Energy
- Energy
- Issue 83
Tapping the power of the tides in the UK
Marine energy is the largest untapped source of renewable energy. However, generating energy from the oceans has challenged engineers for 50 years. Neil Cumins reports on two offshore renewable energy centres at opposite ends of the country, and the wave and tidal energy projects they have helped to refine.
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- Energy
- Environment & sustainability
- Electricals & electronics
- How I got here
Q&A: Mark Goudie
Mark Goudie is one of the youngest engineering Fellows in the UK, an inventor, and an engineer in the energy sector.
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- Energy
- Chemical
How green methanol can help us decarbonise
Green methanol is an alternative fuel getting a lot of attention. What's the latest, and could it help clean up the notoriously hard-to-decarbonise shipping sector?
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- Energy
- Environment & sustainability
- Chemical
- How does that work?
- Issue 96
How do electrolysers work?
Electrolysers are a critical net zero technology used to produce green hydrogen.
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- Environment & sustainability
- Energy
- Innovation Watch
- Issue 96
The clean energy pioneers
Ceres Power have found a way to make green hydrogen – thought to be an essential part of our energy transition – at scale.
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- Transport
- Energy
- Chemical
- How I got here
Q&A: Titi Oliyide
From the Elizabeth line to green hydrogen, safety engineer Titi Oliyide wants to see her engineering achievements take shape in a way that helps people.
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- Chemical
- Energy
- Environment & sustainability
Why safety engineering is key for green hydrogen and net zero
When engineering goes wrong, it makes the headlines. Thankfully, there’s a whole field dedicated to making sure it goes right: safety engineering.
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- Energy
- Environment & sustainability
- How I got here
- Issue 93
Q&A: Katie Ireland
On coming back from a career break, Katie Ireland switched fields from oil and gas to renewables, and was awarded ‘Returner of the Year’ at the 2022 Engineering Talent Awards.
- Energy
- Opinion
- Issue 93
The challenges of creating a hydrogen economy
Hydrogen is likely to play a critical role in achieving net zero, but the UK needs to act soon to avoid falling behind international competitors. So, how can government and the engineering community ensure this doesn’t happen?
- Energy
- Environment & sustainability
- Issue 93
Making sure tidal power blades are fit for purpose
For tidal power to become a renewable energy source, engineers need to be able to test the components that will have to operate in the severe offshore conditions around the British Isles. FastBlade is a new facility that can help with this.
- Energy
- Opinion
- Issue 85
How can the UK solve its carbon problem?
Dieter Helm CBE, Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford, sets out how Britain can lead the way on climate change action and use the opportunity of the COVID-19 pandemic to meet its net-zero target by 2050.
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- Energy
- Environment & sustainability
- How does that work?
- Issue 82
Ground source heat pumps
Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) have been used for many years in North America, Sweden and Germany. These geothermal systems harness natural heat from underground to provide heating for buildings. Now they are being increasingly deployed in homes and commercial buildings in the UK.
- Energy
- Issue 78
A new contender for energy storage
Energy storage has long been a challenge for those in the renewable energy field – what happens to unused energy generated by solar or wind power for example? Highview Power is trying to solve this problem and a new system of storing it as liquid air could provide answers.
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- Energy
- Materials
- How I got here
- Issue 77
Q&A: Rahul Mandal
Dr Rahul Mandal is a Research Associate in the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) at the University of Sheffield, and winner of The Great British Bake Off 2018.
- Design & manufacturing
- Energy
- Issue 77
Warm response to fluid dynamics
Technology that makes racing cars go faster is now saving energy in supermarkets and reducing the ‘frozen aisle’ effect often found near the chiller cabinets. An established engineering company and a startup business worked together to bring this new engineering to the market.
- Energy
- Profiles
- Issue 76
Building a sustainable career
Dr Shaun Fitzgerald FREng has moved between academia, strategic consulting and running his own business, and is now the new Director of the Royal Institution. A career that started in geothermal energy research moved to natural ventilation in buildings, leading to a business that has changed the nature of building design.
- Energy
- Profiles
- Issue 68
Energy with connections
When Steve Holliday FREng moved from the oil industry into energy distribution, the sector was seen as staid. In reality, during his years at National Grid, the sector became increasingly important as the need to tackle climate change led to a transformation in the UK’s energy mix.
- Energy
- Issue 64
Algae-powered architecture
An apartment block in Hamburg in Germany has been built that uses microalgae placed within its façade to generate heat and biomass. Jan Wurm, an associate director at Arup, was one of the chief designers of the energy system. He talked about the concept, execution and results from the world’s first photobioreactor.
- Energy
- Issue 64
Digital hydraulics for wind energy and beyond
Research that has helped change the technology for harnessing wind energy has many other applications. The digital hydraulics system devised by Artemis Intelligent Power has received many accolades, the latest being the winner of the 2015 MacRobert Award.
- Energy
- Innovation Watch
- Issue 64
New energy pioneers
London-based BBOXX supplies solar-powered battery boxes to customers in developing countries. Their remote monitoring and battery management system was one of the winners of the 2015 Bloomberg New Energy Finance Award.