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FIVE Tees Valley borough authorities (Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar/Cleveland, and Stockton) Durham County Council and Newcastle City Council want to build a new Energy Recovery Facility in the region. This could see 450,000 tonnes of waste a year being used to generate electricity, and potentially heating nearby homes and businesses. A spokesperson for the project commented: “By joining forces the seven...

Fire crews used an innovative tool to help extinguish a major fire in Cupar by fighting the flames with recycled treated waste water - again, again and then yet again. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was called to a fire at a waste transfer station situated 200 metres from Scottish Water’s Cupar Waste Water Treatment Works. Nine crews were tackling...

RESEARCHERS at Swansea University, Imperial College London and the University of Oxford have launched a project to drive next-generation solar technology into new applications. The team have been awarded a £6 million Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) programme grant to advance organic and perovskite solar cells into applications that current solar technologies are not suitable for. Science Minister Amanda...

DILIGENT detective dogs have wowed most experienced engineers by sniffing out the tiniest fractures in gas pipes around Cadent's network. Former police explosives and drugs dogs Nelly, Midge and Milly are now helping to prevent water causing issues by getting into underground gas pipes. Just half an egg cup of water is enough to block a customer’s service pipe, the narrow...

WORK has begun on a community-owned solar energy rooftop project at the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome in Newport, the largest solar rooftop project of its kind in Wales with over 2,000 solar panels set to be installed. The Welsh Government Energy Service, in partnership with Sustainable Communities Wales and the Wales Co-operative Centre has completed a detailed feasibility study which...

Over 100 high-profile parents from fashion designer Vivienne Westwood to Lead of Climate Assembly UK Professor Rebecca Willis, urged Britain's government on Sunday to ensure economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic tackles climate change and puts children at its centre. Written by climate group Mothers Rise Up, which began when a small group of concerned mothers met at Extinction Rebellion...

Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) in Kent has voiced a need for social housing in the area in their new Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). The SPD was outlined during the Council’s Committee meeting on 7 July, to provide advice on how MBC’s Local Plan housing policies for the provision of affordable and local needs housing should be implemented. The SPD has various...

The first call for proposals under the Innovation Fund, one of the world's largest programmes for the demonstration of innovative low-carbon technologies, has been launched by the European Commission. The Innovation Fund will finance breakthrough technologies for renewable energy, energy-intensive industries, energy storage, and carbon capture, use and storage. It will provide a boost to the green recovery by creating local...

After declaring a climate emergency a year ago, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has established the Climate Change sub-committee and agreed a work programme to help achieve a carbon neutral District by 2030. Key areas of work have included identifying opportunities for the Council to embed its commitment to net zero CO2 emissions in its policies and strategies and to investigate...

A new study suggests that exposure to coastal environments can play a significant role in boosting human health and well-being, due to the ‘therapeutic effects’ marine and coastal landscapes have. In England, 271 million recreational visits are made to coastal environments annually and more than 22 million people live within five miles of the coast. Domestic Marine Minister, Rebecca Pow, commented: "Whether...