One of the UK’s largest dedicated hydrogen fuel cell testing facilities has been completed in the city that played a pivotal role in the development of the transport industry.Coventry University’s Centre for Advanced Low-Carbon Propulsion Systems (C-ALPS) has spent over £2m in creating a dedicated 100 sq. m. lab and hydrogen compound that will allow…
Teesside Freeport has commenced operations today, November 19, making it the first of eight planned UK freeports to open.Announced in the Spring Budget in March by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Teesside Freeport will enable businesses to benefit from tax reliefs, simplified customs procedures and streamlined planning processes, as well as other government support designed to promote…
Data-based insights are driving decarbonisation through precision agriculture, ultimately delivering improvements undreamed of from farm gate to manufacturers of food and drink. Fleur Doidge investigates. In manufacturing, it’s about smarter factories using data to streamline and innovate at every step. In farming, the trend is known as precision agriculture. With the latest Intergovernmental Panel on…
More plug-in vehicles will hit British roads in 2021 than during the whole of the last decade, according to the latest forecast from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).Between 2010 and 2019, a total of 271,962 new BEVs and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) were registered in the UK. This year alone, SMMT says…
The current energy crisis threatens UK industry and manufacturing – but cheaper gas is not the answer in the long term. What’s needed is a fundamental change to the way we run our factories, says Innovate UK’s Dr Ben Walsh.The current spike in energy prices poses a huge problem for the UK. While rising home-heating…
With all eyes fixed on the upcoming 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Lee Collinson, National Head of Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics at Barclays, looks at the path to net zero and some of the benefits that can be afforded by manufacturers by following a sustainability-first agenda.In line with its…
Residents of a cul-de-sac in San Francisco say their neighbourhood is regularly playing host to a gathering of Waymo self driving cars and they don’t know why.According to local news station KPIX, the self driving cars have been driving up and down the “dead-end” street at all hours of the day “for weeks”, with no…
A Scottish manufacturer of world-leading thermal storage technologies has announced an extension to one of its professional partnerships as it looks to scale production of its thermal battery storage systems.Sunamp will deepen its collaboration with Blyth-based Universal Wolf, a leader in complex metal fabrication, to accelerate the distribution of its heat batteries across the UK…
Waste management isn’t glamorous but it is a necessary part of the manufacturing process. Failure to comply with legislation could see a manufacturer fined and even its owners prosecuted. Add to that the fact that requirements are constantly evolving (for example, with the launch of the French Track Dechets system, and a new Waste Management…
A leading manufacturer of acrylic sheets and composites is to invest more than £30m in a cutting-edge production plant and research and development centre, safeguarding at least 250 jobs in the process.Perspex International Ltd will create the new facility at its existing Chapels Park site in Darwen, Lancashire. The investment by Perspex International’s Swiss owners,…
An offshore wind cabling manufacturer will use £130m of public and private sector funding to build a state-of-the-art subsea cable manufacturing facility in Northumberland.JDR Cable Systems’ plans to invest in facilities that will develop and build components for next-generation wind turbines will create and safeguard more than 440 jobs across the North-East of England. Using funding…
Rolls-Royce’s first all-electric aircraft has completed its maiden flight in the skies above the UK ahead of a world record attempt later this year.The ‘Spirit of Innovation’ soared for around 15 minutes, having taken off from the MOD’s Boscombe Down airfield in Wiltshire on Wednesday. With its powerful 400kW (500+hp) electric powertrain and the most…