Volumes & issues:
Volume 15, Issue 10
1 November 2020
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- Author(s): D. Ross
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, page: 4 –4
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1030
- Type: Article
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Activists raise awareness, but it's engineers who are working to overcome the world's environmental challenges. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, page: 5 –5
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1031
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The shortlist for for the E&T Innovation Awards 2020 has been announced, celebrating people, projects and organisations revolutionising our world with excellence in engineering and technology. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 6 –7
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1032
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News from around the world. - Author(s): S. Morgan
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, page: 8 –8
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1033
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Europe's leaders must decide on a new greenhouse gas emissions target by the end of the year. The updated climate benchmark and the underpinning details will be decisive for the rollout of clean and green technologies. - Author(s): H. Lamb
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, page: 9 –9
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1034
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Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, has launched a £50m prize - the Earthshot Prize - which aims to fund solutions for managing serious environmental challenges over the next decade. - Author(s): P. Dempsey
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, page: 10 –10
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1035
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We need to add up the good and the bad of Facebook, once and for all - is it time to shut it down? - Author(s): B. Heubl
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, page: 12 –12
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1036
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California's latest fires show that rich western developed nations lack the technology to battle blazes. There is a pressing need for new approaches. - Author(s): C. Chambers
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, page: 13 –13
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1037
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New technology companies are putting in a tremendous performance on the stock market, while the rest languish with lacklustre results. The market is dysfunctional, thanks to governments pumping money into the financial system. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 14 –15
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1038
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Teams at Nasa's Johnson Space Center in Texas are testing tools and training for operations on the Moon, as part of the Artemis programme to land the first woman and next man on the lunar south pole in 2024. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 16 –18
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1039
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Send your letters to The Editor, E&T, Michael Faraday House, Six Hills Way, Stevenage, Herts SG1 2AY, UK, or to [email protected]. We reserve the right to edit letters and to use submissions in any other format. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, page: 19 –19
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1040
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This should have been the year when climate change dominated the agenda. A year that would be crowned by the international conference, COP26 in Glasgow, at which steps towards achieving 'carbon reduction' would be defined. Governmental pledges to meet these targets would then be made and, for the first time, realistic progress could be made. Then came Covid-19 - and everything changed. - Author(s): H. Vella
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 20 –23
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1000
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Proof of human-made climate change was first discovered in the 1960s by geochemist Charles Keeling, who measured carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere and detected an annual rise. However, it's wasn't until the 1980s, journalists conclude, that the science behind the phenomenon was widely accepted as indisputable and existential. In honour of this recognition, in 1988, US Time magazine named their Man of the Year as `Planet of the Year: Endangered Earth'. Over 30 years later, that cover story is just as timely. The human race's habitat, is still endangered, only there is much less time to save it. The paper looks, in particular, at climate change targets, the implications of 'net-zero', and how the world is responding to the challenges of reducing emissions. - Author(s): C. Edwards
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 24 –27
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1001
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The high temperatures needed to purify silicon for solar photovoltaic (PVs) panels, for example, increase the emissions from production relative to a technology such as wind. However, there are potentially cheaper technologies that do not need such high temperatures or as much silicon area. An example is the concentrator solar cell, which trades active area for large glass lenses while delivering the ability to absorb more of the Sun's photons. Another lies in the novel organic thin-film chemistries that need less heat and raw-materials refinement to produce. The big differences in PV technologies, as well as whether fossil fuels were consumed in their production, leads to a wide range of greenhouse-gas estimations. For example, in a 2013 study by Roberto Turconi and colleagues working at the Technical University of Denmark, carbon-dioxide emissions ranged from 20kgCO2/kWh to 200kgCO2/kWh. The relative efficiency of PV technologies complicates the calculations as to how effective they are in reducing emissions overall. Concentrator plants are more complex to build but use less active PV area than flat panels and can use more of the Sun's output over a typical day. - Author(s): P. Dempsey
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 28 –29
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1002
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The discipline of climate modelling has entered its sixth decade. Large-scale analyses of Earth's behaviour have evolved considerably but there remain significant gaps, some persistent. One in particular helps illustrate challenges that are now being tackled using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML): the importance of the overall cloud effects. The cloud distribution is a product of the entire climate system, in which many other feedbacks are involved. Trustworthy answers can be obtained only through comprehensive numerical modelling of the general circulations of the atmosphere and oceans together with validation by comparison of the observed with the model-produced cloud types and amounts. - Author(s): N. Smith
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 30 –33
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1003
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Emissions from the worldwide transport sector are a major contributor to climate change, producing 14 per cent of annual emissions (including non-CO2 gases). “More concerning,” says the World Resources Institute, “at a time when global emissions need to be going down, transport emissions are rising,” with sector analysis made more complex by the fact that improvements in vehicle efficiency are often offset by greater overall volume of travel. - Author(s): C. Hayes
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 34 –35
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1041
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Nostalgia for Britain in the middle of the last century has put the spotlight on some habits and choices that could hold the key to reducing our individual carbon footprint by 2050. - Author(s): D. Birkett
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 36 –38
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1042
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Climate change, congestion and poor land management are modern-day challenges. But who got us into this state? Could it be the Victorians? - Author(s): S. Doyle
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 40 –41
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1004
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Countries like India are known for their scorching hot weather. Many parts of North India reeled under heat wave-like conditions this June alone, with the temperature in many cities hovering above 42°C. Delhi sweltered under the stifling heat with the thermometer crossing the 46°C mark on 19 June. With such conditions, you can't blame the city's residents for wanting access to technologies that will keep them cool, particularly air conditioning. But high demand and use of these systems, which rely on electricity, can put a large strain on the grid. “A lot of [developing] countries can't cope with the load from air-conditioning (A/C) units,” says Dr Robert Edwards, chief executive of UK renewable energy design company Solar Polar. “So what you get is a brownout [voltage drop], which is where demand for electricity is higher than the grid can provide. - Author(s): L. Williams
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 42 –45
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1043
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The effects of carbon emissions are well known, yet scientists argue we need a more comprehensive approach for assessing and guiding humanity's environmental impact. We investigate how the concept of Planetary Boundaries could inform how engineers work. - Author(s): A. Ebbage
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 46 –47
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1005
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Concentrated solar technology systems use mirrors or lenses with tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight onto a small area. These innovations, however, are far from new. In fact, legend has it, in 213 BC, Greek engineer Archimedes had set fire to Roman vessels attacking his home city with a giant mirror focusing the Sun's rays on the invaders. Today, they are used to provide industrial process heating or cooling, with excess thermal energy stored to generate electricity on demand. Quite the opposite to reducing ships to ashes, by far. Concentrated solar power (CSP) may not be a new technology, but its modern development has been held back somewhat by an initial high cost of capital, then the global slowdown after 2008 leading to lack of finance. CSP remained expensive compared to fossil fuels. This effectively meant that focus within the renewables sector was directed elsewhere in terms of both finance and government support and structures. Nevertheless, some countries have tried hard to create a sustainable CSP industry; notably Spain and the United States as well as Morocco and some Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia in particular. In all these countries, there have been subsidisation programmes supported by governments to make sure that CSP plant operators had what they needed to be viable. Over 70 concentrated solar-thermal power plant projects were built between 2005 and 2012. Further, the cumulative installed capacity of CSP in the world increased from 1,092MW in 2010 to 5,597MW in 2018 at a CAGR of 22.5 per cent, according to GlobalData Power Database. - Author(s): B. Heubl
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 48 –51
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1006
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Progress in electric vehicles is less valuable if it's offset by growing sales of SUVs. In 2019, the increase of SUVs outweighed growth in sales of EVs - one fully electric car was sold every 15 minutes compared to 14 SUVs. Only a year earlier, SUV sales outweighed EV sales by only 11 times. Sales figures from the first half of 2020, however, look more hopeful; this may have something to do with the impact of the pandemic, which saw EV sales soar according to SMMT figures. The same trend is visible across Europe, though not elsewhere. Within the EU, for example, EV sales for the first half of the year were up by more than 45 per cent. Given that this rise is fuelled by a combination of new stimulus programmes, model launches and automakers trying to meet carbon dioxide emissions targets, it's uncertain if this momentum can be maintained. Critics also point to the higher air pollution levels of SUVs. A lot of particulatematter pollution comes not from vehicles' exhausts but from tyre and road wear: the heavier the vehicle, the faster the tyres wear and add to local air pollution, experts say. SUV engine power and cities seem largely incompatible. In crammed areas, such as London, the average speed is just above 16mph; this is one reason for politicians increasingly calling for restrictions on heavy vehicles in urban areas. - Author(s): S. Cousins
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 52 –55
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1007
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Drought fuelled by climate change has put the UK water network under unprecedented strain with experts predicting an “existential threat” in 25 years if action isn't taken soon. But, as we discover, the sector has ambitious plans to boost resilience using advanced engineering and smart infrastructure solutions. Potential interventions, include the construction of major infrastructure assets like reservoirs, effluent reuse, desalination plants and a push for leakage resilience. The overhaul is likely to require a mix of hard civil engineering and smart digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things, big data, and digital twins, needed to add intelligence to legacy infrastructure, forecast potential climate impacts and assess the benefits of different measures. - Author(s): A. Ebbage
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 56 –59
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1008
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Many countries worldwide are facing the double burden of hunger and undernutrition alongside overweight and obesity, with one in three people across the globe currently suffering from some form of malnutrition. Food security is still a growing problem. But new plant-breeding techniques could increase and accelerate the development of new traits in crops and help to increase production and yields, by providing drought and disease resistance. Genomeediting (GE) techniques in particular, notably a method called Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (Crispr-Cas), could in fact help to make agriculture more productive and environmentally friendly. Although these techniques seem promising, countries are taking different approaches to the risks associated with this solution. - Author(s): B. Heubl
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 60 –63
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1009
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Mexico's recently found large lithium reserves, present an opportunity for the country to develop it's mining industry. Increased global demand for the mineral coupled with the risk of a bottlenecks in the supply chain, has meant the mining industry is currently working on plans to open up extraction plants in the country. The article evaluates these plans, the criminal risks associated with them, particularly those posed by the existing local drug cartels and government corruption, and possible mitigation strategies. - Author(s): L. Williams
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 64 –67
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1010
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We've all heard of the problem of plastics in our oceans - but most of it gets there from rivers - more than two-thirds of plastic in the oceans come from waterways, an estimated 80 per cent of which originates from just 1,000 rivers. Now, technology is being developed to clean up the waterways that transport the plastic pollution to the sea. The author looks at the work of three devices and their role in clearing rivers: the Interceptor by Ocean Cleanup, the Great Bubble Barrier, and Mr Trash Wheel. - Author(s): R. Pool
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 68 –71
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1011
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The article takes a look at how seaweed is being put forward as a potential biofuel solution to the global energy shortage. It analyses the current practices in seaweed farms to maximise yields, by using different growing substrates and speeding up the nursing process. It analysis the tropics as the ideal seaweed growing region, to decrease the risk of seasonal yields associated with aquaculture at high latitudes, and proposes the use of innovative solutions to deal with the lack of nutrients in surface water, such as wave-driven upwelling system and the use of unmanned submarine drones. - Author(s): B. Heubl
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 72 –74
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1012
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The UK's post-Brexit new points-based immigration system could make it harder to fill lower-skilled tech vacancies and make employing engineers more expensive, as well as stressing technology start-ups. The new immigration system is investigated, with particular focus on the impact it will have on the UK's ability to attract workers for STEM occupations, at different seniority levels, which may have an impact in the UK's government technological economic recovery plans, and on technology start-ups. - Author(s): J. Pollard
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 76 –77
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1013
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In celebration of IET@150 we look at feats of engineering from around the world. - Author(s): N. Smith
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 78 –81
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1044
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With more than a thousand patents to his name, technology advocate Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, is one of the most influential innovators of his generation. But innovation and invention are two very different things, he says. - Author(s): C. Quin
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 82 –83
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1045
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Staying in is the new going out. Here are half a dozen ways to make your home cosier, greener and packed with entertainment. - Author(s): P. Dempsey
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 84 –85
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1046
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A smartwatch that justifies its price beyond the technology. - Author(s): N. Smith
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 86 –87
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1047
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It's a big subject and an even bigger place. Yet somehow Professor Andrew Newsam manages to explain the mysteries of the universe in a brief and entertaining read. - Author(s): N. Smith ; H. Lamb ; V. Vitaliev
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 88 –89
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1048
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Death-defying technology, the shifting nature of humanity, and the story of a micronation. - Author(s): J. Pollard
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, page: 91 –91
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1049
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This edition tells the story of the illuminating life of Lewis Latimer, whose work in science was an achievement, and his personal life 'a work of art'. - Author(s): S. Doyle
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, p. 92 –93
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1050
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An electric-powered hydrofoil speedboat that reduces energy consumption, noise and seasickness by 'flying' above the waves made an appearance on lakes in Switzerland last month. - Author(s): H. Lamb
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, page: 94 –94
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1051
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This month, the Evil Engineer offers advice to a villain with an urge to reconnect with nature. - Author(s): R. Northfield
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, page: 95 –95
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1052
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In these weird times, some people want to move their mod cons outdoors. Some lose perspective on personal hygiene. And some just want something stupid on their face. There's tech for all of them. - Author(s): S. Somara
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, page: 96 –96
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1053
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TV presenter Dr Shini Somara talks to Professor Winfried Hensinger, quantum computing expert and co-founder of Universal Quantum, a disruptive new player in this field. - Author(s): V. Vitaliev
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 15, Issue 10, page: 98 –98
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2020.1054
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To beat the ennui of the partial lockdown, our columnist opens a virtual book club for E&T readers and would love for you to join the conversation.
Opinion - Editorial. Editor's Letter
News - Briefing: Awards - E& reveals shortlist of finalists for Innovation Awards 2020
News - Briefing: World News
News - Comment. View from Brussels: Environment - A climate of conundrums: how deep should the green agenda cut?
News - Briefing: Environment - Duke of Cambridge launches £50M Nobel-inspired climate prize
News - Comment. View from Washington: Social Media - It's time Facebook faced a reckoning - just like a government
News - Briefing. The Graphic: Forest fire-fighting
News - Comment. Money & Markets. Stock Market - Tech companies' share prices racing ahead in market uncertainty
Space - Training. The Bigger Picture: Moon landings in 2024
Opinion - Feedback. Your Letters
Warm reception for a green recovery
Climate Change: the Heat is on [Climate Change Analysis]
The energy economics of the zero-carbon grid [Energy Renewables]
The limits in the sky [Climate Models]
Beyond Energy: The Main Offenders [Climate Change Energy]
Climate change - History. Recycle our grandparents' ideas and Make A Difference
Climate change - History. What the Victorians have down us
Keep it cool [The energy demand for air conditioning increases in hotter countries]
Environment - Planetary Boundaries. Not just the carbon emissions
Storage gives boost to solar energy [Energy Solar]
Suvs at War With EVS [New SUV registrations far outweigh registrations of new EVs]
Can Britain keep its taps running? [environment water]
The quest to end world hunger [food biotechnology]
Crimelords Theaten Mexico's Lithium Wealth [investigation]
Rid the rivers of rubbish [Plastics Pollution]
Is Seaweed the Future Of Fuel? [energy aquaculture]
The post-Brexit jobs conundrum [employment immigration]
Engineering places: Ironbridge [Engineering Materials]
Interview: Dean Kamen
Reviews - Consumer Technology. Gadgets - Blueair Blue Pure Fan; Xcinex Venue; Samual Groves Tri-Ply pans; Samsung The Sero TV; Smidge sustainable chopping boards; Salter Handbag Sandwich Maker
Reviews - Consumer Technology. The Teardown - Samsung Galaxy Watch 3
Reviews - Book Interview. The universe and our place in it
Book Reviews: Online Afterlives, Analogia, Sealand
Regulars - Columnist: The Eccentric Engineer. Electricity. That light-bulb moment for an eminent man of electrical science.
News - Briefing. The Measure of: The Canedla Seven
Regulars - Columnist. Dear Evil Engineer: Question - Can I construct a gun that fires live hornets at my neighbours?
Technology - Blog. Bizarre Tech - Electricity-generating barbeque; Body odour detector; Fancy safety goggles
Regulars - Columnist: Back Story. Career Path - There is never such a thing as a stupid question.
Regulars - Columnist. After All: Literature - Cheered up by a Munchausen of the space era
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