official confirmation from the group. That same day, Tata Steel published its financial results, revealing the firm suffered a £135m loss in the last quarter of the year.  The company said it was “not in a position to make a formal announcement about any proposals for a transition to a decarbonised future for Tata Steel UK” and said it hoped…

  • Disney to buy Comcast’s Hulu stakes for at least $8.6bn

    Disney has announced its plans to buy the part of the Hulu streaming service it does not already own from  TV giant Comcast for an estimated $8.6bn (£7bn).  The offer deadline expires on 1 December 2023, kicking off what are expected to be heated negotiations between the two entertainment conglomerates. If accepted, the deal would value Hulu at $27.5bn (£22.5bn), despite Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts recently stating he believes the streaming service is a “scarce kingmaker asset” worth $60bn (£49bn). The agreement would give Disney full control over Hulu’s content, allowing the company to integrate it into its own streaming service Disney+ and “further Disney’s streaming objectives,” the company said in a statement.  Disney gained a controlling interest in Hulu as part of its…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Moon base astronauts could use 3D printers to convert lunar dust into equipment

    Extended missions in space require the on-site manufacture of crucial materials and equipment, rather than transporting those items from Earth. Students at West Virginia University have been researching how 3D printing works in a weightless environment as a way to make that happen. They looked at how a microgravity environment affects 3D printing using titania foam, a material with potential applications ranging from ultraviolet (UV) light-blocking to water purification. “Transporting even a kilogramme of material in space is expensive and storage is limited, so we’re looking into what is called ‘in situ resource utilisation’,” said associate professor Konstantinos Sierros. The Moon contains deposits of minerals very similar to the titanium dioxide used in titania foam, which means the…

  • Offshore wind farms can ‘steal’ the capacity of other farms up to 50km away

    According to a researcher from the University of Bergen in Norway, efficiency can be reduced by up to 20 per cent from this distance due to wake loss. PhD candidate Eirik Finserås said that current regulations are “ambiguous” and should be developed to accommodate the proliferation of offshore wind development in the North Sea in order to maximise efficiency. “The incentive to develop an offshore wind farm can diminish with just a five per cent reduction in capacity, based on economic considerations,” he said. The Norwegian government is currently planning the development of offshore wind farms in Sørlige Nordsjø II. The field is located approximately 22km southeast of the planned Danish offshore wind park Nordsren III. “The Norwegian offshore wind farm in Sørlige Nordsjø II will likely…

  • UK makes U-turn over deep-sea mining moratorium

    The UK has changed its position on deep-sea mining, deciding to add its name to the list of countries calling for a moratorium on new mining licences proposed by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). Deep-sea mining is a highly controversial activity that seeks to obtain minerals such as lithium, copper and cobalt from the ocean floor. Despite the importance of securing these minerals to power green technologies, environmentalists have warned of the “catastrophic” impact that deep-sea mining could have on the world’s marine ecosystems. “Deep-sea mining poses an existential threat to some of the most vulnerable, least explored habitats on the planet,” said Clare Brooke, chief executive of the Blue Marine Foundation. “It is vital that we exercise the precautionary principle and find ways…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Countries sign ‘world first’ AI declaration at Bletchley Park summit

    World leaders, computer scientists and tech executives are currently meeting at Bletchley Park – the home of codebreaking and computing – for the first AI summit in history.  The UK has marked the event by publishing the Bletchley Declaration, described as a “landmark achievement” that signals a starting point in the conversations around the risks of AI technologies. The document has been signed by representatives from the European Union and 28 countries, including the US and China.   The agreement is expected to “lay the foundations” for the discussions that will take place during the summit, and describes the need to address the risks that AIs could pose to society as “the only way to safely unlock the extraordinary opportunities”, according to UK t echnology secretary Michelle Donelan…

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    E+T Magazine

  • UK urged to roll out automated vehicle rules or risk losing £66bn economic uplift

    CAM enables vehicles to drive without human intervention while connecting with each other and surrounding infrastructure. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the tech could help save 3,900 lives and prevent 60,000 serious accidents. It could also add 342,000 additional jobs, with 12,250 directly in automotive manufacturing, by 2040. It could give Britons access to lower insurance premiums, with less stressful commutes and greater freedom for those with restricted mobility. Businesses may be able to move goods and perform industrial processes more efficiently. But SMMT called on the government to introduce new legislation in this parliament or risk losing the potential economic benefits. Boosting the roll-out would help the UK “cement its status as a global…

  • US’ largest offshore wind project granted government approval

    President Joe Biden has granted the fifth offshore wind plan approval of his administration in an attempt to lower energy costs and create new jobs . Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project, located 23.5 nautical miles off Virginia Beach, is expected to include 176 Siemens Gamesa 14MW wind turbines.  Permission from the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to build the facility was first requested in December 2020 , but the approval process has taken three years. The first turbine installations are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2024, with completion expected in late 2026. “Today’s approval of the largest offshore wind project in US history builds on the undeniable momentum we are seeing,” said interior secretary Deb Haaland, adding that the…

  • ULEZ has halved the number of most polluting vehicles in London, TfL says

    In a new report, the body found that there was just 39 per cent compliance across the capital in February 2017 when the mayor of London Sadiq Khan confirmed the introduction of the Toxicity Charge as a stepping stone towards the ULEZ. That figure has now risen 95 per cent across both inner and outer London. The number of older, more polluting non-compliant vehicles seen driving in London on an average day has decreased by 77,000 compared to June 2023 – a reduction of 45 per cent. In outer London there has been a 10 percentage point increase in compliance since the launch of the consultation to expand the ULEZ across all London boroughs, the report also found. ULEZ was originally announced under the previous mayor Boris Johnson in March 2015 with a proposed introduction in September 2020…

  • China invests almost $2bn in semiconductor company

    The China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund – also known as the Big Fund – has invested 14.56bn yuan ($1.99bn) in Changxin Xinqiao.  The investment amounted to 33.15 per cent of the total registered capital of the memory chip company, according to an update dated October 26 to the company’s registration information on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System (NECIPS). Changxin Xinqiao has applied to build a manufacturing base of 12-inch memory wafer, according to the official NECIPS database. If it goes ahead with the project, the company could become the first in China to design and mass produce integrated dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips design. The firm was founded in 2021 in Hefei in Anhui province and is led by Zhao Lun, general manager of ChangXin…

  • Network Rail to spend an extra £600m on infrastructure upgrades

    The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) called for the extra money during its response to NR’s proposed £43.1bn spending plans for the five-year period from 1 April 2024. NR said the previous spending period was especially tumultuous due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw a 95 per cent drop-off in passengers, resulting in a major loss of revenue. The ORR sets specific performance requirements for trains that are designed to benefit both passengers and freight operators. The latest targets are more challenging than originally proposed by NR “but are realistic,” the regulator said. NR’s spending increase is designed to improve the performance of various core assets on Great Britain’s railways including tracks, structures and earthworks. In order to meet the targets, the body is required to work…

  • Alliance of 40 countries pledges never to pay ransomware demands

    The 40 nations that form the alliance have announced their intentions never to pay ransom to hackers and to share data that would help catch them.  To achieve this, two information-sharing platforms will be created, one by Lithuania and another by Israel and the United Arab Emirates, officials revealed. The number of ransomware attacks has significantly grown worldwide over the past couple of years. The US is by far the worst hit, facing an average 46 per cent of such attacks. High-profile cases such as the attacks on casino operator MGM Resorts International and cleaning products maker Clorox are examples of this surge in cyber crime.  “As long as there is money flowing to ransomware criminals, this is a problem that will continue to grow,” said Anne Neuberger, US deputy national security…

  • Authors and publishers call for regulations to stop AI using copyrighted works

    The call comes on the eve of a landmark AI summit set up by Rishi Sunak that will be attended by world leaders such as US vice-president Kamala Harris and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, as well as tech executives such as Elon Musk. The Society of Authors, Publishers Association, Association of Authors’ Agents and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society asked Sunak for “urgent confirmation” that AI systems cannot continue to use copyright-protected works. They also want “acknowledgement of and recompense for” copyright infringement that has already happened, “transparency and attribution” and an “end to the opaque development of AI”. AI has the potential to make a major impact on all aspects of publishing, from content creation and marketing to production, data…

  • X (formerly Twitter) now worth half the money Elon Musk paid for it

    The company formerly known as Twitter has valued its equity at $45 a share in an internal note sent to employees, Fortune has reported. The amount is significantly less than then $54.20 per share Elon Musk paid for it upon his acquisition in 2022.  X had previously offered employees stock in March at a $20bn (£16.4bn) valuation. The company’s new value was probably estimated using a 409A valuation, the independent assessment method recommended by the Internal Revenue Service for private firms. As such, it is not entirely surprising that the value of X has dropped, as this method has a tendency to skew more conservatively than valuations based on venture capital funding and other methods. This internal valuation marks a 55 per cent drop in X’s value over the past 12 months. The drop could…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Declassified spy imagery reveals Ancient Roman forts in Syria and Iraq

    A team of researchers at the University of Dartmouth have used declassified Cold War satellite imagery to show the placements of a line of Roman forts built 2,000 years ago. Their locations span from Mosul in Iraq all the way to Aleppo in Syria. In doing so, the team refuted the findings of Father Antoine Poidebard. In the 1920s he conducted one of the world’s first aerial surveys of the area using a WWI-era biplane. Poidebard documented 116 forts, arguing that they were constructed from north to south to establish an eastern boundary of the Roman Empire. “I was surprised to find that there were so many forts and that they were distributed in this way because the conventional wisdom was that these forts formed the border between Rome and its enemies in the east, Persia or Arab armies,”…

    E+T Magazine
    E+T Magazine

  • Biden issues AI executive order to guard agains the technology’s dangers

    After years of non-binding agreements and ethical debates, the Biden administration has taken a step forward in its journey towards increasing regulatory oversight over AI technologies.  The US President has announced a new executive order that aims to drive the development of “safe, secure and trustworthy” AI. The law sets a series of safety assessments that all AI tools must follow, introducing new consumer protections and the need to ensure that AI respects equity and civil rights.  The new law will require companies developing foundational models that “pose a serious risk to national security, national economic security or national public health and safety” to notify the government of their activities and share the results of all red-team safety tests they conduct.   OpenAI’s GPT…

  • Japan suspends its first driverless vehicle pilot programme

    Japan has backtracked on its push towards self-driving vehicles after one hit a parked bicycle.  The country approved a pilot project last year, which allowed autonomous vehicles to drive on specific public roads. As part of this project, a service of driverless bus-like vehicles – similar to electric golf carts – began operating in Eiheiji in the Fukui prefecture in May. However, on Sunday one of these vehicles hit a bicycle that was parked on a roadside, said local official Norifumi Hiramoto. Although none of the vehicle’s four passengers were injured, officials decided to put the project on pause until its safety could be reassessed.  “We are suspending the operation until the cause of the incident becomes clear,” Hiramoto said. The vehicles drive at a maximum speed of 12 kilometres…

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