Lack of trained engineers threatens low carbon economy
September 7, 2009 by administrator
Britain’s failure to encourage more people into engineering is threatening the country’s move
to a low carbon economy.
Research released today (7th September) by the National Grid states engineering is ‘not on the radar’ of students, parents or teachers.
As a result it paints a bleak picture for the future claiming we’re heading for a skills shortage, which will have a ‘damaging impact’ on the transition to a low carbon economy.
The Engineering Our Future report, put together after interviews with 1300 young people aged 14-19, and found the engineering sector was perceived as ‘dirty and menial’ and for less academic students.
National Grid chief executive, Steve Holliday, said: “We need lots of very clever people who can make things happen and think outside the box to create a different world in the future.
“We know from our own workforce planning that nearly 1,000 new roles are needed by 2020.
“We need to inspire today’s youth and help them to see how exciting and interesting a career in engineering can be.”
To view the full report click here
Packaging optimisation for cost savings and the environment
September 7, 2009 by administrator
| September 23, 2009 | ||
| 9:00 am | to | 12:30 pm |
Event Type: Workshop
Start Date: 23 September 2009 - 09:00
End Date: 23 September 2009 - 12:30
Venue: Hylands House, Hylands Park, London Road
Nearest Town: Chelmsford
Venue Location: CM2 8WG
The Earth doesn’t have to cost a packet!
Envirowise and Essex County Council are holding a free event designed to help you stay legal and reduce costs.
Discover all the latest ways to save money and the environment through the use of design management. Delegates are encouraged to bring examples of good and bad packaging for the practical workshop. Be prepared to get involved!
Event Holder: Essex Trading Standards
Contact: 0845 603 7626
Contact E-Mail: TSBusinessSupport@essex.gov.uk
Clean technology venture investment reaches record $8.4 billion in 2008 despite credit crisis and broadening recession
March 13, 2009 by John Pickstone
Even with diminished 4Q08 results, clean technology investment fundamentals remain strong.
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The Cleantech Group™, founders of the clean technology investment category and providers of leading global market research and other services for the clean technology ecosystem, today announced preliminary 2008 results for clean technology venture investments in North America, Europe, China and India totaling a record $8.4 billion, up 38% from $6.1 billion in 2007. The 2008 total represents the seventh consecutive year of growth in venture investing, widely recognized as a leading indicator of overall investment patterns:
Preliminary results for 4Q08 indicate venture investment commitments worldwide of $1.7 billion across 99 disclosed investments, the smallest quarterly total in 6 quarters. 4Q08 was down 35% from 3Q08, yet down only 4% from 4Q07 despite a much more difficult economy. The top clean technology sectors in 2008 were solar, biofuels, transportation, and wind. Solar accounted for almost 40% of total clean technology investment dollars in 2008, followed by biofuels at 11%. “2008 saw solar take a 40% share of clean technology venture investment dollars, led by mega-investment rounds in thin-film solar, concentrated solar thermal and solar service provider companies,” said Brian Fan, Senior Director of Research, Cleantech Group. “Investors also continued to migrate from first-generation ethanol and biodiesel technologies to next-generation biofuels technologies, led by algae and synthetic biology companies. Other sectors with healthy investor interest included smart grid companies, small-scale wind turbines, plastics recycling, green buildings and agriculture technologies.”
EUROPE AND ISRAEL The most significant country growth was seen in Germany ($383 million invested, an increase of 217% from 2007) and Israel ($247 million invested, an increase of 224% from 2007), both led by very large solar deals. Germany overtook the UK as the country receiving the most venture capital in 2008, helped significantly by the region’s largest solar deal of 2008, the $133.7 million investment in Berlin-based solar thin-film manufacturer Sulfurcell Solartechnik. The UK’s decline in total investment ($337.8 million, down 11% from 2007) left it second in the country league table, with Israel moving into third place from sixth in 2007. CHINA: As expected, 2008 witnessed steady gains in clean technology investment in China. Solar accounted for 60% of the total, reflecting the continuing migration of solar module manufacturing from Europe and the US to China, as well as the opportunity of a large domestic market for solar water heating. Other active sectors include agriculture, lighting, and wind. The underlying fundamentals driving cleantech investment in China, including government efficiency targets in energy, water and resource utilization, emission reduction targets, government and corporate goals for cleaner supply chains and industrial operations, and corporate social responsibility goals, remain in place. INDIA: The clean technology sector in India remains nascent compared to more mature markets such as North America and Europe. Much of the interest has been in addressing the energy shortage challenges faced by the country, therefore, energy generation and infrastructure, with solar and wind deals leading the way, attracted the majority of investment dollars. However, new sectors received capital, such as electronic waste recycling, energy efficiency and water management. NORTH AMERICA: TOP INVESTORS:
Key takeaways reviewed in webinar next week Cleantech Forum® XXI San Francisco February 23-25, 2009 About the Cleantech Group, LLC |
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AlertMe Excels with Double Awards Triumph
March 9, 2009 by Gareth Jones
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AlertMe, Europe’s smart home pioneer, has received two prestigious awards in the space of a week. Last week, AlertMe picked up a Shell Springboard Award of £40,000. Recognised as the UK’s leading climate change award, this was given to AlertMe for its innovative home Energy Saving service - which allows home owners to measure how much energy they are consuming and automatically controls appliances to reduce energy consumption. This week, the company also scooped the joint first prize in the Design Week Awards’ Consumer Product Design category alongside Apple’s MacBook Air, in recognition of the unique design of its wireless Home Monitoring and Security service.
Commenting on the decision to attribute the Design Week award to AlertMe, one of the judges said: “Wow! We have been waiting for something like this to be designed. It has a genius quality, is a brilliant idea and has a friendly interface.”
Pilgrim Beart, director of AlertMe said: “To have our team’s efforts at making objects of desire of both home security and home energy management recognized by these highly acclaimed awards is absolutely thrilling. Receiving equal status with the MacBook Air at the Design Week Awards is praise indeed! Our thanks go to our industrial designers, EG Technology and DesignEdge, for a truly cracking job.”
Adding to this, Danny Godfrey, director of EG Technology said: “”These award-winning products are the culmination of a very close working relationship with an excellent client and design team. We are particularly proud of our design contribution to the SmartPlug, which will make a small but significant contribution to reducing the carbon footprint of AlertMe users.”
Bruce Hutchison, from product design and development consultancy DesignEdge, who was involved in designing the security devices within the kit as well as the packaging, comments: “Our challenge was to create a range of products that not only looked great within the stylish homes of target consumers, but were also as compact as possible and intuitive to use, right down to considering in which order people would open the boxes. It was one of our biggest challenges yet, but well worth it.”
Slowdown is good news for green buildings
March 2, 2009 by John Pickstone
As real estate sector goes through one of its worst times, consumers are looking at value-for-money options and developers are looking at cutting overheads while trying not to compromise on quality. A section of builders say the economic downturn is beginning to prove a boom to the green realty sector because of established and proven technologies that reduce running costs of buildings.
Homebuyers and companies buying office spaces have also shown their preference for green buildings that will drive the market with greater focus in the year ahead.
“We are seeing a growing interest even among existing buildings to retrofit certain technology elements that can save energy in either air-conditioning, or lighting, or the use of water. Many hotels and hospitals, even offices, are beginning to see the advantages of managing waste within their premises, for this eliminates the cost of transporting waste and the mess of waste that is not disposed off,” said Chandrashekar Hariharan, chief executive officer, of Bangalore-based Biodiversity Conservation (India) (BCIL).
He added that “Green realty sector will benefit from the market downturn as investors and buyers today are more discerning and weary of parting with money without the assurance of greater benefits and features that can save on energy bills, water bills, and on managing the waste without the risks of health hazards and without reliance on inefficient municipal bodies. If energy efficiency becomes the norm for buildings, it would be the start of a minor revolution to reduce demand for energy, as well as to bring efficiency in management of precious water resources and more effective waste management in our cities.”
“One has to devise a business model that would benefit as well as adhere to the green norms,” said P Surya Prakash, managing partner of Hyderabad-based SatyaVani Green Homes.He said green buildings are not just environment-friendly but alsohelp cut costs such as maintenance costs for the building and cost of power for the customer. To involve his clients completely in green initiatives, SatyaVani Green Homes has decided to incentivise the customer by subsidising power for 25 years by Rs 18,000 per year. “We bring down connected power load. Normal buildings need 12 mw of connected power. We are making this a zero carbon power. We call this green power,” says Surya Prakash.The concept may not be new, but developers who are actively involved in the green initiative say that green builders should strengthen the movement by sharing their experiences and the advantages they have gained.
“The focus should deepen in learning more tools and techniques and design approaches for better management of energy, water, and waste with cost efficiency and ease of execution being the prime factors,” says Hariharan.BCIL is also offering information at no cost on several things that can be done to bring energy efficiency in many things we buy or use or do in our daily workday lives, he adds. In 2008, there were as many as 240 million sq ft of commercial buildings that requested green certification. The residential green rating system was launched in May 2008 and in less than four months the initiative received applications for a staggering 150 million sq ft of residential apartments, which aspired to green, from builders. The approach has been facilitated by technology and management processes for construction that are reasonably user-friendly and can therefore allow for scale and replicability.
£10m Grand Challenge To Make Housing Greener
February 12, 2009 by Gareth Jones
The Technology Strategy Board is to launch a new £10m competition for innovative solutions to improve the energy efficiency and environmental performance of the UK’s housing stock.
The competition, announced today by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, will invite proposals for suppliers to design and install new high performance solutions to dramatically improve the energy efficiency of houses.
The competition, labelled Retrofit for the Future, will be launched in March. Companies will be invited to bid for contracts to work with social housing providers, refurbishing example buildings and evaluating their environmental performance.
Richard Miller, Low Impact Buildings Innovation Platform Leader with the Technology Strategy Board, said “We have to act now to meet this challenge. The UK has a target for an 80% cut in carbon emissions from buildings by 2050 - yet well over half of the homes we will be living in by then already exist today.
“Current technology does not have all the answers. This demonstration programme will encourage and support companies large and small, giving them fully-funded contracts to develop innovative solutions which can dramatically increase the environmental performance of our existing homes.”
Iain Gray, Technology Strategy Board Chief Executive, said “In the current difficult economic climate, innovation is more important than ever. This competition is part of our drive to help business meet the major challenges of our day and build new markets through innovative technology.’
The competition and demonstration programme, to be launched in March 2009 under the Low Impact Buildings Innovation Platform, will aim to deliver a minimum of 50 demonstration prototypes and will be managed by the Technology Strategy Board in collaboration with social landlords.
For an information leaflet about the competition please click here.
Call for Entries: The National eWell Being Awards
February 4, 2009 by John Pickstone
Closing date 3 March 2009
Does your organisation have a successful project promoting the environmental and social benefits of ICT? Then why not shout about it and get the recognition your organisation deserves.
The National eWell-Being Awards, launched in 2002, is the UK’s only national awards programme that identifies and promotes the environmental and social benefits of Information and Communication Technologies. The Awards are now entering their 7th year, and since their launch they have earned a high level of awareness and recognition, generating a high level of media interest and coverage and support from a range of public, private and voluntary sector organisations.
The winning entries will be announced at a prestigious awards ceremony in June 2009. As in past years we will be partne
ring with a national newspaper partner for extensive media coverage of the event and winning entries.
Application is simple and straightforward. Email info@sustainitawards.co.uk and request an application form. For additional information please click here.
All completed forms need be returned to us by 3 March 2009.
There are 9 award categories to choose from:
- Better Ways of Working
- Building Community Networks
- SME Innovation Award
- Reaching the Digitally Excluded
- Improving Public Services
- Independent Living
- Environmental Information
- Greening Data Centres
- Smart Buildings
Winning an eWell-Being Award can bring real benefits to you and your organisation in providing high profile national recognition and awareness. You can read more about the benefits of winning from past winners at:
Make sure you don’t miss this opportunity to gain important recognition for the great work you are doing in this area.
Tel: 01733 311 644 | info@sustainITawards.co.uk
New UK guidelines on production of rubberised asphalt roads
January 27, 2009 by Gareth Jones
Comprehensive research conducted by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) has proven for the first time that rubberised asphalt for UK road surfacing can be successfully produced using certain combinations of UK-sourced materials, including rubber crumb from used tyres.
This modified material has been found to offer a series of positive benefits when compared to conventional asphalt mixtures - but despite being used for highway construction in the US, South Africa, Australia and mainland Europe for many years, the material has never been applied in the UK.
In addition to providing a sustainable outlet for used tyres as a construction material, rubberised asphalt is also said to offer a selection of desirable qualities, ranging from increased durability and reflective crack reduction to increased skid resistance and improved flexibility.
Steve Waite, materials recycling project manager at WRAP, explained: “As the UK construction sector seeks more sustainable ways of working, there has never been a better time to identify new ways in which to incorporate recycled content into civil engineering projects. The findings of our research prove that rubberised asphalt can now be successfully applied as both a surface course and binder course in UK highways construction. This opens the way for more widespread use of the material in this country and anybody looking to specify rubberised asphalt now has all the background information and technical direction they need.”
Initially, researchers analysed the information that was already available; collating practical experiences and learnings from overseas and identifying the range of practical issues associated with rubberised asphalt. From this point, a series of rubberised asphalt and control mixes were manufactured using a wide range of materials readily accessible in the UK. The materials used included Venezuelan and Middle Eastern bitumen and recycled tyre rubber crumb of different sized grades - recovered from both truck and car tyres - along with limestone, granite and gritstone as the aggregate material.
Ian Walsh from Jacobs (UK) Ltd, who acted as an advisor to WRAP during the research, added: “These results prove - for the first time in the UK - that it is possible to blend recycled tyre rubber and bitumen to create a useable, valuable binder. This alone is a very significant finding. But the results of the testing go so much further, demonstrating as well that different types of bitumen and recycled rubber can be used to create a wide range of mixtures that have been proven suitable for use as both surface and binder courses in highways construction.”
WRAP’s research has been published in a report entitled Rubberised Asphalt Testing to UK Standards. It can be downloaded free from the WRAP website: www.wrap.org.uk
