An appetite for APPEITG lunches
It's not the best abbreviation, but the APPEITG (All Party Parliamentary Engineering and IT Group) do host a pleasant meal. The group exists to promote the role of engineering and the future of engineering in the UK, and I've been happy to see that they are keen to involve younger engineers (like me!) as well as the usual grey-haired examples. I look forward to being more involved, and perhaps to more delicious lunches on the beautiful House of Lords terrace.
At the lunch in mid-July, Sir David King spoke about the challenges of climate change and how engineers should be stepping up to tackle these. His key points were not particularly novel but bear repeating, in the context of a call to arms for engineers (and others).
At the lunch in mid-July, Sir David King spoke about the challenges of climate change and how engineers should be stepping up to tackle these. His key points were not particularly novel but bear repeating, in the context of a call to arms for engineers (and others).
- The "City big bang" should be a drive for the UK science, engineering and technology sector to deliver new solutions for climate change
- It should be possible to hit the carbon reduction targets set for mid-century, and still grow GDP
- Engineering skills are desperately needed to deliver new nuclear power stations, zero carbon homes, and (very important for the UK) the technology to retrofit homes and other buildings to reduce carbon output. This means technicians and apprentices, as well as Chartered-level professionals. We need more engineers of all types
- Don't forget that reducing emissions can save money
- We need new, novel solutions. The Prius, for example, is great, but this is an example of a transitional technology - we need fully electric vehicles and a decarbonised grid
- There is still a need for real cultural change. The media are happy pushing Tesla roadsters, because it's a bit like a Ferrari; but instead we should look to a future where a flash car isn't a status/sex symbol