Archive for category: General News

 

Twenty miles off the Yorkshire coast, organized into a vast L-shape in the North Sea, is the U.K.’s biggest offshore gas storage facility.

You can reach it only by helicopter — and not at all when the weather is bad. Its three platforms, each fixed to the seabed, stretch over hundreds of meters and are navigated via narrow walkways. Grates expose the stormy waters below.

This is Rough, managed by the energy giant Centrica, the company which owns British Gas. The rig is four decades old, already running around 15 years beyond its planned sell-by-date. What happens to it next gets to the heart of the U.K.’s sweeping climate ambitions.

The British government has promised to remove gas almost entirely from the British power grid by 2030, swapping in green electricity sources like wind and solar. That means assets like Rough, which have been serving the U.K.’s dirtier energy needs since the days of Margaret Thatcher, have started to resemble relics from a fast-disappearing age — even if its owners spy a chance at rebirth.

“This platform’s served its purpose,” admitted Martin Scargill, managing director of Centrica Storage.

The company reckons it has a solution: A multi-billion pound pivot from gas to hydrogen, shifting from storing a planet-polluting fossil fuel to a source of clean energy.

But their plan is not without controversy among climate experts. And it all hinges on major help from politicians in Westminster.

 

A North Sea safety net

For now, Rough is still where the U.K. tries to stave off the threat each winter of fuel shortages and blackouts.

Called on for emergency supplies when all other energy sources are running short, it is gas stored under the sea at Rough — originating in the U.K., Europe and elsewhere in the world — that keeps the lights on in homes across the country.

“We’ve got a massive sponge underneath the seabed,” explained Scargill. “You can pump it up to enormously high pressures … and the gas will sit there under very high pressure. You can hold an awful lot of gas volume in that rock structure. And it’s a field that’s never been replicated in terms of its ability to store.”

Then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho visited before the U.K.’s election wiped out the Tories. Kwasi Kwarteng, when he was energy secretary, came to see it, too. Current PM Keir Starmer was supposed to chopper in earlier this year — but his plans were scuppered by poor weather.

Starmer, for all his green ambitions, still sees a role for gas in the energy mix. The 2030 plan will keep approximately five percent gas as a reserve in case of crises.

The whole issue has had added urgency since Russia weaponized oil and gas supplies in 2022.

Rough, denied government subsidies by then Prime Minister Theresa May in 2017, wound down to become a distribution hub, with plans to restore storage capacity in an emergency. When Putin delivered that emergency, Kwarteng scrambled to negotiate Rough’s partial reopening and claw back U.K. energy security.

That storage is now at 40 percent. Rough is home to 54 billion cubic feet of gas, equivalent to about six days’ use in the U.K. At its 1990s peak, it stored over 150 billion cubic feet.

 

Source: Polictico

 

The UK government will deliver a ‘sweeping overhaul’ of council planning committees aimed at ‘unblocking the clogged-up’ system, Angela Rayner is expected to announce.

Reforms proposed by the deputy prime minister would see planning applications which meet local development plan requirements bypass council committees.

This would be aimed at ending delays to new homes, cutting the time and resources spent on individual schemes and providing more certainty to housebuilders.

Rayner, who is also the housing secretary, said:

‘Building more homes and infrastructure across the country means unblocking the clogged-up planning system that serves as a chokehold on growth.

‘The government will deliver a sweeping overhaul of the creaking local planning committee system.

‘Streamlining the approvals process by modernising local planning committees means tackling the chronic uncertainty and damaging delays that act as a drag anchor on building the homes people desperately need.’

The deputy PM said the government was ‘tackling the housing crisis we inherited head-on with bold action’ as it worked towards building 1.5 million homes over five years.

The housebuilding commitment was one of the six ‘milestones’ the prime minister set out in a wide-ranging speech on Thursday, against which the public can measure the government’s performance.

Under Rayner’s proposals, council officials would have a strengthened role in decision-making about planning while the councillors who sit on the committees will get new mandatory training.

Alongside the reforms, the government is this week expected to confirm sweeping changes to the national planning policy framework – the document which sets out national priorities for building – following a consultation.

This is expected to see increased housing targets which will be mandatory for the first time, with the aim of reaching the government’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes this Parliament.

Rayner said:

‘Through our planning & infrastructure bill, alongside new national planning policy Framework and mandatory housing targets, we are taking decisive steps to accelerate building, get spades in the ground and deliver the change communities need.’

The Conservatives said Labour had set a house-building target that the Office for Budget Responsibility ‘has already said they can’t achieve — because of their own budget’.

A Tory spokesman added:

‘Following the Labour Mayor of London’s lead they will almost certainly fail to meet their house-building commitments.

‘These measures are nothing more than a list of empty promises which will do nothing to ensure that Britain has the housing it needs where it needs it.’

Source: A J Bell

 

VTT launches new origami packaging technology to create sustainable lightweight, durable, and eye-catching alternatives to conventional protective packing materials

 

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, in collaboration with Aalto University and Finnish industrial partners, has developed a new technology for shaping cardboard in a unique continuous process to create reel-to-reel origami-inspired structures for fibre-based packaging materials. The origami folds have the capacity to yield entirely new properties from cardboard. The structures’ light weight and durability provide an excellent and visually appealing alternative to protective packing materials like plastic and expanded polystyrene. The aesthetics of the material have also garnered interest from designers.

 

ESPOO, Finland (December 3rd, 2024) The market for packaging materials continues to expand with the dominance of e-commerce. However, there is also rising concern over the carbon footprint of packaging as well as the composition of materials. For example, global sustainability issues like the potential environmental impact of microplastic pollution mean that demand for new, sustainable packaging solutions continues to rise.

 

Involving 13 different companies, organisations, and universities at various stages, the FOLD and FOLD2 projects are keystones in a quest to renew and expand how cardboard is used as a packaging material. The two-phase project began with designing a machine to fold the origami cardboard, with the next phase of the project set to begin testing other materials. The outcome has been a resounding success, leading to new applications of cardboard to manufacture packaging material that is flexible, durable, versatile, and sustainable.

 

“The technology of FOLD is completely unique in the world. Origami folding transforms cardboard into a flexible, protective, and visually appealing material unlike anything that’s previously been available for industry-wide production. The technology we’ve developed also has the capacity to produce foldable materials from recycled goods,” notes Jarmo Kouko, creator of the FOLD project and Research Team Leader at VTT.

 

Kouko originally drew inspiration for the project while attending a packaging industry conference on various folding techniques. Traditionally, origami is handcrafted, with its intricate and complex folds often taking several hours to construct by hand. This intensive process would usually be a limitation for commercial packaging, but Kouko was inspired by the idea of mechanical folding that could refine materials into protective, lightweight, and visually striking forms.

 

The solution mechanically replicates the hand-folding process, adding the benefit of consistent precision and quality that would be difficult to achieve by hand. Since the technology can be applied to a range of commercially available paperboard grades, it requires no changes in the materials used.

 

“The Japanese Miura origami pattern we’ve chosen is relatively simple, which makes it potentially suitable for folding many other materials. We have investigated the possibilities of developing techniques and models where felt or film made from PET, widely used in plastic packaging, could be shaped in the Miura form. We’ve also performed some preliminary testing for other materials, such as aluminium foil,” Kouko continues.

 

Industry collaboration for swifter commercialisation

 

Eight industrial companies were involved in the FOLD project, participating in both the development and funding. The current phase, known as FOLD2, began in March 2024 with continued support from a consortium of companies. The goal for the future is to expand the technology’s applicable usage to other materials and find partners across Europe for pilot projects, as well as global partners for the commercialisation phase after FOLD2’s completion.

 

“The packaging industry is very interested in FOLD, and close cooperation with various enterprises enables us to move quickly from the innovation phase to practical application. We could see origami cardboard on the market within 3-5 years if the project progresses as planned,” notes Jari Räsänen, R&D Manager at Stora Enso, one of the companies involved in the project.

 

Beautiful material inspires designers

 

In addition to its versatility and environmentally friendly qualities, the FOLD material also inspires designers. Demo packages made from the origami cardboard have already been showcased at the 2023 Design Weeks in Finland and the Netherlands, where the material was met with enthusiasm.

 

For example, in applications for luxury items, such as in the cosmetics industry, the aesthetics of the packaging are an important part of the customer experience. FOLD offers consumers a more premium unboxing experience that is also more environmentally conscious compared to traditionally used solutions like plastic bubble wrap and expanded polystyrene.

 

“Due to its interesting visual appearance and renewable material, origami works well in consumer products,” says Essi Arola from the Nordic skincare and cosmetics company Lumene.

“Folding cardboard opens up completely new possibilities for us when developing fibre-based packaging, for example, for the food industry. With our new Japanese owner, origami folds are a particularly interesting topic,” says Annika Sundell from packaging company Walki Group.

 

The material also sparks new research and practical solutions across multiple disciplines.

 

“This project is a good example of the power of multidisciplinary collaboration. Solving folding-related problems requires not only an understanding of the ideal geometric structures of mathematics but also knowledge of materials and modelling through design and engineering sciences. Unprejudiced hand-made prototyping has produced numerous new research questions alongside practical applications. In addition to packaging solutions, the project’s results are also suitable for, for example, abrasive products and interior structures,” summarises Kirsi Peltonen, a mathematics lecturer at Aalto University specialising in origami.

 

In addition to VTT and Aalto University, the FOLD project involved Anpap, Business Finland, Elomatic, Lumene, Metsä Board, Mirka, Orfer, Soften, and Stora Enso. The FOLD2 project involves VTT, Aalto University, Anpap, Business Finland, Marja-Suomen Taimituotanto, Mirka, Soften, Stora Enso, and Walki.

 

With the festive season rapidly approaching, the team at Unique Window Systems has entered into the true spirit of Christmas.

 

Staff from across the business have lent their support to Operation Christmas Child – a charity campaign which aims to ensure children disadvantaged by circumstances outside of their control, such as conflict and poverty, still have presents to open on the big day.

Developed and managed by international relief organisation, Samaritan’s Purse, Operation Christmas Child has been held annually since 1990.

It invites people to fill up special shoe box sized gift boxes which are then distributed to children in need around the world.

Those supporting the campaign can choose whether to donate to a boy or girl from three different age groups – 2 to 4 years old, 5 to 9 years old and 10 to 14 years old.

People are encouraged to donate items such as toys, games, craft materials, educational resources and musical instruments. They can also include a personalised note or Christmas greeting to the eventual recipient.

This is the first time the Unique team has lent its support to Operation Christmas Child and in total 15 separate gift boxes were collated.

 

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