• Government's energy efficiency schemes are ‘struggling’ to meet targets, councils warn

    Local authorities have raised concerns over the sluggish pace of home insulation schemes, and the risk it poses to many people facing fuel poverty.  The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 300 councils in England and Wales, said the government's  flagship energy efficiency scheme supported 60,000 homes in 2022, down from almost half a million homes in 2013. The failure to match installation levels of 2013 in the following years had cost households £2bn in lost lifetime bill savings, the councils stated.  The organisation’s analysis also found that, if current rates continue, it would take 50 years to deliver loft insulations to all fuel-poor homes needing them, and almost 60 years to deliver wall insulation improvements.  As a result, 2.4 million fuel-poor…

  • The measure of: Romotow T8 rotating caravan

    The rotating caravan – which resembles a USB stick when extended – has hit the market at £187,000 (NZ$375,000). Designed by New Zealand-based architecture firm W2, the travel trailer is a futuristic two-part design. One portion of the structure is immovable, while the other can rotate to a 90-degree position at the push of a button to create a covered patio area. Thanks to the integrated automated hydraulic system, the swivel action can be completed in less than a minute.   Image credit: Cover Images   Designed for up to six people, Romotow includes a saloon with a kitchenette, shower, and main bedroom that can sleep two adults. The dining area features wraparound panoramic windows, a fold-down table and two bench seats, which fold out into a comfortable…

  • Book review: ‘The Frontier Below’ by Jeff Maynard

    Travelling seven miles over two millennia doesn’t sound like one for the record books, but that’s how long it’s taken humans to get to the bottom of the deepest oceans. The earliest divers held both their breaths and rocks to help them explore the depths, while in the intervening years we’ve developed techniques and technologies to give us some sort of control over one of the last terrestrial realms that can still be said to be unexplored. We didn’t get to the deepest point in the oceans until the 1960s, says Jeff Maynard in his superb 'The Frontier Below' (HarperCollins, £25, ISBN 9780008532727), the same decade that the Apollo missions saw men walk on the Moon. As with the quest for the Moon, venturing into the submerged trenches between the tectonic plates of the Earth’s crust had always…

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  • BT to cut 55,000 jobs by 2030; AI replacing some roles

    BT Group has become the latest big company to announce significant layoffs after the firm revealed its plans to cut between 40,000 and 55,000 jobs - including contractors - by the end of the decade. The telecoms giant currently has around 130,000 employees worldwide, with about 80,000 staff in the UK. A pproximately 30,000 of those employees are contractors employed through third parties. Going forward, BT's chief executive Philip Jansen said the company plans to rely on a "much smaller workforce" and digitalise its processes, without around 10,000 jobs in customer services being replaced by technologies including AI tools. By the end of the 2020s, the company could have a workforce as small as 75,000 to 90,000 people. “New BT Group will be a leaner business with a brighter future,…

  • Maintaining and improving existing road network to take priority over new projects

    The government-owned company is charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A-roads in England. Laying out proposals for the 2025-2030 period in a new report, National Highways said it wanted to improve the road experience with digital technologies as well as readying the 4,500-mile network for connected and autonomous vehicles. The digital efforts will see road users being given access to more real-time and personalised information covering congestion, on-going incidents, planned roadworks and events. It also plans to install around 2,500 open-access rapid charge points for electric vehicles by 2030. The report also outlines the challenges facing the UK’s increasingly busy roads and how investment can help tackle congestion and smooth traffic flow. Most…

  • National robotics centre for offshore renewable energy industry opens in Blyth

    The £3m state-of-the-art Dare Centre is the first of its kind in the UK. It will provide a unique opportunity for developers, researchers and wider industry to test, demonstrate and commercialise innovative digital and robotic products and services for the offshore renewable energy market. As offshore wind in the UK gets ready to triple capacity over the coming decade, the adoption of robotics and autonomous systems will be vital in achieving the rapid expansion to reach net zero. These technologies are expected to play an increasingly important role in the offshore renewable energy sector, with the UK well-placed to establish a world-leading supply chain linked to their future development. Stuart said: “I’m delighted to open the UK’s national robotics centre for offshore wind. Drones,…

  • Water companies apologise for sewage spills, announce transformation plan

    The ten English water management companies have issued a joint apology and recognised they failed to address sewage spills in beaches and rivers quickly enough. The apology was made by Water UK, the industry body which represents England's nine water and sewage companies. To address the situation, the organisation announced plans for the largest-ever investment in sewage networks, which will cut the number of overflows by up to 140,000 each year by 2030, compared to the level in 2020. However, customers and campaigners have complained over suggestions that the upgrade might result in higher bills for customers.  "The message from the water and sewage industry today is clear – we are sorry," said Ruth Kelly, chair of Water UK.  “More should have been done to address the issue of spillages…

  • One million Britons lose broadband access during cost of living crisis

    According to Citizens Advice, people on Universal Credit were more than six times as likely to have disconnected compared to people not claiming. While claimants are eligible for discounted broadband social tariffs, there are still big gaps around awareness and access with uptake only around 5 per cent. The charity fears the problem could get worse. Where people claiming Universal Credit are still paying for broadband, they are more than four times more likely to be behind on broadband bills than those who aren’t claiming. The latest figures from Ofcom show 95 per cent of the 4.3 million eligible households are missing out on saving £200 on broadband costs each year, amounting to around £824m of support going unclaimed. Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “People…

  • Dear Evil Engineer: Can I build a black hole power station?

    Dear Evil Engineer, Since our friend in Moscow moved on Ukraine, energy markets have been in an irresistible state of chaos. Do-gooders and villains alike see this as an opportunity to realign markets in their interests – whether with a shift towards LNG, nuclear, or renewables. I have been watching and waiting, wondering about how to make the most of this moment. Given the abundance of government incentives for sustainable energy projects in twin pursuit of decarbonisation and energy security, I ought to make the most of those. However, I cannot risk compromising my brand by investing in wind turbines, solar farms and other benign, tried-and-tested infrastructure. It would be more brand-appropriate to harvest renewable energy from a black hole. Would that be possible? Yours, A power…

  • Book review: ‘Not Just for the Boys’ by Athene Donald

    A decade ago, 9 per cent of engineers were women. The years since then have seen numerous well-funded campaigns attempting to chip away at this shocking sum. Yet today, nothing has changed. Still, only 9 per cent of engineers are women. Professor Athene Donald of Churchill College, Cambridge, a renowned physicist and former University of Cambridge Gender Equality Champion, tackles this persistent problem of the lack of women in science, and in particular physics and engineering, in her lively, provocative new book ‘Not Just For The Boys’ (OUP, £16.99, ISBN 9780192893406). "We’re losing half our talent," she bemoans, arguing that good science needs diverse scientists. Yet the very best we can say is that the hurdles to women in STEM, once hidden, have now become ‘less invisible’. The book…

  • Is it time to ban PVC? Ohio freight train crash reopens the debate

    Environmental issues take us round the world in this issue, but let’s start with the Coronation. Whatever you think of him or the monarchy, you have to admit that the newly crowned King Charles III was there early, talking about global warming, conservation and many other environmental issues long before they were fashionable, let alone mainstream. We look at his record. Will Charles III make a good green king? Constitutionally, he’d find it hard to ever be as vocal as king as he could be as prince, and he seems to accept that. But our  feature looks at what difference his passion for the environment and sustainability can realistically make in the future. Our Washington correspondent looks at the world’s LNG dilemma . The fuel crisis made it a tough winter for many, but importing, saving…

  • ‘Artificial leaf’ used to create carbon-neutral fuel for vehicles

    The process uses photosynthesis to convert CO2, water and sunlight into multicarbon fuels – ethanol and propanol – in a single step. As the process sequesters carbon from the atmosphere, the fuel is carbon neutral and does not divert any agricultural land away from food production, unlike biofuels. While the technology is still at laboratory scale, the researchers say their ‘artificial leaves’ are an important step in the transition away from a fossil fuel-based economy. Bioethanol is touted as a cleaner alternative to petrol, since it is made from plants instead of fossil fuels. Most cars and trucks on the road today run on petrol containing up to 10 per cent ethanol (E10 fuel). “Biofuels like ethanol are a controversial technology, not least because they take up agricultural land that…

  • Land could be a major constraint in Europe’s green transition, research finds

    Land availability could be one of the limiting factors in expanding Europe's renewable energy resources, which the continent needs if it is to reach its ambition to become climate neutral by 2050. According to research by McKinsey & Company, more than 90 per cent of the targeted additional capacity will need to be supplied by wind and solar - two sources of energy which require large tracts of usable land. In addition, land will also need to serve as a source of biogenic CO 2  (easily replenished sources of carbon, such as wood and other biofuels) for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and the production of e-fuels. This poses a significant challenge, since a large percentage of land in European nations is protected by strict environmental regulations, particularly those that regulate…

  • Teardown: HTC Vive XR Elite

    When you are expecting people to shell out a ton of money, your marketing should include a lot of reassurance. That at least is becoming the case for virtual reality. Following on from last month’s look at Sony’s latest VR2 headset and the earlier visit with the Meta Quest Pro , here is the HTC Vive XR Elite. It, too, has been launched alongside an online teardown, with a strong focus on wearability and repairability. First, let’s talk price. A UK consumer will pay £1,299.99 for the XR Elite, including VAT. Excluding VAT, that works out at £1,083.33. By contrast, a US consumer will pay $1,099.99 before tax. At the current exchange rate of about £1=$1.23, that is a sterling equivalent of £894.30 – roughly a £200 mark-up for Brits. The higher prices UK customers are often charged for consumer…

  • What can we do about the consequences of our current energy challenge?

    There is no doubt that ongoing issues surrounding energy have created significant challenges for global industry. However, the varied nature of global industry means it can be difficult to see the big picture. That’s why we at ABB conducted a survey of 2,300 leaders across key global markets: US and Brazil, Germany, the UK, Sweden and Italy, China and India, and Australia. Our research reveals that businesses face several serious challenges. The first is business competitiveness: the majority of leaders – 92 per cent of those who took part in the research – report that the energy crisis poses a threat to their organisation’s profitability and competitiveness. One in three leaders say they plan to cut the budget for R&D, infrastructure and technology, or marketing. Three in five plan to…

  • Review: Monolith at Outernet London

    The installation was created by artist-technician Jack Dartford to share his own experience of anxiety. Dartford, who is on the autistic spectrum and who had severe anxiety as a child and young man, explains: “It came from the idea that I can’t really explain my emotions very well verbally, so doing it visually is, I guess, the way I communicate.” Dartford originally envisioned the installation as a physical monolith: a freestanding LED wall. Moving the concept into the unique space of Outernet London’s Now Building forced him to redesign it while dealing with a volley of technical challenges, but also offered the opportunity to create something immersive and vast in scale. For Londoners – Outernet London’s Now Building is the one with the gigantic LED screens outside Tottenham Court Road…

  • ChatGPT’s CEO calls for AI regulation

    The head of OpenAI has testified before a US Senate committee about the possibilities and dangers of the new technology that powers ChatGPT. “As this technology advances, we understand that people are anxious about how it could change the way we live. We are too,” Altman said. The tech executive has called on US lawmakers to impose stricter restrictions on artificial intelligence tools, including the creation of a US or global agency that would provide licences for companies that aim to develop AI tools, and take them away should they refuse to company with safety standards.  "I think if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong... we want to be vocal about that," Altman said. "We want to work with the government to prevent that from happening." During the hearing, Altman also…

  • Plastic pollution could be cut by 80 per cent by 2040 with policy shift, UN says

    A new report, released ahead of a second round of negotiations in Paris on a global agreement to beat plastic pollution, suggests eliminating unnecessary plastics to reduce the size of the problem prior to significant market shifts based on products using reused and recycled materials. Reuse options including refillable bottles, bulk dispensers, deposit-return-schemes and packaging take-back schemes that could cut up to 30 per cent of plastic pollution by 2040. A further 20 per cent reduction in plastic pollution could be achieved if recycling becomes a more stable and profitable venture. To do this, the report recommends removing fossil fuels subsidies, enforcing design guidelines to enhance recyclability, and other measures to increase the share of economically recyclable plastics from…

  • Self-driving cars will cause ‘moral panic’, says transport minister

    Jesse Norman told MPs that a “horrendous” part of the development of the technology will be “scare stories, particularly in the early stages”. Last month, the UK became the first European country to allow drivers to take their hands off car steering wheels on public roads, after the Department for Transport gave car manufacturer Ford permission to activate its BlueCruise system on motorways . The system controls functions such as steering, acceleration, braking and lane positioning in suitably equipped Ford vehicles. Fully self-driving cars remain banned on public roads in the UK apart from during government-approved trials. Legislation to approve the technology could be introduced as early as 2025. Asked about the safety of self-driving vehicles by the Commons’ Transport Select Committee…

  • Is your car safe from a cyber attack?

    In January 2022, 19-year-old David Colombo from Dinkelsbühl, Germany, announced via Twitter that he had been able to hack at least 25 Tesla vehicles in 13 countries and partially take them over. “So, I now have full remote control of over 25 Teslas in 13 countries and there seems to be no way to find the owners and report it to them,” he tweeted. Luckily, Colombo’s intentions were good. As the founder of cyber-security firm Colombo Technology, he used his actions simply to demonstrate the security flaw of the third-party software that Tesla was using, and to warn automakers the world over about the danger of malicious attacks. Colombo isn’t alone in his mission. Cyber-security firm McAfee demonstrated how it could trick autonomous vehicles (AVs) into speeding over 50mph above the speed…

  • Brexit deal poses ‘existential threat’ to UK car manufacturing, industry warns

    The prime minister Rishi Sunak is facing pressure from the car manufacturing industry to renegotiate the ' Trade and Co-operation Agreement' (TCA) with the European Union (EU). Stellantis, the parent company of Vauxhall, Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat, has stated it will not be able to meet its commitment to making electric vehicles at its Ellesmere Port and Luton plants once Brexit tariffs begin to be enforced. "If the cost of electric vehicle manufacturing in the UK becomes uncompetitive and unsustainable, operations will close," Stellantis said  in a submission to a House of Commons committee. "Manufacturers will not continue to invest and [instead will] relocate manufacturing operations outside of UK, as seen with previously established UK manufacturers such as Ford and Mini." In the document…

  • Trading cryptocurrency should be classed as gambling, MPs say

    In a new report, the cross-party Committee of MPs said that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have “no intrinsic value and serve no useful social purpose”, while consuming large amounts of energy and being used by criminals in scams, fraud and money laundering. Researchers estimated that that in 2020, Bitcoin mining used 75.4 terawatt hours of electricity (TWh) – higher electricity usage than Austria (69.9TWh) or Portugal (48.4TWh) in the same year. The Committee also said that cryptocurrencies pose “significant risks to consumers” given their price volatility and the potential for major losses. Considering this, retail trading more closely resembles gambling than a financial service, the report said. In February, the government published a set of proposals designed to protect consumers…

  • Vodafone cuts 11,000 jobs as new boss says group ‘must change’

    Margherita Della Valle, recently appointed Vodafone’s group chief executive, said the cull comes as part of a plan to simplify the business. It will impact the group’s UK headquarters in Newbury, Berkshire, as well as markets worldwide. Della Valle said: “Our performance has not been good enough. To consistently deliver, Vodafone must change.” “We will simplify our organisation, cutting out complexity to regain our competitiveness”. The announcement comes as Vodafone reported a 1.3 per cent drop in full-year earnings to a lower-than-expected €14.7bn (£12.8bn) and forecast little or no growth in earnings over the current financial year. Vodafone's former boss Nick Read, who was ousted abruptly in December 2022 due to concerns over the group’s performance, had unveiled his own plans…

  • ‘Drones are better for the planet than traditional means of transport’: Alex Landowski, Medical Logistics

    Traffic is the problem, says Alex Landowski. The co-founder and managing director of Medical Logistics isn’t just talking about the day-to-day frustrations of getting across town by car for anything as routine as a business meeting. He’s discussing the main obstacle to the reliable delivery of urgent medical supplies such as blood. You can dispatch couriers on bicycles and motorbikes – and Landowski has plenty of first-hand experience of this as a former rider – but increasingly, as London’s arterial routes become ever more congealed with road vehicles, his thoughts have turned to harnessing uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone technology. Medical Logistics has been instrumental in the first UAV flight-corridor trial in the UK for delivering time-critical medical cargo to an NHS hospital…

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