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The road to decarbonisation begins with increasing grid flexibility

The fight against climate change has reached a critical deadlock. Armed with the information that modernising the grid is essential to significantly cutting carbon dioxide emissions, distribution system operators (DNOs) have the responsibility of bringing this vision to fruition. Electricity loads are anticipated to double by 2050 due to widespread electrification of homes and businesses, with the proliferation of electric vehicles and heat pumps serving as major catalysts. By 2050, the National Grid is expecting 300,000 new heat pumps to be installed annually, while 36 million EVs may be on the road by 2040. The conventional, one-directional energy model will be unable to meet the demand. The road to decarbonisation begins with increasing the grid's flexibility. This entails evolving to…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Russia-linked groups seek to ‘destroy’ UK critical infrastructure, minister warns

In response to the rising threat from state-backed hackers, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) will issue an “official threat notice” to operators of critical national infrastructure. The move has been confirmed by Dowden, who used his appearance at the CyberUK conference in Belfast to stress the importance of cyber security for the UK economy, warning against "ideologically-motivated" attackers that seek to "disrupt or destroy" the nation's critical infrastructure. "Ransomware is no longer just a crime," Dowden said. "It is a national security threat and our response needs to reflect the severity of that threat. These are attacks on our citizens, our businesses and our democracy. They are an attempt to undermine our society." The minister stressed that over the last 18 months…

E+T Magazine in Cybersecurity
Drought conditions force Panama Canal to lower maximum depth limit for ships

The restrictions, which will take effect from today (Wednesday), mean that so-called neo-Panamax container ships seeking to cross the canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans must comply with a maximum depth of 47.5ft, down from 50ft (technically 49.9ft), obliging them either to weigh less or otherwise transport fewer goods. The new measures are due to recent drought conditions, the canal authority said, prompting the fifth adjustment of its kind since the start of the year. Officials did not provide an end date to the measure, described for now as temporary, but said they hope it can "be lifted as soon as possible" once the Central American rainy season starts. The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) oversees the operation of the world-famous trade route that cuts through the Isthmus…

E+T Magazine in Climate Change
Gateway to the Moon - and beyond!

For over 22 years, humans have maintained a continuous presence in space, on board the International Space Station (ISS). It has now become almost routine, as astronauts and cosmonauts regularly blast off for stays in low-Earth orbit (LEO), with relatively little fanfare. But all of this is about to change. Nasa currently expects the ISS to retire from active service in 2030, because a hot, new destination in the sky is about to re-open its doors: the Moon. The successful launch of Artemis 1 in November 2022 was the first step on the journey, testing the rocket that will take four crew members, including the first woman, back to our natural satellite. The plan now is to launch Artemis 2 in 2024, which will take four astronauts out of Earth’s orbit for the first time since Apollo and take…

E+T Magazine in Space
Australia unveils roadmap to boost uptake of electric vehicles

As part of the plan, the federal government will introduce a fuel efficiency standard, working with the industry to finalise details in coming months, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said. Apart from Russia, Australia was the only developed country to either not have or be developing fuel efficiency standards, which encourage manufacturers to supply more electric and zero-emission vehicles. Transport is the third-largest source of carbon emissions in Australia, already one of the world's biggest emitters on a per capita basis. The initiative will help cut the country's emissions by at least three million tonnes of carbon by 2030 and over 10 million tonnes by 2035, Bowen said. Last year, Australia's centre-left Labour government flagged that it had plans to introduce new regulations targeting…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
AI used to identify lung cancer vulnerabilities

The research team, led by scientists at the University of Montana, has focused on searching for vulnerabilities in lung cancer cells with innovative technologies. The team used AI tools to improve their understanding of how protein groups in lung cancer cells regulate cell division and metabolism, with a view to develop better therapies to treat the disease. “We examined how cells respond to anti-cancer drugs used to treat lung cancer,” said Mark Grimes, a University of Montana biologist. “We used machine-learning algorithms to detect patterns in data that are difficult to see because our human brains are not all that great at seeing patterns in large spreadsheets.” Lung cancer continues to be a major cause of mortality. The disease is the third most common cancer in the UK, accounting…

E+T Magazine in Medical Diagnostics
The measure of: Seoul Ring Ferris wheel

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) has unveiled plans to build the world’s largest spokeless Ferris wheel as a new landmark for the city. Named Seoul Ring, the wheel will be located in Haneul Park and will offer stunning riverside views of the nation’s capital. The structure will enliven the skyline of Haneul, a former landfill site which has now been converted into an ecological park. In line with the area’s sustainable goals, the wheel will run on green energy, including solar power, according to SMG. Image credit: Cover Images The Seoul Ring won’t just be a deck to provide sweeping views of the surrounding area; city authorities say the Haneul Park site was chosen for its symbolism as a gateway to both Seoul and unified Korea and as a location geographically…

E+T Magazine
Aluminium scrap suitable for making new car parts, saving energy, scientists suggest

The innovative process could allow the automotive industry to recycle aluminium leftover from car manufacturing processes with 50 per cent less energy and 90 per cent lower emissions than traditional methods. The new method could remove the need to mine and refine the same amount of raw aluminium ore and also help extend the driving range of electric vehicles (EV). Moreover, by reducing the cost of recycling aluminium, manufacturers may be able to reduce the overall cost of aluminium components, better enabling them to replace steel. The research has been presented by the Department of Energy of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), in collaboration with mobility technology company Magna. “We showed that aluminium parts formed with the 'ShAPE' [Shear-Assisted Processing and…

E+T Magazine in Recycling
UK must ‘urgently rethink’ Online Safety Bill, messaging apps claim

The UK's largest e ncrypted messaging services have publicly opposed the government's Online Safety Bill ahead of its final reading in the House of Lords. The companies' leading executives have signed an open letter asking the UK government to “urgently rethink” sections of the legislation. They warned that in its current version, the Online Safety Bill fails to protect end-to-end encryption and respect the human right to privacy. “The bill provides no explicit protection for encryption and, if implemented as written, could empower Ofcom to try to force the proactive scanning of private messages on end-to-end encrypted communication services - nullifying the purpose of end-to-end encryption as a result and compromising the privacy of all users,” the letter states. “In short, the bill…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Tackling the impossible problem of content moderation

“I always perform with nipple tassels,” says Dr Caroline Are, pole dance instructor, activist and innovation fellow at Northumbria University. “Because if a nipple shows up, I can’t post it on social media.” In her academic life at the university’s Centre for Digital Citizens, she researches the below-the-radar strategies social sites use to control content and the impact of being blocked or limited online. She speaks from experience. As a performer, her pole-dancing videos have been ‘shadow banned’ (by Instagram) or outright blocked (by TikTok). Instagram apologised and now works with her – the platform has long been criticised for moderation policies which hide images without informing subjects. TikTok alleges her videos ‘imply’ nudity, which is banned by the largely youth platform –…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
E-scooter firm blames vandals as it pulls out of Sunderland

Zwings only began operating in the city in January after the previous provider pulled out, citing rising energy costs as a key factor. Now, Zwings has said it will cut the available number of its electric scooters in Sunderland from Wednesday this week and end its trial in the city altogether on 5 May. “This difficult decision has been made after a series of incidents of vandalism that have occurred in the past couple of months in Sunderland,” a spokesperson said. “Unfortunately, vandalism has been higher than expected – resulting in significant financial losses for the operator – and has put the safety of its riders at risk.” Zwings and its blue scooters took over from Neuron’s orange models in the city earlier this year, launching with 100 scooters. The scheme was expected to double…

E+T Magazine in Road transport systems
India greenlights gravitational-wave observatory project

Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved 26 billion rupees (£353m) for the construction of LIGO-India, expected to be completed by 2030. The facility has been designed as an exact copy of the twin gravitational wave observatories located in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana. The observatory is the fifth facility to join a global network of observatories focusing on detecting disturbances in space-time, known as gravitational waves. LIGO-India will be built near the city of Aundha in the Indian state of Maharashtra. "In a nutshell, it will add to our astronomical capabilities and will enable us to offer inputs and feedback not only to India but to rest of the world," Indian union minister Shri Jitendra Singh said at a briefing. The process that guided the…

E+T Magazine in Space
Hands-on review: Majority Audio Tru Bio biodegradable wireless earbuds

When it comes to Bluetooth earbuds, we're living in a bountiful era where the cost of manufacturing has plummeted and the essential core tech spec is by now well understood and easily replicated. It's become increasingly difficult to make a bad product. Equally, it's a bamboozling time to be a consumer. You're in the market for a new pair of true wireless earbuds, but you discover that there are approximately a million different styles and brands to choose from. These range in price from around £30 to over £300 (and then some, if you can afford to be truly profligate) and a lot of them look awfully similar to one another. Perhaps what you need – both you and the brand – is a specific niche, a USP. Something that differentiates: a reason to be chosen, a filter by which to hone the search…

E+T Magazine in Signal Processing
View from Washington: Musk vs Google and OpenAI

Elon Musk has confirmed that he wants to launch a third AI powerhouse to rival and, in his view, counterbalance Google and the OpenAI/Microsoft partnership. Truth GPT will be “a maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe.” More precisely, Musk wants to challenge the strategies and even philosophies of the two established players which, for him, raise the threat of “civilisational destruction” – a fear that, as leading technology commentator Kara Swisher (inevitably Kara Swisher) has pointed out, he has voiced repeatedly before . But in an interview with host Tucker Carlson, being broadcast over two nights on the Fox News network, Musk called for strong government regulation – even stronger, he suggested, than he faces in his automotive and space businesses…

E+T Magazine
View from India: Covid cases surge in the country, again

In the last few weeks, Covid cases have hit the headlines again. As of Monday 17 April, India reported 9,111 new coronavirus infections. As per data from the Health Ministry, active cases has increased to 60,313. The medical fraternity is of the opinion that rising Covid cases in the country may be attributed to XBB.1.16, a sub-variant of the Omicron virus. The coronavirus originally broke out in December 2019 before taking the world by storm in early 2020. Medically, the virus goes towards the endemic stage, which could be understood as a disease outbreak that is present but confined to a particular region. To that effect, it could be predictable and somewhat manageable. When the virus reaches the endemic stage it generates variants, one such being Omicron, which made news in 2021. Reportedly…

E+T Magazine
Europe’s largest nuclear reactor begins energy production

Finland's Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) nuclear reactor has begun producing regular output, boosting energy security in a region to which Russia has cut gas and power supplies. The reactor entered service the day after Germany bid goodbye to nuclear energy, by turning off its last three reactors. OL3's operator Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), which is owned by Finnish utility Fortum and a consortium of energy and industrial companies, has said the unit is expected to meet around 14 per cent of Finland's electricity demand and produce energy for at least 60 years. "The production of Olkiluoto 3 stabilises the price of electricity and plays an important role in the Finnish green transition," TVO Chief Executive Jarmo Tanhua said in a statement, adding that “the electricity production volume of Europe’s…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
View from Brussels: MEPs call for funding focus to favour green transport

Transport is one of the more visible proofs of Europe-wide harmony and unity. Intercity train travel and ferry links are physical reminders of how open borders now are. Conversely, dysfunctional transport networks also highlight any problems that exist. That is why members of the European Parliament’s transport committee want to make sure that governments are directing enough funding to rail and sail projects, instead of just focusing on traffic-clogged highways. Big infrastructure projects are governed by the EU’s Trans-European Transport rules (TEN-T), which lay out criteria that determine what is eligible for millions of euros in public money. TEN-T funding normally triggers a big injection of private capital. Ongoing projects that are underpinned by EU cash include Rail Baltica, which…

E+T Magazine in Railways
Russia’s energy dominance targeted by G7 nuclear deal

The five nations have agreed to leverage their civil nuclear power capabilities to undermine Russia’s grip on energy supply chains and cut off a significant source of funding for the country's invasion of Ukraine. The UK's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said that t he agreement was reached at the Nuclear Energy Forum at the G7 meeting in the Japanese town of Sapporo . The deal will see the five countries collaborating in activities related to uranium extraction, conversion, enrichment and fabrication to "establish a level playing field" to compete more effectively against "predatory suppliers". Officials said: "This agreement will support the stable supply of fuels for the needs of today, as well as guarantee the safe and secure development and deployment of fuels for the…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
Social networks face the wisdom of crowds

Elon Musk wanted to make sure his newly won control of Twitter would ‘sink in’ as he staggered through the doors of the company’s San Francisco office with a heavy ceramic kitchen basin. He left it in the foyer with the photographers before beginning a programme of layoffs and policy changes. What may have yet to sink in with Musk in the following months is not just that running a social media enterprise like Twitter is surprisingly costly and beset with social issues, but that a previous CEO wound up bankrolling what may turn out to be Twitter’s replacement in the market. If successful, it might take other companies of the same Web 2.0 generation with it. Technology executives like to talk of disruption. To break through, they need to disrupt whatever is in the lead spot now. Disruption…

E+T Magazine in Computing
New smart motorway plans scrapped over safety concerns

The building of new smart motorways in England is being cancelled, the government has announced. The Department for Transport had said the new schemes would have cost more than £1bn, and cancelling them would allow time to track public trust in smart motorways over a longer period. Smart motorways are a stretch of road where technology is used to regulate traffic flow and ease congestion. However, there have been growing concerns over these roads - which involve the hard shoulder being converted into a running lane – because of several fatal accidents in which stationary vehicles were hit from behind. “We want the public to know that this government is listening to their concerns," said transport secretary Mark Harper. “Today’s announcement means no new smart motorways will be built,…

E+T Magazine in Road transport systems
It’s time for responsible social media

“We must finally hold social media companies accountable for the experiment they are running on our children for profit.And it’s time to pass bipartisan legislation to stop Big Tech from collecting personal data on kids and teenagers online, ban targeted advertising to children, and impose stricter limits on the personal data these companies collect on all of us.” President Joe Biden got a standing ovation from Democrats and Republicans when he proposed tough regulation of social media in February’s State of the Union address. But getting something into federal law is proving tricky. The US has lagged the UK and the EU on online regulation. Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation has become a global template for privacy and has for now been retained in British law. Until more recently…

E+T Magazine in Ethical Aspects
Britain’s first shared solar park to be built in Devon

Ripple Energy has announced that Derril Water Solar Park will become Britain’s first shared solar park. The project, developed by renewable energy company RES, will provide an alternative way solar parks can be owned and run in Britain. The announcement comes as RES, which developed the project, enters an agreement to sell its Derril Water Solar Park to a Ripple-managed co-operative. The shared ownership model offers an affordable and simple way for households to act on climate change and shrink their carbon footprint, with the chance to buy and part-own the solar park in conjunction with thousands of other people. From tomorrow (Tuesday 18 April), households across Britain will be able to buy and own part of the pioneering project at Derril Water Solar Park, located approximately 1.2km…

E+T Magazine in Renewable Energy
Winners of the IET Impact in Society Awards revealed

The winning teams at the IET Impact in Society Awards, which celebrate global teams providing innovative solutions to world challenges, have been revealed. The awards celebrate people and projects that provide solutions to societal challenges through science, technology, engineering and maths. In the awards, the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA) RACE team was recognised for their teamwork in the Digital Futures category for its in-house developed robotics control system, CorteX. The technology is the result of a collaborative effort between experts in robotics research, software engineering, UI/UX design, quality assurance, standards compliance, and technical authoring, with the aim of supporting other teams all over the globe who are facing complex interoperability challenges…

E+T Magazine in Nuclear Power
Scottish seaweed sparks idea to boost electric vehicle batteries

The team from Marine Biopolymers and The University of Glasgow’s School of Chemistry received funding from the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) to explore the use of tailored alginates – a naturally occurring material found in brown seaweed – to help develop batteries using silicon as an alternative to graphite. Graphite or carbon electrodes are a core component of standard lithium-ion batteries, but can only store a limited amount of charge and have a restricted lifespan. Silicon has been suggested as a viable alternative for the battery anode, and can increase charging capacity by up to ten times. Used on its own, silicon expands and contracts each time the battery is cycled, eventually cracking and becoming damaged. The researchers' prototype combines silicon with…

E+T Magazine in Power Conversion

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