Engineering at the coalface of global warming

We all have our part to play in this fight but engineers are at the coalface when it comes to renewable solutions and energy efficiency.

The recent announcement that a national strategy will finally be developed around offshore wind highlights the huge opportunity for engineering innovation.

The recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report for 2023 was stark in its warnings about the real and imminent threat of global warming, but it did outline how climate action can be achieved through “systemic climate mitigation in urban areas, deployment of renewable energy sources and infrastructure, increased energy and materials efficiency, circular material flows, electrification of transport and industry combined with carbon removal technology”.

The common denominator here is, of course, engineering. Indeed, ingenuity in engineering is the reason we have energy-efficient buildings, smart electricity grids, green public transport infrastructure, and resource-efficient food processing facilities, to name but a few key elements of our necessary transition to a low-carbon society.