Energy efficiency

20 Oct 23

Low-Power Hardware Accelerator Offers Outsize Security

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

This article is part of our exclusive IEEE Journal Watch series in partnership with IEEE Xplore. How can smartphones safeguard user data in untrusted cloud environments while preserving battery life?One research team in the United States has a suggestion. They’ve developed a novel hardware accelerator prototype for edge devices that…

25 Sep 23

Government ditches energy efficiency taskforce six months in

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, has decided to scrap the home energy efficiency taskforce that his government established six months ago. The group was set up by Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, to boost uptake of insulation and boiler upgrades, with a view towards reducing the country’s energy use by 15…

25 Aug 23

Energy cap to fall below £2,000 from October

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

The new energy price cap set by Ofgem, the British energy regulator, is below £2,000 for the first time in 18 months, but it remains significantly higher than during 2020 and 2021 before the Russian invasion of Ukraine pushed up energy prices. The cap does not set the maximum a…

05 Jul 23

UAE unveils plans to triple its energy resources by 2030

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

The National Energy Strategy announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE's vice president and ruler of Dubai, also includes investments in hydrogen fuel and developing infrastructure for electric vehicles (EV). The ambitious plan is part of the country's roadmap to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and…

26 Jun 23

Companies urge Government to ‘step up’ plans to deliver insulation targets

Geotechnical & Environmental

According to a new analysis carried out by Frontier Economics, the Government is on track to insulate just one sixth of the homes needed to meet its target of reducing energy consumption by 15 per cent. WWF UK and ScottishPower said there is a “substantial gap” emerging between what is…

20 Jun 23

Insulating British homes would deliver £39bn boost by 2030

Geotechnical & Environmental

The large-scale drive would also save the NHS £2bn and cut new cases of childhood asthma by 650,000, whilst also creating an economic and social boost for regions with the most inefficient housing, the charity said. It said public and private investment in an “urgent” programme of retrofitting would tackle…

14 Jun 23

Smart meter rollout remains a challenge for government

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

According to the latest figures, 57 per cent of all meters in Great Britain are now smart, although around 9 per cent – approximately three million – were not working as intended as of March this year, the NAO said. In February, the government launched a consultation on plans to…

12 Jun 23

Energy efficiency improvements restricted to wealthy homeowners, Unison says

Geotechnical & Environmental

The union said that without a major rethink on financial help and incentives, the UK faces “painfully slow” progress on green homes and won’t meet its 2050 net-zero target. The report found that short-term policies and a complex array of “ever-changing support packages” have left millions of households with insufficient…

18 May 23

Government’s energy efficiency schemes are ‘struggling’ to meet targets, councils warn

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Local authorities have raised concerns over the sluggish pace of home insulation schemes, and the risk it poses to many people facing fuel poverty. The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 300 councils in England and Wales, said the government's flagship energy efficiency scheme supported 60,000 homes in 2022,…

05 May 23

Collaboration on optimisation of large batteries to revolutionise future energy use

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

SSE Energy Solutions’ software grid balancing technology, Enhance, is designed to help maximise the efficiency of mega batteries. Now, the Enhance platform has been deployed at one of the world’s leading energy research centres, managing the operation of the 2MW battery at the University of Sheffield’s Willenhall Energy Storage facility.…