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Innovation News
ROADS
National Highways' carbon cutting shortlist
National Highways has shortlisted seven small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for its carbon reduction competition.
They are:
- Xeroc – concrete recycling
- Low Carbon Materials – carbon negative aggregate for asphalt
- PRG – bitumen-like substance for road construction and repairs
- Circular11 – vandal resistant low carbon plastic fencing
- Asset International Structures – fibre-reinforced plastic bridge beams
- HausBots – climbing inspection robots with sensors
- Loop Infinity – circular economy and carbon measurement solutions.
Each SME will receive £15,000 to £30,000 development funding.
Those progressing to phase 2 of the competition will get £80,000 to trial their solutions further.
ENERGY
Yorkshire Water to sell sewage treatment gas to energy provider
Yorkshire Water has signed a 15-year agreement to sell energy company Centrica biomethane from its wastewater treatment processes.
Biogas is a byproduct of wastewater treatment and can be upgraded by separating methane from other component gases. The result is biomethane or renewable natural gas.
Under Yorkshire Water’s deal with Centrica Energy Trading and SGN, the water company will supply biomethane gas to gas grid plants which will be set up at its wastewater treatment works. The gas can then be supplied to the grid via underground pipelines.
RISK MANAGEMENT
Bam uses AI-powered schedule risk forecaster
Bam UK & Ireland has become the first contractor to use nPlan Portfolio software for risk management. It uses artificial intelligence and big data to gain insight into schedule and costing risks across a portfolio of projects.
Probabilistic forecasts can be generated for every activity in a schedule at a portfolio level. These can then be turned into a project forecast that highlights activities liable to cause delays.
NPlan Portfolio’s dashboard also provides views of the overall workload and pinpoints bottlenecks that might otherwise go undetected.
AIRPORTS
Atkins launches airport carbon calculation tool for designers
Atkins and the International Air Transport Association (Iata) have developed a digital toolkit for estimating the embodied carbon in airport projects.
It consists of three data-based tools for respectively estimating the embodied carbon impact of terminal buildings, runways and car parks.
Data collected will help airport developers work with operators to reduce carbon at the earliest stage of a project. This means that before detailed design starts, Atkins can advise clients on the estimated carbon impact of built assets.
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