The Engineering EcoWarrior

Low Emission Zones (LEZ) or Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZ) are town planning tools to tackle air pollution from vehicles[ 1 ]. The primary types of pollution of concern are Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), and fine particulate matter which are designated as PM10 or PM2.5 for particles smaller than 10 microns (0.01 mm) or 2.5 microns (0.0025 mm) respectively. But why do we need to tackle air pollution? The tragic death of nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah in London in 2013 made the reality of vehicular air pollution more relatable and helped bring about changes in our perception of its impact. At her 2020 inquest, the coroner concluded that she died from asthma contributed to by excessive air pollution, with traffic emissions identified as the principal source of her exposure: the first time traffic pollution was specifically cited on a death certificate[ 3 ]. Hers is unlikely to be the only such death; she is only the first to be formally recognised as such. Studies have estimated the num...

  Fifteen Years On: Are Biofuels Delivering on the IEA’s 2011 Vision? In April 2011, the International Energy Agency (IEA) published an ambitious roadmap claiming that biofuels could supply 27% of global transport fuel by 2050 , up from around 2% at the time ( EcoWarriorMe: Biofuels (2011) ). The roadmap argued that sustainable biofuels would become essential for reducing emissions from aviation, shipping and heavy transport while improving energy security. Now, fifteen years later, we are almost half way towards the forecast horizon and the transport and energy landscape looks very different. Electric vehicles have advanced far faster than many analysts expected, while biofuels have evolved into a more specialised — but still strategically important — decarbonisation tool. The 2011 Roadmap  The original roadmap envisioned: Biofuels rising from 2% to 27% of global transport fuel by 2050. A major shift from food-crop biofuels to “ advanced biofuels ” made from waste, re...

What it means for Infrastructure Climate Resilience Six years ago, on the morning of 12 August 2020, a ScotRail passenger train derailed near Carmont, south of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire. The derailment was caused by the train striking debris washed onto the track following an intense rain storm. The accident claimed three lives, injured six others and became the deadliest railway accident in Britain for almost two decades. Yet the tragedy was more than an isolated engineering failure. The investigation conducted by the independent Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) concluded that it exposed wider weaknesses in the way Britain's railway understood and managed the risks posed by increasingly severe weather[1]. As climate change alters rainfall patterns and increases the potential for more frequent episodes of intense rainfall, Carmont has become a defining case study in the importance of building climate resilience into ageing infrastructure. Before considering the technical...