Episodes

How can we maintain reliable power through the energy transition, while still making significant cuts to energy emissions? Carbon capture and storage promises an answer, but much groundwork must be done to bring this potential to life. SSE recently received approval to build a new gas power plant at Keadby, in Lincolnshire, which could be the UK’s first power station equipped with carbon capture technology. The power plant will help maintain reliability for the UK National Grid, even when renew...

Getting to net zero emissions requires a paradigm shift in the way that we think and in the way that we do business says Dr Kim Yates from Mott MacDonald. In this episode we explore how collaboration between climate resilience, decarbonisation and improving biodiversity along with systems thinking could deepen efforts to reduce global carbon emissions, improve our natural environment and protect society from the impacts of climate change. This is critical as the UN Environment Programme reports...

In 1992 rolls Royce helped to fund a new technology centre at the University of Birmingham which began a long relationship between the manufacturer and the university. Over the last 30 years research into material sciences for aviation have led to important safety and efficiency gains in plane performance. In 2022 the University of Birmingham and Rolls Royce were given the Bhattacharyya Award which recognises excellent achievement in work between industry and academia. The future of aviation, ...

The US National Ignition Facility recently announced that it had achieved a milestone in the development of fusion technology, producing more energy from a fusion process than that put into the reactor directly by the lasers that control the process. While the NIF is not designed to research power generation—it has its roots in the 1960s nuclear test ban treaty, and aims to allow maintenance and design of nuclear weapons without explosive tests—this is still a breakthrough. For this episode, we...

Every December in London a magnificent Christmas tree is unveiled in Trafalgar Square. It is an annual gift from the people of Norway to the people of Britain that began 75 years ago. The origins of this tradition lie in the darkest days of the Second World War, and a British naval hero who undertook a mission for Norway’s government-in-exile. Today, the crossing of the tree from Norway to Britain is a more peaceful affair than the story that started it all. But growing such an enormous tree, ...

The UK government recently confirmed its support for Sizewell C. Getting to this point, and planning how thousands of construction crew and millions of tonnes of materials and plant will get to the site, has taken a decade of work. Nuclear power plants like Sizewell C are almost always built in rural locations, by the sea. Their neighbours are often used to a quiet pace of life, and transport links have limited capacity. To gain permission to build the plant, EDF, helped by WSP, had to carefull...

This year saw infrastructure resilience included in the Carbon Crunch programme for the first time. It is recognition that our infrastructure is being exposed to greater environmental risks than before, and so the impacts on people and communities will be even more profound. If construction does not properly consider the growing risks of rising floods and extreme heat events, any low carbon infrastructure we build could become prematurely obsolete. But as with the realisation 10 years ago that...

It has been nearly 10 years since the world first recorded atmospheric carbon above 400 parts per million. That year, 2013, also marked the first edition of the Carbon Crunch event which brought together infrastructure professionals to discuss the issue of decarbonisation. A decade on and much has changed for the better; we have near-universal recognition of the climate emergency, and numerous countries have committed to transition their economies to net zero carbon in the coming decades. Foll...

The deepest hole ever drilled drives 12.2km down below the border of Russia and Finland. The Kola Superdeep Borehole was an experiment to penetrate as deeply as possible into the Earth’s crust, but since 1995 it has been abandoned. Now a company believes that new technology will be able to drill to depths of 20km. By doing so it could unlock terawatts of clean, geothermal energy for countries around the world. Most geothermal energy is accessed just metres beneath the Earth’s surface and so is...

In 1985 diver Henri Cosquer discovered a submerged cave entrance in the Mediterranean near Marseilles. Exploring over the next six years he discovered a chamber filled with prehistoric art. Conditions in the caves and the submerged passages leading to it are extremely dangerous: three divers lost their lives exploring the caves. Efforts to map the cave structure using traditional techniques proved impossible, but with modern 3D scanning and photogrammetry tools, replicas of key works from the c...

For 200 years, towns and cities across the British regions developed specialised roles in the economy of empire. Mining towns and ports, potteries and steelmakers all made their own contribution to a global trade network, and local communities enjoyed jobs for life, with clear paths to entry. With the changing global order of the late 20th century, and a new approach to trade, many of these communities faced new competition from other countries. Specialised industries declined, and often collap...

How do we assess the environmental impact of construction materials? Some materials may enjoy a reputation as natural and sustainable. Timber, quite literally, grows on trees It is abundant, it captures carbon from the atmosphere, and at the end of its life can decompose naturally, leaving no harmful waste. But some of the highest value timber comes from ancient forests. Demand for this timber can lead to the destruction of forests that will take generations to regrow… And planting forests to c...

UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimates that over the past 20 years, 1.2 million people have been killed by more than 7,000 disasters. It estimates the economic damage at just under $3 trillion. It also found that when compared to the 1980s and 1990s, this impact has almost doubled. Countries are working to become more resilient, but even that term may mean different things in different conditions and environments. Resilience needs to be better understood. In this episode we explore th...

In Los Angeles only 3% of the population say they take public transit regularly, compared to 84% of residents who commute to work in their car every day. This results in huge amounts of traffic and air quality so bad that under public health requirements it’s illegal. LA Metro is making major investments to improve the public transit options in LA including totally revamping the bus system. By 2030 the entire LA bus network will be running electric buses. This means all new buses, changing all ...

On 20 September 2006 Richard Hammond raced down the Elvington airfield in Vampire, the jet-powered dragster that still holds the British land speed record. Hammond was travelling at 288mph (464km/h) when one of the car’s tyres unexpectedly blew, flipping the vehicle onto its back. Although seriously injured, Hammond escaped with his life. The Vampire itself was a wreck, dominating the front pages of newspapers around the world. But behind all of this is an incredible engineering story that goe...

The Canada Line is North America’s most efficient commuter rail. Since it opened in 2009, they have operated with a system availability of 99.9% and a punctuality record of 99.8%. But now they have reached a crucial stage in the line’s lifespan. After 13 years, major maintenance and replacement operations will need to take place which threaten the line’s ability to remain as efficient as it has been. However, the Canada Line team has spent the last few years working on creating a digital twin t...

Net Zero is our 2050 ambition for society, but to make this a reality city must be held to a far higher standard. Our urban environments will need to become ‘carbon negative’ if we intend to mount a robust response to the climate emergency. New technologies and techniques are part of the solution. But there is another challenge. Most of our major cities have already been built and are old. Embodied carbon means we should refrain from knocking down old buildings, but how can inefficient, dated s...

At the end of 2019 the Coronavirus pandemic began its global take-over, the world had to react fast to try and stop the spread. A project sprung up overnight, to create a megalab large enough to cope with never before seen testing requirements. The project would be complex, intricate, and require a quick delivery. It relied on successful placement of a series of moving parts, each of which was vital to the completion of every level of the project. A game of Tetris, with lives at stake. Guests...

As electricity grids around the world transition to using renewable energy resources, investment will need to be made in energy storage. When the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow there needs to be a way for the grid to be supplied with electricity. Currently pumped hydro storage is the main form of energy storage, although that requires specific geographical layout. Another form of storage getting significant investment is battery storage, batteries are becoming more efficient but sti...

When picturing the Arctic, people from warmer latitudes are likely to imagine frozen tundra and lonely steppe. Add global warming to this and the vision shifts to melting ice caps and desperate fauna. But the Arctic is much more than that. It is a region of community and a land of opportunity. With immense fisheries forming the backbone of its blue economy, and renewable resources in abundance, it is one of the truly under-utilised regions of the planet. But today this opportunity may finally ...

For industries across the world to reach net zero they are going to rely on mining critical minerals to allow for the electrification of their vehicles and machines. This has caused a huge leap in demand for minerals like lithium, nickel and cobalt. Added to this, the mining industry itself is already a major polluter itself, so as the industry prepares for a massive rise in production it must also focus on its own decarbonisation efforts. Investment in new technology and the electrification of...

In July 2022 the UK burned as temperatures broke 40°C for the first time in recorded history. As each of us tried different approaches to dealing with the heat, trees offered respite for some astute Brits. In the immediate aftermath the UK Government announced £44 million in reforestation funding for this year. In appreciation of the shade in this hot summer, we bring you this episode we produced last year on the benefits of tree planting. Guests Rob Gazzard, Adviser, Contingency Planning, Tec...

Antarctica New Zealand runs a critical research hub on the volcanic Ross Island. Originally built in 1957, it consists of 12 buildings connected by walkways – none of which have been upgraded since the 1980s. To keep the important science going for the next 50 years a redevelopment was launched in 2017. However, building in Earth’s most inhospitable environment, with the coldest temperatures ever recorded, and months of complete darkness, means that the most advanced and efficient engineering m...

An era of tunnelling megaprojects has dawned as governments have invested in the underground the world over. Skills shortages are nothing new to the engineering world, but in some sectors, it is beginning to bite. One such area is surveying. In these situations, technology and collaborative ways of working can take the strain off an overheating market. With the work ahead of it, the tunnelling industry will need all of its collective expertise and modern technologies to cope with growing demand...