The latest Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) report shows that new EV registrations almost doubled in 2021. Bad Year Generally For New Car Registrations The effects of the pandemic and the semiconductor shortage continued to have an effect on car purchases in 2021 as new car registrations only rose by 1 per cent to 1,647,181. In fact, the market…
The Platio company in Hungary is making solar panels out of plastic waste that can be used as pavement slabs, adding an extra clean energy source to buildings and other facilities when placed outside. How? Platio uses a special pressuring method to turn 400 otherwise non-recyclable plastic bottles into very strong and durable one-square metre pavement slabs/’solar paver’ frames…
Tesco has announced that, from this month, it is launching the UK’s first commercial use of fully electric, heavy freight articulated trucks. Two For Use In Wales In partnership with logistics and international freight forwarding company FSEW, the first of the electric fleet to take to the road will be two new 37 tonne DAF electric vehicles used to…
The Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) has announced that it is testing the world’s first fleet of driverless, battery-powered, autonomous boats on Amsterdam’s Waterways. ‘Roboat’ The tests involve battery-powered, autonomous boat prototypes, dubbed ‘Roboats.’ These prototypes are the result of three years of research, building up from 1:4 and 1:2 scale prototypes to the full-size versions. The…
A recently published World Wildlife Fund (WWF) poll shows that nearly two-thirds of UK adults who celebrate Christmas intend to be more environmentally with their choices this year, with one-third citing recent news about the climate and nature crisis as the reason. Driven By The ‘COP26’ Effect The results of the poll, commissioned with Opinium Research, showed that what the WWF…
A concept aircraft unveiled by the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) that could one day fly anywhere in the world with no carbon emissions and just one stop has been hailed as the future of aerospace and aviation by the UK Government. Can Carry 279 Passengers From San Francisco Non-Stop Developed by a team of aerospace and aviation experts from…
With a recent study finding that the costs of producing lithium-ion battery technologies have fallen by about 97 per cent since their commercialisation three decades ago, we look at the reasons why, and the possible implications. What Is A Lithium-Ion Battery? A lithium-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery. The lithium ions in it move from the negative…
In this article, we look at what ethical phones and computers are, what makes them ‘ethical’ and what contribution they could be making to helping the environment by tackling issues such as the growing e-waste mountain. Tackling E-Waste The world currently has a significant problem with electronic waste in terms of a “take, make, consume, dispose” attitude, mounting volumes of production…
New research led by the University of Plymouth, and published in Royal Society Proceedings A, shows that tidal stream power could deliver 11 per cent of the UK’s annual electricity and play an important role in the government’s drive for net-zero. What Is Tidal Stream Power? Tidal stream power uses turbines (e.g., a tidal energy converter/TEC) to harness the kinetic energy…
After recent reports that discarded e-waste in 2021 will weigh more then the Great Wall of China, The International Data Sanitization Consortium (IDSC) has sent an open letter to the RT Hon Alok Sharma MP, President of COP26, urging that e-waste be included on the agenda. Electronic The Fastest Growing Global Waste Stream According to the UN’s Global E-waste…
