Direct Air Carbon Capture Takes Baby Steps-Giant Strides Are Needed Sean O’Neill

In September 2021,the world’s largest industrial plant to pull carbon dioxide(CO_(2))directly out of the atmosphere officially became operational in Iceland.Designed and built by the Zurich,Switzerland-based company Climeworks,its“Orca”facility—the company claims—can remove and permanently store 4000 t of CO_(2) per year(Fig.1)[1].

Artificial Intelligence Cracks a 50-Year-Old Grand Challenge in Biology

In late November 2020,DeepMind Technologies,the Londonbased,artificial intelligence(AI)-focused subsidiary of Google’s parent company,Alphabet,announced that its AlphaFold system had achieved"unparalleled levels of accuracy"in predicting the complex shape of proteins based solely on their genetic sequences[1].The feat meets a 50-year-old grand challenge in biology,the extraordinarily difficult problem of predicting how proteins fold.The advance is expected to have a significant impact on drug discovery and the burgeoning field of protein design,possibly even helping to tackle the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic[2].

Development of Lithium-Ion Batteries Wins Nobel Prize

We now live in a rechargeable world built on lithium(Li)-ion batteries(LIBs).In October 2019,three scientists/engineers who played pivotal roles in the development of LIB were each honoured with a one-third share of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry(Fig.1)[1].The LIB story began in the 1970s with M.Stanley Whittingham,now at Binghamton University,State University of New York,who discovered a hugely energy-rich material—titanium disulfide—that he used to create a novel cathode in a lithium battery.The battery,in which positively charged lithium ions moved back and forth between the electrodes during its charge/discharge cycle,had a potential of over two volts,but its anode contained highly reactive metallic lithium and therefore had a tendency to explode.

Machine Learning Turbocharges Structural Biology

On 28 January 2022,DeepMind Technologies announced the addition of the proteomes of 27 organisms to its AlphaFold Protein Structures Database(AlphaFold DB),a free online resource for sci-entists[1].DeepMind,the London-based,artificial intelligence(AI)-focused subsidiary of Google’s parent company,Alphabet,selected these proteomes in alignment with the priorities of the World Health Organization.

COP26: Some Progress, But Nations Still Fiddling While World Warms

From 31 October to 13 November 2021,in an impassioned and frequently tense gathering,the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties,known as COP26,convened in Glasgow,Scotland.While participants made some progress in terms of announced commitments to reduce carbon emissions,the major area of agreement appears to be that much more is needed for the planet to avoid potentially catastrophic warming.

Giant Turbines Poised to Claim Offshore Wind

A wave of giant turbines appears set to define the offshore wind energy industry for the next decade.The first of its kind,the Haliade-X turbine—designed and built by GE Renewable Energy,headquartered in Paris,France—stands 260 m tall,with a rotor 220 m in diameter,its 107 m blades sweeping an area of 38000 m2(Fig.1).The prototype,built on the harbourside in Rotterdam,the Netherlands(Fig.2),was initially a 12 MW machine,since optimised to 13 MW.Industry certified in November 2020,the turbine produced its first milliwatt hour of electricity in November 2019.The company claims the Haliade-X can produce 45%more energy than any other offshore wind turbine currently in production,generating up to 67 GWh annually,enough to power 16000 homes[1].

Battery Recycling Challenge Looms as Electric Vehicle Business Booms

In June 2021,the Ontario,Canada-based company Li-Cycle announced plans to,by the end of 2021,begin construction of North America’s largest lithium-ion battery(LIB)-recycling facility in Rochester,NY,USA.As automakers increasingly switch to electric vehicle(EV)production,the move addresses what the“resource recovery”company’s chief executive officer,Ajay Kochhar,hyperbolically has described as an incoming“battery tsunami”[1].

Weights-Based Gravity Energy Storage Looks to Scale Up

Innovative technology for gravity energy storage(GES),based on hoisting and lowering heavy weights to store and release energy in a highly sustainable manner,has now stepped onto the global stage.On 14 February 2022,Energy Vault Holdings,Inc.,began trading on the New York Stock Exchange,after merging with a special purpose acquisition company,Novus Capital Corporation II;the transaction raised 235 million USD[1].

Climate Change Action Alights on Satellite Detection of Methane

In an era of unwelcome broken records in climate change,2021delivered yet another.According to figures released in January2022 by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA)[1,2],the record for the annual net increase in atmospheric methane was broken for the second year in a row,hitting an estimated 17 parts per billion(ppb).The increase puts methane’s atmospheric concentration at 1909 ppb(Fig.1),more than 2.5times its pre-industrial levels[3].

Solar Geoengineering to Reduce Global Warming—The Outlook Remains Cloudy

In March 2021,Australia’s Great Barrier Reef played host to a rare field test of marine cloud brightening(MCB)technology.Blasting a seawater mist into the air from the aft of a research ves-sel using a turbine outfitted with novel spray nozzles,researchers watched the resulting white plume rise into the sky(Fig.1)[1].Over the last five years,the Reef has suffered multiple mass bleaching events because of ocean warming caused by climate change[2].The MCB project,led by senior lecturer Daniel Harrison of Southern Cross University,Coffs Harbour,Australia,is part of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program[3],a government-backed research and development initiative that aims to“develop,test and risk-assess novel interventions to help keep the Reef resilient.”

Perovskite Pushes Solar Cells to Record Efficiency

The future has grown brighter for solar power,with the setting of a new world record for the efficiency of a silicon/perovskite solar cell in December 2020.Made using a layer of silicon in tandem with a thin-film layer of synthetic perovskite,the cell had an area of 1.12 cm^(2) and was certified in independent testing by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory(NREL)in Golden,CO,USA,to be 29.52% efficient[1].Plainly put,the tandem cell was able to convert nearly 30%of the simulated sunlight shining on it into electricity.

European Union Puts Teeth in Right to Repair

On 1 March 2021,new regulations reinforcing consumers’right to repair entered into legal force across the European Union(EU)[1].The regulations stem from the EU’s Ecodesign Directive of 2009,which among other objectives aims to compel manufacturers of energy-using products to design them with ecological and environmental considerations in mind,such as reducing the pollution created in the production process and increasing recyclability[2].This latest legislation moves the EU closer to a circular economy in which products,rather than being thrown away and replaced,are kept in working order for longer through easier access to spare parts and repair facilities.

Handheld Ultrasound Advances Diagnosis

In March 2021,Chicago,IL,USA-based medical imaging giant GE Healthcare launched the Vscan Air[1],a self-contained,handheld ultrasound probe,its latest and first wireless version of the increasingly sophisticated"pocket"ultrasound systems now marketed by multiple vendors.Like with advances in other medical technology[2,3],the devices are smaller,smarter,and leverage smartphone capabilities.

Sustainable Solutions: Global Grand Challenges Summit 2019, Day Two

The future human experience in 2050 might be broadly summed up in three words:crowded,urban,hot.At the century’s midpoint,the global population will be pushing an unprecedented ten billion,mostly living in cities,and climate change-if left unchecked-will be unescapably present[1,2].How will we sustain ten billion people in such a world,and what role will engineers play?These were the questions explored on day two of the Global Grand Challenges Summit(GGCS)2019,hosted by the Royal Academy of Engineering(RAE),which ran from 16 to 18 September in London[3,4].

Transformational Technology Takes Center Stage:Global Grand Challenges Summit 2019,Day One

With artificial intelligence(AI)systems now able to match the diagnostic abilities of seasoned doctors for certain ailments,and even suggest treatment options that no one had thought of,it is clear that AI and data science have the potential to transform aspects of healthcare for the better[1,2].Move beyond medicine,however,and things quickly get murkier:All over the world,the growing adoption of AI and other transformative technologies is raising countless societal,industrial,ethical,and environmental challenges.

Global Grand Challenges Summit 2019:Engineers Come Together to Tackle an Unpredictable World

The 2019 Global Grand Challenges Summit(GGCS 2019)brought together inspirational innovators and leaders with the next generation of young engineers,to establish international collaborations to help solve the pressing challenges facing humanity.The conference ran from 16 to 18 September and was based at the Southbank Centre on the River Thames in London.

Satellite Tracking and Global Treaty Effort Open New Front on Plastic Waste Problem

As the rate of plastic production continues to climb towards a projected billion tonnes(Gt)a year by 2050(Fig.1)and the volume of plastic waste grows accordingly,a new satellite-based platform launched in May 2022 has begun to monitor the world’s landbased plastic pollution.

Two New Mega Dams Begin Operating as Hydropower Industry Booms

February 2022 saw the first official electricity produced by what will be,once fully operational,Africa’s largest hydropower dam,the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam(GERD)(Fig.1)[1].It is just one of the latest milestones in an ongoing global boom in a hydropower dam industry pulled from the doldrums by the urgent need to produce climate-friendly energy for a global population with a growing demand for electricity[2].

Supersonic Travel Seeks an Encore

In June 2021,United Airlines,one of the largest airline operato rs in the world,signed a deal with Boom Supersonic of Denver,CO,USA,to purchase 15 supersonic"Overture"airliners,with an option to buy 35 more[1].To fulfil the contract,Boom Supersonic must first build the aircraft,and do so in accordance with United Airline’s safety,operating,and sustainability requirements.

AI-Driven Robotic Laboratories Show Promise

Elaborate proof-of-principle experiments in several laboratories around the world have recently offered glimpses of a future in which high-throughput automatic laboratories guided by artificial intelligence(AI)might enhance the process for discovery of new materials,such as those for clean energy technologies.And in chemical engineering,using AI to aid in synthesis planning and performance offers the prospect of scientists needing little more than an idea and an internet connection to generate novel molecules in state-of-the-art,remote laboratories.Announced in August 2020,International Business Machine Corporation(IBM)’s RoboRXN for Chemistry provides a high-profile example of the potential for combining AI and laboratory automation[1].The system not only provides chemical recipes to produce organic molecules of interest but can also synthesize those molecules automatically using commercially available hardware—in the case of IBM’s demonstrator,a Flex-category automated-synthesis workstation(Fig.1)manufactured by Chemspeed Technologies(Füllinsdorf,Switzerland).