Archive for category: Latest News

From wind turbine covers to work bags – tackling the textile mountain

Whilst wind energy undoubtedly plays an important part in our fight against climate change – much controversy still surrounds air turbines & their parts being non-recyclable at end of life.

Yorkshire based innovative recyclers MyGroup (www.mygroupltd.com) have developed a solution to upcycle the hardwearing poly-blend bags used to protect and transport Siemens Gamesa wind turbines during the installation process.

The company’s textile team has deconstructed the material and created work & tool bags for staff members at the wind turbine manufacturing plant. The design creates a circular solution for the material. Otherwise, it would take up large amounts of space in landfills or go to incineration (some poly blend materials can take up to 200 years to degrade in a landfill).

The challenge we face with any kind of textile recycling is enormous. But hardwearing textiles designed for industrial projects are increasingly hard-to-repurpose. It’s reported that 95% of textiles have the potential to be recycled, yet currently less than 15% is being recycled effectively.

MyGroup is known mainly for their innovative solutions for plastic recycling, notably for facemask recycling in Wilko stores and cosmetic recycling in Boots stores. But the company is now expanding focus on creating viable upcycling routes for textiles too.

Katie Robinson, Textile Technician at MyGroup, said, “The Siemens Turbine bag is a great example of our solutions – a complex, poly based material built to last, yet when it’s retired from its original purpose, what’s next? We decided this material would be perfect as a tool bag because of its durability. Using in-house processes and craftmanship, we came up with a solution to divert this material away from incineration or landfill. There really is no such thing as non-recyclable for us. Everything has another purpose. It’s our job to find and realise that purpose.”

Plans are in place to continue experimenting with the tricky poly-blend textiles to create more items, such as duffel bags, tipis and shelters. The long-term aim is to create more viable streams to divert complex poly based textiles from landfills.

The Water Tower (Photo: Channel 4 / Dennis Pedersen)

 

Grand Designs: House of the Year, Channel 4, review: Another year, another shortlist of outlandish houses that don’t represent true British architecture

By Barbara Speed Opinion Editor at iNews

 

 

 

Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud seemed painfully aware of this fact as he ran through the longlist of properties in the “surprise” category. He proclaimed rather unconvincingly that the gargantuan, expensive “House-within-a-House” is the “template of a modern family home” after learning that its fancy oak floors withstood regular skateboarding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pele Tower House’s architect was praised for letting light in despite the original windows being designed purely for shooting arrows, and for managing to surround its swimming pool with a mortar-free stone wall at huge expense. Not issues faced by your average homeowner.

 

 

 

 

 

The word “house” has complicated associations, and on the basis of this competition, is not to be confused with “home”. It is not clear whether the winning project here will be commended for its architectural wizardry, or for its ability to improve its owners’ lives and inspire future, better iterations of the sorts of houses the rest of us occupy. I fear it will be the former.

UK housing is in short supply, and is too often badly constructed, a health risk or made from deadly materials. There are scores of problems worth architects’ time; I’m not sure House of the Year tackled any of them.

CARDIFF INSTALLS FIRST OF THEIR KIND GREEN, AFFORDABLE HOMES

• Wates Residential and Cardiff Council lowering nine modular homes onsite at Crofts Street, Plasnewydd
• First time this method of offsite construction used for permanent family homes in city
• Homes to be made available to residents on Council’s housing waiting list in just five weeks

 

 

Wates Residential and Cardiff Council are today installing Cardiff’s first sustainable, modular homes, at a brownfield site on Crofts Street, Plasnewydd, as the Council increases its provision of affordable homes for local residents on housing waiting lists and those most in need.

The nine two-bedroom properties, which have been built offsite using modern methods of construction (MMC), will be lowered onto their final position on-site with all the groundworks and external hard and soft landscaping completed.

This is the first time this method of offsite construction has been used by Cardiff Council to deliver permanent homes for families living in the city. The method not only enables the units to be built and installed in record time, but will also use the latest technology and construction materials to create net-zero carbon buildings that are 90% more energy efficient than standard homes built to current Building Regulations. They will be extremely airtight, meaning they are well insulated and residents will see huge savings on their bills[1].

In recognition of their environmental credentials, the homes have achieved Grade A in Predicted Energy Efficiency and Environmental Impact (CO2) ratings. The houses will have solar panels on their roofs and MEV Heat Recovery with electric heating elements, so that they will not be required to connect to the mains gas service and will emit significantly less CO2 than a standard home.

Offsite construction also creates less disruption to residents, as the overall build programme and onsite activity is greatly reduced, with the units being designed to the same style as the terraced housing in the area.

Once the units are installed, all services will be connected, followed by the installation of electricity and plumbing, with the Council making the homes available to tenants on its existing housing waiting list in just five weeks.

 

Edward Rees, Wates Residential Regional Director, Cardiff, said:

“It is incredible to see this unused plot of land transformed into affordable homes. We care about the communities in which we operate and aim to design and build homes that put local people first. And, by using innovative modern methods of construction, we’re not only able to deliver these units just five weeks from now, but we are also creating homes that will support Cardiff and its residents in reducing their energy consumption and contributing to a more sustainable future.

 “We are committed to eliminating waste and carbon from our operations by 2025, well ahead of the Government’s own environmental targets, and we’re working collaboratively with customers, supply chain and joint venture partners to find better and more innovative ways to reduce waste, reduce energy consumption and enhance the natural environment.”

 

 

Cllr Lynda Thorne, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities at Cardiff Council, who attended the lowering of the units today, said:

 “The installation of the modular units at Crofts Street is a very exciting day for us as we have eagerly been awaiting their arrival. Increasing the availability of affordable housing for people in Cardiff is a high priority for the Council, but we also want to make sure that the new homes we are delivering are good quality properties that are as ‘green’ as they possibly can be for the benefits of our tenants by reducing fuel poverty and the benefit of our wider population, because it’s the right, sustainable thing to do.

 “Right across our housing development programme, we are working on getting as close to zero carbon as we can with innovative construction methods and technologies that surpass current building regulations, minimise environmental impact and reduce ongoing running costs for tenants.

 “I’m delighted that the first new tenants in the development will be in before Christmas and they can begin enjoying living in their new Cardiff Living homes so soon.”

 

The homes are part of Wates Residential’s Cardiff Living partnership with Cardiff Council to deliver 1,500 new homes across 40 sites in the city over a 10-year period, including affordable homes for rent and sale, supported accommodation and more accessible and adaptable homes for older people.

Leaders from some of the UK’s most pioneering organisations have joined forces to explore the role of hydrogen in decarbonising the country’s industry, transport, and domestic heating sectors – which amount to 40% of the UK’s emissions, and the equivalent of 180 million tonnes of CO2.

As part of a UK-wide roadshow on the approach to the much-publicised UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, the 10-stop tour visited ground-breaking projects across the country. This included Northern Gas Networks’ Hydrogen House – the UK’s first homes to feature 100% hydrogen gas appliances – Thames Estuary, Equinor’s Hydrogen-to-Humber (H2H) Saltend project, Fuel Cell Systems, Johnson Matthey, DNV, and the Shell Learning Zone at the Aberdeen Science Centre.

As part of the roadshow, Pilkington UK – together with HyNet and HyDeploy – shared the news that its Greengate site in St Helens has recently undertaken two pioneering demonstrations of using hydrogen to replace natural gas in powering the furnace.

Each day during the trial, two tonnes of hydrogen were consumed – which could have provided an equivalent hydrogen blend to approximately 30,000 average-sized homes.

Elsewhere, Welsh Water – which announced its net zero by 2040 target earlier this year – shared details of its feasibility work to produce up to 2,000 kg per day of renewable bio-hydrogen at the site – enough to support a fleet of 100 hydrogen buses.

DGA chair Chris Barron, and director of gas networks at Costain, said: “Hydrogen – like many other decarbonised gases – can help us meet the UK’s ever-pressing need for net zero climate emissions, at low cost, with minimal disruption, and while creating thousands of sustainable jobs across the country.

“It has a particularly valuable role to play in the notoriously hard to decarbonise sectors – heavy transport, industry, and heat. As a nation, we rely heavily on these industries, but they account for over 40% of UK greenhouse gases. They’re therefore the elephant in the room if we don’t work together to create a deliverable pathway to a net zero energy infrastructure.”

Now complete, the tour explored the need for a regional focus, as part of the Government’s roadmap and Ten Point Plan, and the impact that the public could have if they were better informed and engaged with the subject.

Each stop was handpicked to help drive the conversation on hydrogen and the role it plays in the country’s energy transition strategy – with chosen locations showcasing their own perspective on the hydrogen agenda, to not only raise awareness at policy level but among regional communities too.

Matt Buckley, UK managing director of Pilkington UK, part of the NSG Group, explained: “We are proud to sit at the forefront of hydrogen innovation in the glass industry. Our team’s collaborations with HyNet and HyDeploy are enabling huge steps forward to be taken, as we work towards the decarbonisation of our activities.

“Both trials have successfully demonstrated that it is possible to use hydrogen to safely and effectively fire a float glass plant. We now look forward to HyNet being fully up and running from 2025 in order to turn these demonstrations into reality.”

Ben Burggraaf, head of energy at Welsh Water added: “Producing bio-methane or even bio-hydrogen is an important step towards meeting our ambition to reach net zero by 2040 and achieving a 90% reduction in emissions by 2030.

“Using the biogas to produce renewable fuels could have up to 10 times larger decarbonisation impact than using it to produce renewable electricity, in particular when combined with Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage technology – for example, producing food grade CO2.”

Andy Cornell, CEO at ABSL added: “The UK produces 30 million tonnes of waste a year which could generate up to 20 % of our energy needs. Sustainable production of biomethane and biohydrogen is critical for energy security.”

Iain Morley, hydrogen transformation manager at Wales and West Utilities, commented: “Bio substitute natural gas which Wales and West Utilities inject into the network can play a big role in reducing carbon emissions going forward. The HSE exemption of up to 1% hydrogen into the natural gas system delivers up to 5,000 tonnes of CO2 reduction which is the equivalent of 2.5k homes in the local area from the ABSL facility.”

Dr Phil Ingram, senior business development manager, low carbon hydrogen at Johnson Matthey, said: “Johnson Matthey was delighted to welcome the Decarbonised Gas Alliance roadshow to our sites in Teesside.

This is where our scientists and engineers created and continue to develop our award-winning low carbon hydrogen technology, which reduces CO2 emissions by over 95%. Manufacturing blue hydrogen at scale is a critical early step in decarbonisation, enabling us all to achieve net zero emissions targets and limit global temperature rises.”

Through innovation, collaboration, and greater public awareness throughout the regions, hydrogen can play a role in safely, quickly, and cost-effectively decarbonising UK infrastructure – providing the country with a stable pathway to net zero emissions.