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1、15/03/2023INDEPENDEN T P U B L I C AT I O N BY#0859R AC O N T EU R.NE TStop pretending.Live up to your true potential.Become a better leader at RFUTURE OFINFRASTRUCTURECAN THE UK RETAIN ITS LEAD IN RENEWABLES?PUSHING FRONTIERS OF 5G CONNECTIVITY0803THE CASE FOR CANALS AS FREIGHT ROUTES16R A C O N T

2、E U R.N E TF U T U R E O F I N F R A S T R U C T U R E0302raconteurraconteur.storiesDistributed inIn association withJET CONNECTIVITYFUTURE OFINFRASTRUCTUREraconteur-media/future-infrastructure-Although this publication is funded through advertising and sponsorship,all editorial is without bias and

3、sponsored features are clearly labelled.For an upcoming schedule,partnership inquiries or feedback,please call+44(0)20 3877 3800 or email Raconteur is a leading publisher of special-interest content and research.Its publications and articles cover a wide range of topics,including business,finance,su

4、stainability,healthcare,lifestyle and technology.Raconteur special reports are published exclusively in The Times and The Sunday Times as well as online at The information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources the Proprietors believe to be correct.However,no legal liability ca

5、n be accepted for any errors.No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior consent of the Publisher.Raconteur MediaAlison ColemanA writer and editor with articles published in TheGuardian,Employee Benefits and the ICAEWs Business and Management and Quarterly magazines.Tim CooperAn

6、award-winning freelance journalist of 20years.He has written for outlets including The Guardian,The Spectator and The Telegraph.Nick EasenAn award-winning writer and broadcaster,covering science,technology,economics and business for BBC World News,CNNand Time.Sam HaddadA journalist specialising in t

7、ravel.She has had work published in TheGuardian,The Times and The Economists 1843magazine.Paul SillersA London-based aviation journalist who covers thetechnological,economic,environmental and experiential aspects of airtravel.David StirlingA freelance journalist writing news and feature articles for

8、 national publications including newspapers and businessmagazines.Heidi VellaA freelance journalist with more than 10 years experience of covering technology,energy sustainability and climate change.ContributorsReports editorIan DeeringEditorSarah VizardSub-editorChristina RyderChief sub-editorNeil

9、ColeCommercial content editorsLaura BithellJoy PersaudDeputy reports editorJames SuttonDesign/production assistant Louis NassDesignKellie JerrardHarry Lewis-Irlam Colm McDermottSean Wyatt-LivesleyDesign directorTim WhitlockIllustrationCelina LuceySamuele MottaCampaign managerLevi WigglesworthHead of

10、 productionJustyna OConnellAssociate commercial editorPhoebe Borwellhe UK has long been seen as a world leader in renew-able energy infrastructure.But,with several rivals ramping up their efforts,industry experts fear that this country is losing ground ata crucial time.The UK is inarguably a pioneer

11、 in this sector,which covers techno-logies ranging from wind and solar to marine sources such as tidal streams,but other players are catching up quickly.The Inflation Reduction Act 2022 is turbocharg-ing the development of renewables in the US,for instance,while the EU is planning to match that ini-

12、tiative with its own proposed legis-lation,the Net-Zero Industry Act.Meanwhile,competition is growing from China and India.Adam Berman,deputy director of policy at trade association Energy UK,reports that the conditions for investment in clean energy in this country have deteriorated dramati-cally i

13、n recent months.“Its a perfect storm of challenges coming together at the same time,”he says.On the domestic side,Berman points to rising interest rates,which have pushed up the cost of finance;commodity price increa ses,which have caused a supply chain crunch;a“poorly designed windfall tax”,which i

14、s hurting renewables in particular(see graph,below);and broader regulatory uncertainty.All these factors have been ampli-fied by international events.“Since Russias invasion of Ukraine,most western countries have doubled down on their clean energy targets because they see this as a way out of the en

15、ergy crisis,”he says.That has in turn led to an increase in competition for talent,materials,components and investment.As if those problems werent enough,the legislative initiatives that the US and EU have taken present another challenge,according to Berman.“We have no equivalent in the UK at the mo

16、ment.When you combine all those factors,you can see that its a troubling time for clean ener-gy investment,”he says.By the time that definitive evi-dence of an investment hiatus becomes clear,it will be too late to do anything about it,Berman fears.The UK will have lost between six months and a year

17、 of investment.The indirect impact on supply chains will be even worse,leaving us two or three years behind the pack.This jeopardises not only our energy security but also our net-zero targets.Berman is not calling for direct state investment,because that wouldnt be the most effective use of public

18、funds.But he does want the government to establish some advanced incentives to attract pri-vate money,including de-risking investment in renewables and re-moving some of the obstacles.These include resolving planning problems,ensuring that new pro-jects can connect to the grid and reforming the Ener

19、gy(Oil and Gas)Profits Levy Act 2022.“Whats making the US Inflation Reduction Act so successful is the fact that its not just an unlimited set of tax credits;it also has lots of local content obligations.This reas-sures local supply chains,”Berman argues.“It has 10 to 20 years of certainty built in,

20、which allows for long-term corporate investment.Companies can start to really invest in supply chains,jobs and skills.”Esin Serin is a policy analyst at the London School of Economics Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environ-ment.She agrees that the govern-ment must provide more

21、 long-term certainty for investment in renewa-bles.This already exists in the case of offshore wind,she says,but it also needs to happen with onshore wind and solar,as theyre already cost-competitive with fossil fuels.“They need an industrial road map and specific deployment tar-gets,just as offshor

22、e wind has had for some time,”Serin says.“The government has to work with ind-ustry to understand whats feasible and then put a supply chain strat-egy together with a skills strategy to get that going.”Deploying the technology is one thing,but Serin thinks the UK should also focus on manufactur-ing

23、it,so that the economic benefits are created and retained at home.“The UK is a science superpower,but we havent been good at keeping the innovation,commercialising it here and building the factories to produce our inventions,”she says.This is partly because China dom-inates the production of cheap t

24、ech ranging from photovoltaic cells to batteries.But Serin thinks that the UK could lead on emerging infra-structure such as floating offshore wind and tidal-stream energy.“The global market is so small and nascent,but the UK needs to be investing in it right now and build-ing a domestic supply chai

25、n.When there is global demand for that technology in five to 10 years time,the UK can then export it,”she says.How can Westminster help if direct investment isnt always pos-sible?“By providing siting and long-term purchasing agreements,”Serin explains.“Even just promis-ing that the sector will still

26、 exist in the UK,with clear deployment tar-gets,would help to underpin it.”The government could also do more when it comes to streamlining planning regulations and awarding environmental permits,she adds.“There has definitely been a bottle-neck for many of these projects.It can take five years for a

27、n offshore wind farm to secure approval,for instance.These kinds of timelines are too long if we want a net-zero electricity system by 2025.”Serin hopes that the government will not overthink the politics of renewables,which she believes are not nearly as controversial as min-isters might imagine.“P

28、olitical thinking has been stuck at a point 10 years ago.Where local opposition exists,there are many ways in which you can make things work,such as offering cheaper electricity to communities that are willing to host a solar or wind farm,”she argues.“There is broad support for renewables generally

29、from the UK population.”Why UK renewables require a power boost from the stateExperts in green energy believe that Westminster can and should act quickly to help the sector as it faces increasingly stiff competition from the US,the EU and beyondSam HaddadG R E E N E N E R GYTWilliam Edwards via Gett

30、yHM Treasury,2022THE UK WINDFALL TAX WILL HIT THE LOW-CARBON ENERGY SECTOR HARDER IN THE MEDIUM TERMThe energy profits levys projected tax take,by sector2022-232024-252023-242025-262026-272027-281.132.755.514.133.442.464.083.441.032.191.941.53Orbital Marine Powers O2 turbine,which is supplying tidal

31、 electricity to Orkney,was awarded 3.4m of state funding by the Scottish governmentOil and gasLow-carbon energy3bn2bn4bn5bn6bn1bnR A C O N T E U R.N E TF U T U R E O F I N F R A S T R U C T U R E0504Commercial featurehe notion that drivers of electric vehicles(EVs)might struggle to find charging poi

32、nts on long drives is increasingly outdated.Mirroring the immense growth in EV driving is the rapid pro-liferation of charging points,which is good news not just for drivers but also for the broad array of retailers on their route.The very latest electric vehicle charg-ers from IONITY are rapid and

33、power-ful,providing substantial capacity for long-distance driving within just 24 minutes of being plugged in.They are found along major A-roads and motor-ways across the UK and continental Europe,helping drivers charge while also significantly boosting local trade.“Some chargers are designed to be

34、used at home or work,or at locations such as supermarkets,cinemas or gyms,”explains Andreas Atkins,UK and Ireland manager at IONITY,the rapid charging hub provider.“But ultrafast chargers can also be located at any useful point along peoples journeys,enabling them to quickly plug in before covering

35、long distances.”Increasingly,charging points work rapidly enough for EV drivers to have a short coffee or lunch break and get which can attract customers wanting to stop and charge their cars during a meal or overnight.Companies across the UK and Europe are already working with IONITY to install cha

36、rging hubs at their facilities,typically gaining hundreds of thousands of pounds in additional annual revenues.IONITYs charging points are compatible with all brands of electric vehicle,while locations are highlighted on Google Maps and found easily on the in-car sat navs of vehi-cles made by BMW,Vo

37、lkswagen,Audi,Porsche,Ford,Hyundai,Mercedes and Kia,which are all backing the IONITY joint venture.Crucially,the installations can come at zero cost.“We constantly seek new retail sites within two or three min-utes of motorways and major A-roads,”Atkins says.“And we work as tenants or owners of the

38、land our hubs are on.“First,as tenants,IONITY leases land from retailers based on deals lasting up to 25 years,covering all costs end-to-end and establishing on-site charging points for those businesses and the public.Second,we also purchase land,either from retailers or from sites adja-cent to them

39、.”Charging hubs in actionHub locations typically cover around 800 to 3,000 square metres,featuring between six and 24 charger units,with 12 units the current average.The speed at which the technology can charge up vehicles batteries affects the price for drivers and is chosen based on how long patro

40、ns are likely to stop.This varies greatly between a quick coffee stop on the motorway and an out-of-town shopping centre or a hotel for an overnight stay.Currently,IONITY has charging hubs in 19 locations across the UK,stretch-ing from the south coast of England to Perth in Scotland.Following an add

41、i-tional 700m(620m)of backing from shareholders including investment giant BlackRock,the company expects to quadruple the number of UK hubs to between 80 and 100 sites within three years,moving to 7,000 chargers across Europe in the same timeframe.“Our aim is to have charging hubs around every 60 to

42、 80 miles along major roads,which will give drivers plenty of confidence given that new EVs can typically cover several hundred miles on one charge,”Atkins notes.David Hatherell is managing direc-tor of Chippenham Pit Stop,where EV drivers have become a new,consistent source of custom.“IONITY has he

43、lped to boost our sales figures and bring in new,loyal customers,”he says.“Prior to IONITY charging stations being here,the Pit Stop was not on the map for most non-commercial drivers.”JJ OHara is managing director at OCO Westend,the Starbucks franchise with IONITY ultrafast charging points.He expec

44、ts to see continued“real trac-tion in EV drivers visiting our stores by 2025”as ever more electric vehicles are driven on UK roads.Looking ahead to net zeroIn the future,Atkins expects IONITYs charging hubs rollout to contrib-ute significantly as the UK and other European countries move towards net-

45、zero carbon emissions.“When I started working with electric vehi-cles in 2012,there were only hun-dreds of EVs on the road in the UK,but now there are well over half a mil-lion.Looking ahead,within just a few years there could be close to 10 mil-lion EVs on British roads.With all our hubs supplied b

46、y green,renewable energy,IONITY will play its part in the UK moving to net zero by 2050.”Today,for retailers,coffee shops and food stops,as well as hotels and out-of-town shopping centres,adding electric vehicle charging hubs to their locations is becoming ever more essential to future-proofing thei

47、r business.Retailers along major roads across the UK are acting already on this opportunity to attract the con-sumers of the future.IONITY is actively seeking retail partners of all sizes near motorways and major A-roads across the UK and Europe.To find out more,visit ionity.euback on the road.This

48、opens up huge opportunities for businesses that can benefit massively from new customers and the boost to footfall.Securing new retail revenuesWherever charging points are located,there is a significant impact on the sites overall trade levels.Coffee chains and food sellers are among the businesses

49、that can take immediate advantage.“Businesses such as a Starbucks drive-through franchise or a food stop along a major road can install ultrafast charging and attract customers who would not otherwise have stopped,”explains Atkins.“Typically these sites might see around 100 to 200 more drivers on an

50、y given day,the impact of which quickly mounts up.”For out-of-town retail sites,the potential benefits of having ultra-fast charging hubs are equally clear.Locations such as the Metro Centre near Newcastle,for example,can gain from drivers stopping by to charge their vehicles because those people mi

51、ght well be tempted to venture in for some food or to consider spend-ing more money at other retail out-lets.Much the same applies to hotels,Retailers future-proof with rapid EV chargingGiven the growth in electric vehicle sales,coffee chains,motorway stops,out-of-town shopping centres and hotels ar

52、e all taking the chance to protect future revenues by installing ultrafast charging hubs STATE OF THE EV MARKET IN THE UKTWith all our hubs supplied by green,renewable energy,IONITY will play its part in the UK moving to net zero by 20503%of cars on the road today are electric Society of Motor Manuf

53、acturers and Traders,202225%of cars will be electric by 2030Up toNational Grid Future Energy Scenarios,202180%of company cars on order via salary-sacrifice schemes are EVs BVRLA,202224minutesthe average charging time using an Ionity charger.This can be as fast as 10 minutes depending on the vehicle

54、and its battery capacityionity,2022infrastructure as a way to extend their regional reach.In September 2022,United Airlines announced a$15m(12.5m)investment in Eve Air Mobility,an EVTOL producer backed by Brazilian manufacturer Embraer,and made a conditional purchase agreement for 200 planes.Delta A

55、ir Lines,meanwhile,has invested$60m in air-taxi startup Joby Aviation.Its part of a deal to offer home-to-airport services using Jobys all-electric 200mph aircraft,starting in Los Angeles and New York.The aim,says Allison Ausband,Deltas executive VP and chief cus-tomer experience officer,is to“make

56、the experience of travel more seam-less,enjoyable and wait-free”.Another approach is to embed electric UAM into the infrastructure of planned urban developments.Neom,a city in north-western Saudi Arabia being built from the ground up as a living laboratory for inno-vative tech firms,recently investe

57、d$175m in Volocopter.The aim is to operate electric air taxi services in Neom to connect with three other planned developments in the area:The Line,Oxagon and Trojena“This is the first time that EVTOLs,with their unique characteristics,are being factored into the design ofa region that is being buil

58、t from scratch,”says Volocopters CEO,Dirk Hoke.“This offers a whole new approach to how UAM can increase the quality of life in cities.”The momentum behind electric planes and airports,then,is signi-ficant.But its worth remembering that it takes a lot more than that to get a big idea off the ground.

59、that,of the 25 largest mainstream aerospace manufacturers and sup-pliers,72%and 64%respectively are working on future air mobility tech-nologies.Over the past five years 16,000 VTOL orders,worth about 85bn,have been placed.Moreover,a report published re-cently by the Socit Internationale de Tlcommun

60、i cations Aronau-tiques(Sita),an airline-owned pro-vider of aviation IT services,has predicted that flying taxis will be ubiquitous at international airports by 2032.It suggests that they will beproviding auxiliary services and extra revenue streams for airports and airlines.Sitas head of strategy a

61、nd growth enablement,Ilkka Kivel,points out that“airports and airlines are scrambling to provide the seamless travel experience that passengers expect,often with slashed workfor-ces and squeezed budgets”.Agile infrastructure solutions will therefore be key.In April 2022,UK firm Urban-Air Port demons

62、trated Air One,a prototype vertiport in Coventry.The installation featured all the elements of a conventional airport check-in,security,retail and food areas,along with opera-tional infrastructure for air-traffic control,charging and maintenance within a tiny footprint.“Our approach has been to prov

63、ide something compact,which can be purchased and assembled easily,”says Urban-Air Ports CEO,Andrea Wu.She adds that specialist airports for electric aircraft are“not an alter-native and I dont think that many people in this industry would des-cribe them as such.Electric planes and UAM are a compleme

64、ntary ser-vice.Its all about the intermodal connectivity of ones journey.”Urban-Air Port is working towards delivering one of its vertiports in North America by the end of the year.Wu confirms that this will be“inaugurated as a proof of concept but then be utilised as a proper test-ing facility”.A k

65、ey factor influencing demand for EVTOL operations,according to a recent research report by Deloitte,is the“optimal placement of ground infrastructure,considering prime locations such as business areas,airports and areas with limited transportation options”.Apropos of that,the testing of critical EVT

66、OL technology and pas-senger processing infrastructure is under way at Pontoise Aerodrome,some 25 miles north-west of Paris.The initiative involves Frances civil aviation authority,airport operator Groupe ADP,German EVTOL manu-facturer Volocopter and Sita,which is providing biometric infrastruc-ture

67、 designed to smooth the check-in,security and boarding processes.Another key partner in the project is UK firm Skyports,which designs,builds and operates take-off and landing infrastructure.Its founder and CEO,Duncan Walker,observes that“innovation requires collabor-ation from a multitude of experts

68、,hy sit miserably behind the wheel in a urban gridlock when you could be soaring above the traffic in a flying taxi?Nearly silent and emission-free,these el ec tric vertical-take-off-and-landing aircraft(EVTOLs)could eventually become a familiar sight in cities around the world.In theory,they can he

69、lp to join the dots between air,rail and road transport.But,although the concept of so-called urban air mobility(UAM)may sound enticing,turning that into reality is far from straightfor-ward.For one thing,the specialist infrastructure required would be mind-boggling:high-voltage elec-tricity network

70、s and safe charging points are merely the basics.Safe segregation from the flight paths of mainstream civil aircraft and auto-nomous delivery drones would have to be factored in too.Despite such complexities,a brave new world of electrified UAM seems to be taking shape.The McKinsey Center for Future

71、 Mobility has found WPaul Sillersincluding operators,vehicle manu-facturers and technology develop-ers.Each will have an important role in achieving the objective of com-mercial UAM services.With the completion of the terminal,well start the comprehensive testing of procedures and technologies in a

72、realistic aviation environment.”Pontoise will be a blueprint for a planned vertiport network serving Paris when it hosts the 2024 Sum-mer Olympics.A fleet of VoloCity EVTOLs is being prepared to carry people between five further loca-tions in and around the city.Elsewhere,Airbus and Munich Airport I

73、nternational(MAI)signed an agreement in June 2022 to mar-ket themselves to cities and regions interested in implementing UAM services.The deal combines the aircraft manufacturers CityAirbus NextGen EVTOL with the airports infrastructure expertise,because its “crucial for airports to be act-ively inv

74、olved in paving the way for this new form of transport”,says Ivonne Kuger,MAIs executive VP of corporate development.Japan Airlines recently revealed plans to procure 50 Vertical Aero-space VA-X4 EVTOLs from Irish leasing company Avolon.This“rep-resents an important step towards the implementation o

75、f air taxis at Osaka Kansai Expo in 2025”,says the companys managing executive officer,Tomohiro Nishihata.The agreement,he adds,“lays out the pathway towards achieving the air mobility revolution in Japan”.Beyond these specialised show-cases,big airlines see electric plane Electric planes and urban

76、air mobility are a complementary service.Its all about the intermodal connectivity of ones journeyATTITUDES TO THE VARIOUS USE CASES FOR URBAN AIR MOBILITY DIFFER CONSIDERABLY FROM COUNTRY TO COUNTRY Willingness to adopt UAM,by use case(%)T R A N S P O R TAll hail the flying taxis?Several consortia

77、are poised tooffer emission-free urban air travel,but they have some significant infrastructure challenges to overcome before they canrealise their electric dreamsIn November 2022,Europes first fullyintegrated vertiport terminal for the UAM sector was commissioned atPontoise Aerodrome on the north-w

78、estern outskirts of ParisGroupe ADP,M.LetertreMcKinsey,202120%40%10%30%50%BrazilChinaGermanyIndiaUSCommutingErrandsBusinessAirport transferLeisure(short distance)Leisure(long distance)R A C O N T E U R.N E TF U T U R E O F I N F R A S T R U C T U R E0706he UKs ambitious net-zero goals loom large ove

79、r the infrastructure sector,af-fecting everything from design to delivery.They have also created a skills crisis.That is because infrastructure projects based on net-zero goals are very different from those of the past.They demand a different set of competencies,ranging from a basic knowledge of dat

80、a analytics and computer programming through to advanced technical skills,such as 3D modelling.Apprenticeships and further edu-cation technical training routes are bringing some new talent into the engineering sector,but employers are also having to redouble their efforts to both upskill their estab

81、-lished workers and reskill those re-cently brought in from other sectors quickly and on a large scale.For instance,the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board which forecasts a need for an additional 25,000 workers for major projects by 2026 is calling for more government support to en-abl

82、e the reskilling of oil and gas workers for jobs in related sectors.After all,that workforce should be cut loose by the transition away from fossil fuels.Upskilling and reskilling are key to achieving a just energy transi-tion,ideally one that delivers high-quality jobs and career progression for th

83、ose in the energy sector.BP,For example,the rail industry has a relatively old workforce,with more than 28%of its employees aged 50-plus,according to research from City&Guilds and the National Skills Academy for Rail.This means that the focus has so far been on securing the talent pipeline,with appr

84、enticeships forming an essen-tial route for young people seeking to start a career in the sector.But work is also ongoing to help existing employees embrace digiti-sation as a path to more efficient,safe and sustainable practices.Specialist engineering and techni-cal recruitment firm the Morson Grou

85、p supports clients with this skills challenge through its train-ing delivery arm.This has been heavily involved in HS2 and other big railway construction projects,often upskilling contractors in the use of technology that didnt exist when they started their careers.“HS2 is a game-changer because of

86、the massive investment in tech,which is advancing at such a pace that how it will look over the life of the project is unknown,”says the groups training director,Matthew Leavis.“We must incentivise peo-ple to adopt new ways of working and become champions of tech.”Through its Pathfinder Academy,the

87、company works with compa-nies to retrain their employees;people who have left the sector;and those from more diverse talent pools,through digital engineering boot camps.By the end of April,Morson Groups training arm will have trained 175 new entrants and retrained 50 existing workers in north-west E

88、ngland,with plans to roll this model out nationally.The Morson Group is also running train the trainer boot camps,help-ing people in didactic roles to incor-porate tech such as virtual reality and digital twins in their courses.This initiative is likely to be par-ticularly important,because it shoul

89、d help to free up entry-level roles for people coming into the sector.Whats more,ongoing train-ing opportunities should make transport more appealing for peo-ple at all stages of their careers.“Part of that is about training”,Leavis says,“but it also relies on employee value propositions that highli

90、ght the positive impact the industry will have on greener and more efficient journeys,for exam-ple,along with the opportunities for a sustainable career with poten-tial for progression.”Among the biggest obstacles to upskilling are a lack of time,fund-ing and strategic coordination.Employees could a

91、lso resist change,often prompted by concerns about a return to training after what may for some people have been a consid-erable number of years.Any of these factors has the power to derail an upskilling initiative,says Raconteur columnist Bernard Marr,a strategic adviser to business and government

92、and the author of Future Skills:the 20 skills and com-petencies everyone needs to succeed in a digital world.“Overcoming these challenges re-quires a mindset shift to prioritise learning,”he says.“Best practices for organisations include providing flexible learning options,offering incentives and al

93、igning upskilling with career advancement to en-courage employees to take owner-ship of their development.”Over at the National Grid,for ex-ample,the upskilling and reskilling strategy is a vital part of the organi-sations role in the UKs transition to clean energy sources.Resistance to change among

94、 staff has not been a significant problem,reports Lee Wallace,director of safety,health and environment training and en-gineering policy.Thats because the organisation has focused on en-couraging staff to see change as an opportunity.To help this process,it has provided training programmes tailored

95、to the skills gaps of workers who have been out of education for a long time.National Grid also makes clear the distinction between new skills and the upskilling and reskilling of cur-rent employees.“We are clear on that difference and ensure that our new training and refresher pro-grammes cover tec

96、hnology chan-ges,”Wallace explains.“We also undertake assurance and compe-tency checks,including any refresh-er training of staff in existing roles.”Crucially,its not only technical skills that matter,Marr stresses.Emotionally intelligent people with strong interpersonal skills“can take advantage of

97、 different career opportunities,such as working with clients.And those who can adapt quickly to new technologies and processes,and be creative in their problem-solving,will be more prepared to match the changing demands of the industry,”he says.“Organisations that invest in up-skilling and reskillin

98、g programmes that address both technical and soft skills will be better positioned to succeed in the high-tech engi-neering landscape.”Alison ColemanIn a skills-constrained environment,more collective efforts are needed to help peoplemove across sectorsOffice for National Statistics,2022INFRASTRUCTU

99、RE-ADJACENT SECTORS IN THE UK EMPLOY MANY OLDER WORKERSPeople aged 65 years and over in employment,by sector,April to June 2022learning portal and company-wide growth weeks focused on learn-ing,alongside a range of other pro-grammes designed to help them acquire new skills for the future.The company

100、 already has many examples of engineers and other specialists applying their skills to low-carbon projects to help the transition from oil and gas.It re-cently ran recruitment campaigns for some of its fastest-growing clean energy segments,including hydro-gen,offshore wind and electric vehicle charg

101、ing.Applications from other parts of the business were highly competitive,with internal candidates filling half of the vacan-cies in areas such as hydrogen.“Getting this right not only helps to create green jobs in the UK but alsohelps to level up the country,”Dryburgh says.“It can ensure that those

102、 in social mobility cold spots can access opportunities in the sector,including in places such as Teesside,where we operate.”And its not just about energy.Big transport projects such as the HS2 rail link and the Stonehenge road tunnel are also set to rely on a simi-lar transition of engineering skil

103、ls.The transition to greener operations is having an impact onevery part of the sector.Can dedicated upskilling and reskilling schemes equip the UKs engineering workforce for change quickly enough?Infrastructure providers scramble to bridge the low-carbon skills chasm T R A I N I N Gfor example,is f

104、ocused on provid-ing opportunities for its workers to apply their skills to new challenges in low-carbon technologies.“We see high levels of skills trans-ferability into lower-carbon tech,”reports Kerry Dryburgh,BPs exec-utive vice-president of people and culture.“In a skills-constrained en-vironmen

105、t,more collective efforts are needed to help people move across sectors.This could mean more access to technical and voca-tional training;more flexibility in how that is funded;and more mod-ular approaches to development,including top-up training,to help people bridge skills gaps.”To realise this go

106、al,BP is giving its employees access to a personalised TOvercoming these challenges requires a mindset shift to prioritise learningMining,energy and water17,250Transport and storage72,500Construction111,300Commercial featurevery year,our built environ-ment consumes nearly half the materials extracte

107、d glob-ally.Such activities are a massive con-tributor to greenhouse gas emissions.That means the way we design,con-struct and eventually demolish our infrastructure matters.While many projects are still entrenched in a linear take-make-waste economy,modular design offers great potential to move awa

108、y from this model.Modular construction isnt a new concept,but the market is experienc-ing significant growth as businesses drill down on their carbon footprint and commit to ESG goals.Built off-site,units are more sustainable,since the components are put together in a controlled environment,allowing

109、 for greater efficiencies,less waste and the reuse of materials.Theres also less transport to the site.“Were seeing more large busi-nesses demand infrastructure that is low-carbon by design since it will help them reach net zero more quickly.Circular economic principles can help in this process,”say

110、s Inder Poonaji,director of ESG and sustainability at Modulaire Group,a leading global specialist in modular spaces,with over 290,000 modular units in operation in 23 countries.“This is where resources are kept in use at their highest value for as long as possible,”Poonaji explains.“With modular uni

111、ts,you can control the use of raw materials more easily and minimise the energy used.”Operating as Algeco in the UK and Europe,Modulaire is the regions leading mod-ular building company.Modular buildings have tradition-ally been deployed for temporary site accommodation,but theyre increas-ingly bein

112、g used for permanent struc-tures by hospitals,schools and for businesses creating smart offices for up to 1,000 people.Units can be dis-assembled,relocated or refurbished.They can be reused up to 20 times over 30 years.This approach also gen-erates 70%fewer emissions than tra-ditional construction.“

113、The units we create are now 96%recyclable and generate 65%less embodied carbon than a normal build-ing,”details Poonaji.“By deploying a How the circular economy can transform the built environmentIf we want to achieve net zero,its high time we applied circular economy principles to infrastructure an

114、d reimagined our buildings and spacescircular loops within loops model,this ensures that most of the materials used in the assembly of our units have an ongoing life with little waste.And by leasing modular units,were also able to unlock the most amount of value from our assets,keeping resources and

115、 building materials circulating in the economy.”The space-as-a-service(SPaaS)model is a paradigm shift in the way the infrastructure industry works.And its gaining traction,partly because it allows occupiers to demand buildings which are aligned to their ESG and sustainability com-mitments.The same

116、is true of inves-tors,who want to ensure that their assets are future-proofed against tightening sustainability regulations and the changing climate.“Technology is also changing when it comes to infrastructure,especially on the sustainability front,whether it is to do with EV chargers installed on s

117、ite,the latest solar PV panels on roofs,or internet of things devices measuring air quality.A leasing SPaaS business model ensures that we can act fast and offer the most up-to-date solutions to clients,”says Modulaires Poonaji.The firm has already worked on major projects in both the public and pri

118、vate sectors and has raised 3 billion in sus-tainability-linked financing.“Urbanisation is also a mega-trend,and it is set to continue,”Poonaji adds.“It means the demands on future infra-structure will be huge.Spaces to work,learn and live will therefore be an increasingly valuable commodity,and so

119、will sustainable infrastructure that deploys the latest tech.Climate adap-tation will also be important.Meeting all these demands requires new busi-ness models.”Answering to six stakeholders employees,suppliers,investors,as well as society more widely,the planet and customers is becoming a more prom

120、-inent business strategy.Modulaire endorses this approach.It could shift the dial in the infrastructure sector,which is ripe for disruption.“We need to redesign the sector using circular economic principles,”concludes Poonaji.“Every modular unit deployed is a step closer.Its the only way to drive ec

121、onomic and social prosperity for society and enhance environmental responsibility.”Find out more at ER A C O N T E U R.N E TF U T U R E O F I N F R A S T R U C T U R E0908account for roughly 16%of the UKs landmass as far as 4G coverage is concerned include balloons,drones and high-altitude platforms

122、.Cambridge company Stratospheric Platforms,which recently raised 70m from investors,has developed a hydrogen-powered drone for this purpose.With the wingspan of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner,the drone can circulate the stratosphere the second layer up of Earths atmos-phere to beam internet services down t

123、o remote areas.The company claims that one drone could replace 450 traditional phone masts.Long believes that these technolo-gies could be useful for covering large areas that have a high-capacity need,such as at ports where thou-sands of containers are all relaying data about their identity,locatio

124、n and status.Equally,these solutions could help at rural music festivals,which require high-capacity con-nectivity for short periods.“Instead of needing to spend several weeks establishing a con-nection on the ground,you could have a high-altitude system flown to the location to provide temporary co

125、verage,”Long explains.Smaller drones could do similar things,although they would pro-bably cover a much smaller area.Virgin Media is running 5G drone trials in Snowdonia,for example,to explore how provide support the mountain rescue services there.Telecoms and media consultancy Altman Solon believes

126、 that there could be a complementary role for non-fixed 5G technologies,possibly acting as redundancy to terrestrial solutions for critical applications.But it adds that developers will need to act quickly to roll them out before mobile network operators.On this front,the relatively small scale of t

127、he UK market could prove prohibitive,according to Long.“American and European compa-nies exist in markets significantly larger than the UK,meaning that any investment there will instantly get a higher return,”he says.That will certainly be something for both Westminster and investors in this sector

128、to bear in mind as the technology develops.The government,which has had problems with the terrestrial 5G roll-out,is getting behind the tech-nology too.In January,the UK Space Agency announced 50m for pro-jects to“supercharge the UKs satellite communications industry”.The following month,the secreta

129、ry of state for energy security and net zero,Grant Shapps,announced the allocation of public funding for vari-ous projects to encourage new green tech,one of which is to develop a 5G network at sea.The company building the off-shore 5G network,JET Connectivity,is developing buoy platforms that are e

130、quipped with 5G comms and s the roll-out of 5G net-works gets started on the ground in the UK,another dimension of the cellular network is also gathering momentum:non-fixed 5G.This is the term thats used to refer to non-terrestrial technology that can expand mobile coverage into parts of the country

131、 where it isnt viable to lay fibre-optic cables or construct cellular base stations.The implementation of non-fixed 5G promises to put an end to mobile dead zones and usher in the age of connectivity absolutely everywhere.It should also enable businesses to reap the benefits of the network in some n

132、ovel and unexpected places.Heidi Vella Musks Starlink service.One of the barriers to uptake has been that standard mobile phones mostly can-not receive LEO satellite comms,which require another device with a bigger antenna.But this is a problem that US-based AST SpaceMobile claims to have solved.The

133、 company has a specially designed satellite in low Earth orbit the largest commu-nications array deployed commer-cially,it says that can provide 4G or 5G to smartphones with no modi-fications.It plans to demonstrate the capability this year.The satellite works like a mobile phone tower,dropping traf

134、fic back down to a central hub.It collects solar power on one side and on the other it has more than 100,000 indi-vidual antenna elements to ping sig-nals back to Earth.One satellite can transmit from 430 miles away to an area the size of Spain.Only 100 would be needed to cover the globe.ASTs CTO an

135、d treasurer,Scott Wisniewski,says that the company,which has agreements with more than 30 big mobile network provid-ers worldwide,including Vodafone and AT&T,wants to tap into the trillion-dollar mobile market.“Mobile operators can use it to ex-tend their coverage where it might not make sense to pu

136、t a tower be-cause its too costly or the terrain is difficult or distant,”he says.ASTs offering may therefore have more use in regions such as Latin America,where numerous commu-nities are cut off bynatural barriers inc luding forests and mountains.That said,operators arent ruling out the idea of ex

137、tending non-terrestrial operations to Europe.At the recent Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona,for in-stance,a Vodafone executive said that ASTs technology would enable his company to increase its coverage in Spain from 75%to 95%.Starlink is also making moves in this direction.It has revea

138、led plans to partner with T-Mobile to offer US mobile customers SMS capability where theres currently no connec-tivity,by the end of this year.And satellites arent the only solu-tion.Other technologies emerging to target mobile dead zones which can withstand waves of up to almost 18m.A dozen strateg

139、ically placed platforms could enable a 5G network to cover wind farms located several hundred miles apart.Such a capability would be particu-larly useful for construction projects in the UKs fast-growing offshore wind sector.Anyone working at these remote sites would have con-nectivity for high-spee

140、d commu-nications instead of having to rely onthe accompanying vessel,which typically uses satellite systems.Beyond this,JET Connectivity hopes to be able to offer real-time data profiling on metrics such as wind speeds,as well as site feasibil-ity studies for which it already has a contract with Sc

141、ottish Power.A floating 5G network could even sup-port smart blades capable of pre-dicting parts fatigue before faults develop,says Sam Strivens,senior manager of the floating offshore wind team at the Carbon Trust.The concept of a non-terrestrial comms network is piquing the inter-est of other comp

142、anies too,reports Dr Derek Long,head of telecoms and mobile at Cambridge Consultants.He explains that the focus so far hasbeen mainly on low-Earth-orbit(LEO)satellites,inspired by Elon BY THE END OF THE YEAR,5G COVERAGE WILL BE AVAILABLE TO MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS OF THE UKS POPULATIONExpected coverage

143、 achieved by 3.5GHz 5G deployment in the UK by the end of 2023Ericsson,2021AC O N N E C T I V I T YKeeping Britain connected,from the sea to spaceIn the race to secure 5G connectivity,buoys,drones and high-altitude platforms are being used to eliminate dead spots and support the construction of othe

144、r forms of infrastructureMobile operators can use it to extend their coverage where it might not make sense to put a tower because its too costly or the terrain is difficultJET Connectivity68%12%10%27%40%PopulationAreaAgricultural areaRoad networkRail networkAn artists rendering of the 5G buoy platf

145、orms being developed by JETConnectivityCommercial featureany peoples perception of an EV charger is a large unit at a motorway service sta-tion,offering an ultra-fast service to allow EV drivers to continue their journeys.But these units are just one part of the picture,says Chris Pateman-Jones,chie

146、f executive of charging infrastructure specialists Connected Kerb.What the UK needs is infrastructure that offers so-called long-dwell points which provide higher levels on con-venience,he says.This matters wher-ever the speed of the charging is less important such as at work or overnight on a stree

147、t at home because the vehi-cle is already sitting idle and unused.Pateman-Jones believes that in the current system,with drivers more often than not having to seek out a charging point,the user experience is being forgotten.“We dont think the model should be driving to a rapid charger and then sitti

148、ng there waiting while your car charges.In our view,thats the slowest way you can possi-bly charge.We think the fastest way is to turn up,plug in and then go and do something else.”had a driveway,”says Pateman-Jones.“Driving to find a charging point and then paying for more expensive energy than you

149、 have at home means that the transition isnt going to happen at the pace we need it to.”To solve exactly this sort of prob-lem,Connected Kerb is installing 700 charging points in Coventry,where much of the citys housing stock is made up of Victorian terraced houses,without off-street parking.The des

150、ign and appearance of on-street charging is also crucial.In Coventry,the local authority specified compact,bollard-style charging points,which have two sockets so that more than one vehicle can charge at the same time.“People dont want big petrol pump-style units on their streets,”says Pateman-Jones

151、.“They need to be visually dis-creet,and councils want to avoid yet more street clutter.”The company has also worked at Regents Park Terrace in London,installing four dual charging points.The discreet design helped to pre-serve the appearance of the area,and also solved the problem that they couldnt

152、 be installed on the outside of the grade two listed building.Connected Kerbs chargers are all made from recycled materials wher-ever possible,and a modular design means that the electrics can be installed underground in one go,and then more charging points can be activated as and when theyre needed

153、.Charging infrastructure that encompasses a mix of fast,rapid and ultra-fast charging also supports the grid.Charging overnight,or at your workplace during the day,can reduce costs and also ensure more efficient charging,taking power from the grid when its available rather than being constrained dur

154、ing peak times.But the UK needs to act fast.By 2030,when the ban on combustion engines comes into force,its esti-mated that up to 700,000 charging points will be needed.Fast forward 20 years to 2050,and it will need to be closer to 3 million.Currently,there are just 30,000.Planning is crucial.The Of

155、fice for Zero Emission Vehicles and the Department for Transport are over-seeing the creation of the network,and in turn issue guidance to local authorities around regulations and procurement.Then,says Pateman-Jones,it should be left to the private sector to build the infrastructure.But its not just

156、 about putting charg-ers in the ground.Residents and local people need to become part-ners in the whole process,he says,so that charging points are sited where theyre really needed.This local buy-in also helps to ensure that the charging points will be used once theyre oper-ational,which gives inves

157、tors a greater degree of certainty.However,Pateman-Jones is quick to stress this doesnt mean a rush to flood more affluent city boroughs with chargers,and avoid poorer or rural areas.Often its these outly-ing districts which lack good public transport,or where peoples jobs dont allow them to work fr

158、om home.These are the people who need the infrastructure most,he says,and where demand is guaranteed.This new roadside infrastructure also needs to factor in commercial vans that are increasingly parked at home by their drivers overnight,rather than going back to a central depot.Bays need to be big

159、enough to accommodate them too,otherwise these fleets wont be able to transi-tion to electricity.“The quicker we can deploy the infrastructure,the quicker the transi-tion will come,”adds Pateman-Jones.“But to give people the confidence to switch to an EV,that infrastructure needs to be robust,in the

160、 right place and with the mix of charging options that they need.”For more information visit Through its work with local author-ities,Connected Kerb has installed thousands of charging points on res-idential streets across the UK.Now its looking to bring more charging to workplaces,car parks and oth

161、er long-term parking places,such as those outside train stations.The reality is that the vast major-ity of charging takes place on peo-ples driveways,says Pateman-Jones.According to Connected Kerbs own research,when considering the switch to an EV,80%of drivers say that reli-able,affordable charging

162、 where their car is parked at home is essential.Yet according to the 2016 English Housing Survey,34%of people dont have a space such as a driveway where they can install a private charger.And while a further 28%have access to off-road parking,such as a space at a block of flats,they dont have the au

163、thority to install a charger.This makes on-street charging crucial.“If were really serious about the EV transition and the shift to green mobil-ity,we have to find a way of providing the same level of affordability,conveni-ence and reliability you would get if you The UK is on the cusp of a green mo

164、bility revolutionBy 2030,the sale of new diesel and petrol vehicles will be banned,and the number of electric vehicles(EVs)is predicted to have boomed.But that means we also need to develop a public charging network which meets the daily needs of EV drivers unable to charge at homeTo give people the

165、 confidence to switch to an EV,infrastructure needs to be robust,in the right place and the right mix of charging optionsMR A C O N T E U R.N E TF U T U R E O F I N F R A S T R U C T U R E1110 HIGH-SPEED RAIL NETWORKSIt has been 14 years since HS2 was first proposed.After much indecision and many de

166、lays,completion is not due until 2029 at the earliest.With costs ballooning,the projects scope has been much reduced too.In that time,the UK has fallen a long way behind the rest of the world,particularly China.Its a telling indicator of the nations diminishing ability to deliver on big infrastructu

167、re plansTHE PAST DECADE HAS WITNESSED A BOOM IN HIGH-SPEED RAIL CONSTRUCTIONCumulative length of high-speed rail networks in commercial operation worldwide(km)196419801996197219882004201419681984200019761992200820181966198219981974199020062016197019862002201219781994201020201965198119971973198920052

168、01519691985200119771993200920191967198319991975199120072017197119872003201319791995201120210km5,000km15,000km25,000km35,000km45,000km55,000km10,000km20,000km30,000km40,000km50,000km60,000kmCHINA HAS STORMED AHEAD WITH BUILDING ITS HIGH-SPEED RAIL NETWORKLength of national high-speed network in comme

169、rcial operation by countryTHE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION LOOKS SET TO EXTEND ITS GLOBAL LEAD ON THE PLANNING FRONT Length of existing and planned high-speed networks(km,log scale)CHINA LEADS ON SPEED AS WELL AS DISTANCE COVEREDMaximum speed achievable on railway network by country in 2021China40,474kmSpain

170、3,661kmJapan3,081kmFrance2,735Germany1,571kmFinland1,120kmTurkey1,052kmItaly921kmSouth Korea873kmSweden860kmUS735kmSaudi Arabia449kmAustria254kmPoland224kmBelgium209kmMorocco186kmSwitzerland176kmUK113kmNetherlands90kmDenmark56km1977The first section of the Direttissima linebetween Rome andFlorence o

171、pens1981Europes first full-scale high-speed line opens between Paris and Lyon,offering speedsofup to 300kmh 2003The first section of HS1 opens,connecting London to the Eurostars high-speed routeChina350kmh320kmh300kmh250kmh240kmh or lessFrance,Japan and MoroccoBelgium,Italy,Germany,the Netherlands,S

172、pain,Saudi Arabia,South Korea,Turkey and the UKDenmarkAustria,Finland,Poland,Sweden,Switzerland and the US International Union of Railways,20222019Moroccos Al Boraq service between Tangier and Kenitra becomes Africas first high-speed rail linkIn commercial operationPlannedUnder constructionLong-term

173、 planning11,9903,0625,9133,31644,428 14,367 6,893 18,3201,501 2,006 3,139 1,831186 0 2,210 4,195735 274 1,488 5,3070 0 0 638EuropeAsia-PacificMiddle EastAfricaNorth AmericaLatin America1964The bullet train is unveiled in Japan,connecting Tokyo and Osaka intime for the Summer Olympics2008The Beijing-

174、Tianjin line becomes the fastest rail service in the world,hitting speeds of up to 350kmh010010,000101,000100,000R A C O N T E U R.N E TF U T U R E O F I N F R A S T R U C T U R E1312e are not hanging around on this,”Jeremy Hunt promised business leaders at the end of last month,respond-ing to quest

175、ions about the success-ful implementation of investment incentives in the US under the Inflation Reduction Act 2023.“We recognise that it is creating challenges,”Hunt said of the Biden governments sweeping legislation.“We dont agree with every aspect of it,but nor do we have any doubt at all in our

176、ability to compete.”As the chancellor and his team rehearse for his spring statement today,theyll be conscious that its not only across the pond where competition for the infrastructure investment required to achieve netzero is intensifying.The EU is developing a green deal industrial plan.This invo

177、lves accelerating permissions processes for sustaina-ble projects,streamlining access to finance and developing incentives for investors in green projects.Given that context,its encourag-ing to hear a UK minister pledging to take action.There is certainly work to do.Every six months,we test investor

178、 sentiment among our members,which have a combined 1.1tn in infrastructure assets under man-agement globally,to gauge their appetite for investing in different markets.Over the course of last year,the UK went from being the most appealing destination in western Europe to the least.The rankings came

179、in at around the same time that major forecast-ers were predicting growth for all the worlds big economies apart from the UK.One significant con-tributor to the gloom was the lack of infrastructure investment.What a difference six months makes,at least where the forecasts are concerned.The sense now

180、 is that the UK could narrowly avoid a recession this year;inflation could fall to near 2%before 2024 (bringing down project delivery costs signi-ficantly);and the public finances are healthier than expected,to the tune of 30bn.Those shifts,along with the gov-ernments commitments to reform,could pus

181、h the UK back up the investor sentiment league.But only if words are matched by actions.Hunt is right to say that hanging around is not an option when it comes to reforming this countrys infrastructure regulations and in-vestment incentives.Only by doing so can we hope to attract the fin-ance requir

182、ed to modernise our transport networks,digitally con-nect our communities and hit our renewable energy targets.The chancellor has also promised to respond to Chris Skidmore MPs Net Zero Review over the coming months.This comprehensive study is a treasure trove of recommenda-tions that,if enacted,wou

183、ld accel-erate inward investment.Skidmore leaves no stone unturned when considering all the interventions needed to make our net-zero goals attainable.He covers aspects rang-ing from streamlining our plan-ning processes to increase solar and onshore wind delivery to devel-oping a cross-sectoral infr

184、astruc-ture strategy,even homing in on the importance of biodiversity.While the study suggests several helpful new measures that could improve investor sentiment to-wards the UK,addressing existing measures that disincentivise in-vestment is also a must.These include the 45%tax on renewable electric

185、ity generators a levy that is far more punitive in practice than the so-called windfall tax on fossil-fuel companies.At a more fundamental level,as Andrew Jones MP,chair of the all-party parliamentary group on in-frastructure,set out on our podcast recently,we need to develop a far more sophisticate

186、d and long-term approach to combining private and public finance to deliver infrastruc-ture,for the benefit of communities and savers alike.We look forward to a strong state-ment of intent from the govern-ment.Then what we truly need,to get the economy back on course,is the turning of kind words on

187、infra-structure investment into action.Words must be matched by action“WI N S I G H TJon PhillipsActing CEO,Global Infrastructure Investor AssociationCommercial featureHow can Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise help companies in their digital transformation goals?Corporations are increasingly dependent on ne

188、twork infra-structure,with the reliance on digit-ised work making it mission critical.However,we see this increasing reli-ance happening at a time when IT teams are static,so the pressure to deliver a high quality of service is paramount.This is why ALE is delivering on its digital age networking(DA

189、N)vision in order to support the needs of both IT and the companies operations,deliv-ering solutions that address the needs of healthcare,hospitality,education,transport,energy and utilities,and government providers.What is digital age networking?Autonomous networks,IoT and business innovation are t

190、he three pillars of DAN and they can all speed up digital transformation when the latest technology is applied and optimised.An autonomous network will sup-port the most demanding applications,while minimising the workload of daily IT operations thanks to its high-per-formance handling of mission-cr

191、itical network operations.And with corporations adding hun-dreds or even thousands of sensors and smart devices that require con-nectivity to their operations,ALE offers technology to automate connectivity-from wired to wireless-and ensure their security.Finally,we look to business innova-tion,accel

192、erating transformation and performance with automated work-fl ows.DAN draws on technology capa-ble of bringing together valuable infor-mation in real time and delivering it to the individuals that need it.How can ALE help enterprises protect their infrastructure from cyber vulnerabilities?All our ne

193、twork solutions have cybersecurity built into their DNA because we know attacks arent lim-ited to the external world,they can also come from compromised IoT devices.We reduce exposure by using very restrictive security rules,defi ned by customer need,to automatically iden-tify,classify and connect e

194、ach device and deliver a zero-trust defence archi-tecture that makes connectivity simple but secure.Additionally,we open our source code to an independent security company to verify we are following the best security practices and help ensure there are no backdoors to be exploited.On top of all this

195、,we also recently introduced ALEs Network Advisor,an AI-based bot that watches a customers network 24/7.What benefi ts will AI have on network operations in the coming years?Leveraging artifi cial intelligence in the management of network oper-ations can signifi cantly reduce the time needed to iden

196、tify an issue occurring in the network and solve the problem.Our network advisor tool again gives administrators full control to apply the fi x and decide whether it should be carried out automatically in the future.From analysing telemetry data to pattern recognition,these AIOps applications are in

197、valuable because they free up administrators and allow them to focus on other activities more important to the transformation of the enterprise.AI models trained using the database of known customer problems,product documentation and product release notes can also deliver support por-tals with natur

198、al language interfaces to help customers resolve any issues they may be having.Is ALEs technology compatible with sustainability?The message at our Connex23 event this year was technology for good and,from the beginning,ALE has used technology to enable enter-prise sustainability through design.We w

199、ant to continue to support our customers in their digital transforma-tion objectives,while minimising the impact on the planet.ALEs environmental policy is in place to ensure our technologies meet with local,national,and international envi-ronmental legislation,as well as tracing hazardous materials

200、 and eliminating banned substances from our products.By providing low-consumption equip-ment,energy-effi cient architectures,and low-carbon footprint solutions,Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise plans to be a signifi cant actor in the path towards a more sustainable business environment.For more information

201、visit www.al-An innovative approach to network infrastructureQ&AAccelerating digital transformation is critical for business but how can this be achieved without compromising security or sustainability?The answer lies in applying technology in three key areas,explains Stephan Robineau,Alcatel-Lucent

202、 Enterprises executive vice-president,network business divisionLeveraging artifi cial intelligence in network operations can signifi cantly reduce the time needed to identify an issueapproach to network infrastructureAccelerating digital transformation is critical for business but how can this be ac

203、hieved without compromising security applying technology in three key areas,Alcatel-president,network business divisionAs the government sets out its spending priorities,its time for it to deliver on the promise of reform,says Jon Phillips,acting CEO of the GlobalInfrastructure Investor AssociationS

204、 T R AT E GYcould end up becoming more com-petitive.Climate mitigation and adaptation,as well as digital trans-formation,are drifting up the agen-da.Thats prompting a re-evaluation of the infrastructure were likely to need in the 2040s.Because it takes decades to build out the infrastructure for urb

205、an centres,that process is starting now.eople have always been drawn to the places offer-ing the largest mass of re-sources,from water and timber to coal and crops.That same law of commercial gravity seems to be applying increasingly to low-carbon energy and data.The commercial,residential and infra

206、structure hubs of the future are likely to feature office districts using renewable energy.They will have solar-powered data centres;green hydrogen transport systems;air-ports with a ready supply of sustain-able aviation fuel;ports with access to green ammonia;and water infra-structure based on circ

207、ular systems.Why?Because the priorities of businesses,investors and consum-ers are changing,which in turn means that the clustering of sus-tainable and digital infrastructure Nick EasenIf the right hubs can be created,providing low-cost low-carbon in-frastructure with plenty of renewa-ble energy dig

208、ital connectivity and access to water,the prize could be huge.Such centres will have a new gravitational pull.And its already starting.There isnt a day that goes by without a headline about another new green hydrogen hub,whether it be in the UK or on the other side of the world.“These types of hubs

209、will draw in industries by providing the most economic locations for them to meet their needs,”Johnson predicts.“As engineers,we need to value our resources differently.Its capacity,carbon and cost the three Cs.This allows us to create a market around a cluster that can be measured and valued agains

210、t competing tradition-al locations in cities.”China is ahead of the curve on this.It already has green special econo-mic zones,with the specific aim of attracting green finance.The UK,meanwhile,has pushed freeports as a post-Brexit policy,offering tax incentives to draw in businesses.Two freeports i

211、n Scotland are also being touted as green.Theyll be powered by offshore wind and aim to develop green hydrogen.“Special economic zones have huge potential,”says Gavin Watson,an energy and sustainable finance specialist at law firm Pillsbury.“We are talking about anything from green clusters and ener

212、gy transi-tion hubs to sustainable innova-tion zones.”Watson believes that the develop-ment of low-carbon infrastructure and ecosystems“should mirror the Why low-carbon clusters are well setfor successAs we move to a low-carbon,digitalised society,successful hubs will have many new forms of infrastr

213、ucture,from solar-powered data centres to transport systems fuelled by green hydrogen“Its clear that we have to create low-carbon infrastructure ecosys-tems,”says Andrew Stanford,direc-tor of infrastructure at engineering consultancy Walsh.“In the future,carbon will have value,so low-carbon zones wi

214、ll be financially efficient and so increase their gravi-tational pull.”We are only at the start of our re-newable energy,digital and data-led transitions,so are yet to fully deter-mine how these new infrastructure hubs could look.But our big urban centres have proved resilient over the centuries,tha

215、nks largely to their ability to rebuild and transform their infrastructure.For instance,the Great Stink of 1858 spurred London to upgrade its sewerage system.Today,much of the fibre-optic data network runs along the roofs of these old sewer pipes,while parts of the capitals electricity supply are co

216、nnected via cables that run along the towpath of the Grand Union Canal.If we in the UK want a net-zero,data-fed future that doesnt harm the nations prospects for economic growth,various elements of our new infrastructure will need to comple-ment and service each other in pre-cisely this manner.Achie

217、ving this will involve new levels of collabora-tion and urban planning within an ecosystem approach.But how can businesses and governments(cen-tral and local)get to such a point?“Investment is a catalyst,”says Laurence Johnson,head of the util-ity and energy infrastructure group at engineering consu

218、ltancy Hoare Lea.“Infrastructure requires long-term investment that is traditional-ly connected and guaranteed with strike prices,say,in the case of electricity.Doing this speculatively without the customer yet in place will need some guarantees that only government can offer.”PAdrian Dennis via Get

219、tyIn the future,carbon will have value,so low-carbon zones will befinancially efficient and increase their gravitational pullTHE UKS NASCENT FREEPORTS ARE ONE EXAMPLE OF CLUSTERING IN ACTIONLocation and status of proposed freeportsUK government,2023UK government freeports Scottish greenportsThe bidd

220、ing process for Welsh freeports closed at the end of 2022,with a decision expected in the first half of this year.The Scottish government has rejected the UK approach and has drawn up its own greenport plans.These will require participating firms to pay a real living wage and agree to net-zero commi

221、tments.approach taken by economic free zones,whereby complementary in-frastructure is developed side by side.This not only improves the po-tential for the practical application of energy sources;it also encourages resource-sharing and innovation.”A more localised approach to infra structure planning

222、 could also generate its own gravity.Businesses,employees and investors will be attracted by cheaper renewable energy generated on their doorstep,super-fast digital connectivity or af-fordable transport networks.“Their proximity would offer a range of benefits,including greater value chain integrati

223、on and reduced costs and environmental impacts,”says Jonathan Moseley,executive di-rector and head of infrastructure and defence at real-estate giant CBRE.“This could represent a complem-entary range of interdependent,co-located infrastructure assets.”New hubs could also draw in inno-vative pilots o

224、r new applications of infrastructure technology.This has been seen in Seoul,Masdar City(the UAE)and Kalundborg(Denmark),which has taken industrial symbio-sis to the next level.As Dave Cole,programme director of project solutions at engineering consultancy KBR,notes:“Clustering enables the developmen

225、t of highly skilled resources,especially when connected to universities and re-search institutes.”The opportunity is ripe,then.But,as ever,itwill take that magic mix-ture of commitment,funding and long-term vision for these nascent infrastructure clusters to reach their full potential.R A C O N T E

226、U R.N E TF U T U R E O F I N F R A S T R U C T U R E1514he impact of environmen-tal degradation on public health is becoming in-creasingly clear.The latest cause for concern is the apparent link between pollution and the deadly spread of antimicrobial resistance(AMR),according to a new research repo

227、rt from the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP).The report,Bracing for Superbugs,highlights how wastewater pollu-tion into nature from manufactur-ing,healthcare and utility waste streams is accelerating the problem.The question is whether its possible to re-engineer our waste-handling infrast

228、ructure to avert disaster.The effect of AMR is such that the antibiotics usually given to treat common bacterial infections no longer work,because the bacteria have become immune to them.This phenomenon is so serious that it amounts to a“silent pandemic”,ac-cording to the report.It isnt hard to see

229、why.In 2019,AMR was linked to an estimated 5million fatalities worldwide.Left unchecked,AMR could account for 10 million deaths annually by 2050,with the highest rates in Africa and Asia.It could also cut global eco-nomic activity by 2.8tn annually over a decade,the report predicts.One way that AMR

230、occurs is when traces of an antibiotic,from waste produced by manufacturing sites and hospitals or passed from humans via the sewage system,are discharged into the natural envi-ronment.Because they reproduce at such a fast rate,the bacteria can evolve and mutate into new strains that are able to res

231、ist the once deadly compounds theyre being and its not yet understood what concentrations of antimicrobials in water can be considered safe.Most waste streams are separated,with the liquid being passed through a form of biological treatment.This often features an energy-intensive forced-air system t

232、o encourage use-ful bacteria to consume organic matter.The solids are diverted and treated by a different process,often an anaerobic one.Using different approaches and retrofitting new tech into old facili-ties could reduce both energy usage and waste volume,Graham says.He worked with LOral to do th

233、is at one of its manufacturing sites in Suzhou,China.The facility stopped using a forced-air system that was failing to break down preservatives and detergents,which are added to increase goods shelf lives.Instead,waste containing these compounds was siphoned out at source,to be treated separately w

234、ith chemicals.Everything else went through an anaerobic process.This produces biogas,which can then be used for energy generation.“We separated the waste to create a valuable asset,”Graham says.“Thats what were promoting;the idea that it can be another resource.”Another facility in Addis Ababa,Ethio

235、pia is using an anaerobic sys-tem followed by an aerobic one.He explains:“Sequencing the wastes through different treatments can ecologically select away aerobic and then anaerobic micro-organisms from the wastewater,including antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”Engineering consultancy Arup worked with f

236、ood giant Del Monte at the latters pineapply cannery in the Philippine town of Bugo to achieve something similar,says Dr Bhavik Barochia,a digital consultant.The facility switched from an aerobic process to an anaerobic one with gasrecapture.This cut contaminant levels in the wastewater from its pin

237、eapple-washing process and en-abled the unit to stop using coal-fired power,explains Barochia,who has a background inmicrobiology.New technologies are also emerg-ing.Barochia highlights Wase,a startup thats developed a modular microbial electrolysis system that takes a variety of wastes and con-vert

238、s these into water,fertilisers and methane using an anaerobic digestion system enhanced by vari-ous types of bacteria.“Depending on which compounds are present,the process produces less waste and,potentially,less antimicrobial resistance,”he says.Meanwhile,UK-based firm Power&Water has created a mod

239、ular wastewater treatment solution that uses a chemical-free process.Its CEO,Harry Cowan,explains that the technology can reduce waste-water overflow by adding up to 50%more capacity to a treatment plant.The company is working with fac-ilities in Turkey and Egypt,as well as five out of the 11 water

240、companies in England and Wales.But Cowan observes that businesses in this country are generally“resistant to changing their ways”.Investments in waste reduction and sustainable technologies are happening,but its not known at what scale.Adoption will require significant capital investment and ongoing

241、 operational expenditure.At present,there is little incentive to invest in anything other than simply maintaining the existing standards,according to Barochia.“This is despite discoveries of other potentially harmful com-pounds being released by manu-facturing processes,”he says.For instance,potenti

242、ally carcino-genic per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substan ces were recently recorded at 81 sites on English rivers,prompt-ing calls for further action.The AMR Industry Alliance,which represents one-third of the antibiot-ics market for human health,is try-ing to instigate change in its own sector.The allia

243、nce is setting up an independent certification scheme to be trialled this year,allowing for independent third-party verifica-tion that an antibiotic is made to an established standard,including the responsible disposal of waste.Steve Brooks,an adviser to the al-liance,believes that the scheme will h

244、elp healthcare procurers buying antibiotics to know whether supp-liers are meeting certain criteria.Hebelieves that this could encour-age generic manufacturers,based mostly in India and China,to adopt it.Additionally,he hopes that it will have a wider influence on the agri-culture sector also highli

245、ghted in the UNEP report which accounts for about 80%of all antibiotics consumed in some countries.“The issue will not be resolved without action across the global supply chain,”Brooks says.“We are trying to provide a path to that.”Experts agree that more routine AMR monitoring and research are need

246、ed for instance,through building wastewater-based epide-miology into the infrastructure.This is when waste streams are routinely tested to monitor public health something Barochi is doing under the Welsh governments bio-surveillance programme.This can highlight problems as they arise and inform publ

247、ic health decisions.“There should be more focus on the impact of different waste pro-cesses on the environment,instead of overlooking it,”he stresses.“With modern technologies,it is becom-ing faster and easier to do that.”Heidi Vella Once resistance is out there,wecant control it.Its better to solve

248、 the problem at sourcehot topic as reports of its prevalence come to the publics attention.In 2020,for example,there were more than 400,000 sewage discharges into English rivers and coastal waters,according to figures from the Environment Agency.To combat the problem of AMR,the UNEP is calling for a

249、“one health”approach to waste.This recognises the interdependence of our health and that of animals,plants and the environment.Among other things,it states that waste management processes should be re-engineered to minimise effluent streams into the environment.“The bottom line is,we want fewer chem

250、icals entering the environment and fewer resistant bacteria.Thats because we know that,once resist-ance is out there,we cant control it,”explains David Graham,profes-sor of ecosystems engineering at Newcastle University and an author of the UNEP report.“Its better to solve the problem at source.”Thi

251、s is especially important,given that treatment processes do not actively remove resistant bacteria,New technologies for waste treatment are being trialled to tackle the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.But is there enough impetus to integrate these into our infrastructure at scale?Rise

252、 of the superbugsWA S T E M A N A G E M E N T exposed to.Chemicals such as dis-infectants have also been shown to produce adaptive changes in bacteria after a sustained release,even in small quantities.The mut-ated bacteria can go on to infect humans,animals and plants and even share their resistant

253、 traits with other types of bacteria.While AMR is most prevalent in nations with poor sanitation infra-structure,it also seems to be occur-ring in the UK.Research published by the University of Exeter last September identified a“significant risk”of increasing AMR associated with the nations wastewat

254、er sys-tems.It found that 67 treatment plants had levels of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin that were“likely”to lead to inc reased resistance.Pollution in rivers from waste treatment facilities has become a TTeamjackson via iStockUK Health Security Agency,2022148The total equated to an average ofsevere

255、 antibiotic-resistant infections every day2.2%The number of severe antibiotic-resistant infections in England increased year on year in 2021 by3If youre from Englands lowest decile of communities by income,you aremore likely than someone from a community in the highest decile to get a severe antibio

256、tic-resistant infectionThis issue will not beresolved without action acrossthe global supply chain.We are tryingtoprovide apath tothatA truly green solution?Some treatment facilities use have been using algae to absorb pollutants from wastewaterEver feel exposed?Raconteur clarifies the complexities

257、of modern business with stories that help you make more informed decisions and build more successful companies.So,stop feeling exposed.Expose yourself to knowledge.Become a better leader at RStories that connect modern business.R A C O N T E U R.N E TF U T U R E O F I N F R A S T R U C T U R E1716Co

258、mmercial featurehe deployment of improved digital infrastructure has been a strong success story for the UK in recent years.While in 2010,there was almost no ultrafast connectivity,more than half of British premises can now be reached by full fibre delivering speeds of over one gigabit per second(Gb

259、ps).The govern-ment is now aiming to have all prem-ises connected to fibre by 2030,with a growing emphasis on enabling speeds of up to 10Gbps where practicable.The sudden increase in full fibre has been achieved by opening up the market to alternative network pro-viders,known as altnets.By moving be

260、yond a reliance on the established incumbents Openreach(part of BT)and Virgin Media O2,an ecosystem of nearly 130 altnets has been created,reaching a wide variety of buildings across the country.Gigabit for businessMuch of the fibre rollout so far,and the attention of many altnets,has been focused o

261、n consumers.By cre-ating the infrastructure for fibre as close as possible to peoples homes,the belief was that it would be possi-ble to serve businesses next,but the technology has not been sufficiently reliable or capable.“Companies as a whole are sitting on old networks that do not really serve t

262、heir demanding require-ments,”explains Daren Baythorpe,chief executive at the gigabit connec-tivity firm ITS Technology Group.“Its been somewhat nave to think that the consumer rollout would naturally mean business needs can be met.The reality is that companies have faced a real dearth of fibre,harm

263、-ing their productivity,efficiency and scope for innovation.”As a result,several fibre providers are focusing directly on quickly advanc-ing high quality gigabit connectivity for business premises.They have no copper cables to replace or legacy services to protect,their innovation instead using wire

264、less back-up and direct-to-cloud connectivity.“The impact for businesses is enor-mous:as well as the fast speeds,they can have much more confidence in the service levels and bandwidths they are getting,with proper resilience and security built in,”explains Baythorpe.“Over the past five to six years,

265、the altnet sector has played an increasingly important role in ensuring these busi-nesses are reached.”ITS,which was initially focused in the North West under its Faster Britain brand,has taken full fibre across 30 towns and cities,with its 58 networks ensuring connectivity is accessible to almost 2

266、5%of the UK business market.For the broader UK economy,the benefits are equally significant.“It became clear during the Covid pan-demic just how much we all needed better connectivity,”says Baythorpe.“As gigabit connectivity is rolled out,there are so many benefits:from chil-dren being able to do th

267、eir schoolwork more easily,to businesses fulfilling their potential and employees having better access to cloud-based systems from multiple locations.“Gigabit connectivity also supports cities smart transport developments,flood monitoring systems and the delivery of more intelligent health ser-vices

268、 to citizens.”Rising investmentAs altnets help drive the fibre roll-out,investment in the sector is rising.The increased competition has seen more than 18bn of new investment committed through these alterna-tive providers in recent years.This has also prompted the incumbents Openreach and Virgin Med

269、ia O2 to step up their own capital plans.The governments Future Telecoms Infrastructure review in 2018 pro-jected that over 30bn in total would need to be invested for full-fibre cov-erage in the UK.However,many of the altnets face challenges.Most have a limited geo-graphic reach and a vertically in

270、te-grated,narrow business model for reaching core customers.In addition,incumbents plans to discount whole-sale fibre costs to internet service pro-viders have been problematic because the contracts in place tend to require large usage commitments in return.This acts as a disincentive to service pro

271、viders to connect through altnets when their customers switch to fibre.While new regulations come into force in April to oblige easier switching,much of the market is yet to develop the processes and systems needed to make it an easy option.Some of these technological and scale-related challenges ar

272、e being overcome by altnet mergers and acquisitions.These will bolster the positions of more ambitious providers and unlock faster deployment.“Altnet M&A is likely to accelerate over the next two years,spurred on by the eco-nomic pressures many of them face,”Baythorpe notes.“We think it will be a st

273、rong positive for the industry and will drive innovation.”For ITS,which is focused mainly on ambitious organic growth plans,the fact it has a broad existing wholesale business(it partners with more than 500 service provider resellers)means the arrangements are already in place for effective switchin

274、g.Nevertheless,M&A will be an important element of the companys expansion;last year ITS acquired the infrastructure busi-ness NextGenAccess to improve its ability to tap the potential capacity of unused dark fibre unused optical fibre across the country,broadening its footprint.Full fibre partnershi

275、ps in practiceThroughout the UK,hundreds of inter-net service providers,network oper-ators and resellers are all partnering with ITS to consistently expand the provision of ultrafast,full-fibre gigabit connectivity.Collaborations between the public and private sectors are also a vital part of ITSs w

276、ork,highly tailored to local needs.One such collaboration is LCR Connect,a 30m joint venture with Liverpool City Region Combined Authority that is on track to trans-form the digital infrastructure of the six local authorities across the region.Another is Digital Greenwich Connect,a 2m joint investme

277、nt with the local authoritys innovation unit that aims to make a historic London borough one of the UKs most digitally con-nected areas.Looking ahead,expectations are that the national rollout of full fibre connectivity will provide profound and long-lasting economic bene-fits to all parts of the UK

278、.“Just as with copper over the past century,fibre is a technology that will be relied upon by multiple generations,”Baythorpe concludes.“At ITS,were excited to be a part of a transformation that will boost the entire economy and provide unprecedented capabilities for busi-nesses across industries.”T

279、o find out about full fibre connectivity to businesses,visit Why gigabit connectivity is critical for companies and the economyOpening up fibre network provision to alternative suppliers is accelerating deployment rates in the UK.As more businesses access full fibre connectivity,there will be long-l

280、asting economic benefitsTJust as with copper over the past century,fibre is a technology that will be relied upon by multiple generationsR E G E N E R AT I O Nof more environmentally friendly and efficient dredging could also bolster the case for water freight.“If youre dredging,you can look at what

281、 sort of canal geometry is optimal for more energy-efficient transport,”Terziev says.“We are looking at how renewable fuels such as hydrogen and electric-powered boats could reduce emissions too.”Of course,these fuels will have their own infrastructure needs,such as recharging points through-out the

282、 network.There are also iss-ues concerning the lack of supply of hydro-treated vegetable oil.By adopting this biofuel,Spencers Thames fleet has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by about 90%.Despite the progress thats been made,a wholesale revamp of the UKs canal infrastructure would be prohibitively

283、 costly.Thats the view of Matthew Gore,a partner at HFW,an infrastructure-focused law firm.“UK inland waters are often nar-row,shallow and unable to accom-modate much larger vessels.The economics of that means there is a limited amount of scope to develop them,”he says.“On the Manchester Ship Canal

284、and the Thames you can do stuff,but the bigger UK opportu-nity lies in coastal shipping.That could include more movements be-tween main and feeder ports and using roads just for the final mile.”Theres certainly scope to focus on larger waterways.The UKs big conurbations including London,Birmingham,M

285、anchester and Leeds are all connected to coastal ports via commercial waterways capable of carrying 300-tonne barges.Spencer believes that the move-ment of freight on the Rhine and its tributaries in Germany can be a model for the UK.“It wont be cheap,but neither is building a motorway,”he argues.“T

286、he sepia-tinted photos of the barge and the horse on the towpath is not where its at.We are using bigger vessels with modern kit and fuels.It will deliver results.”marine aggregate from the Port of Hull to Leeds,this low-emission vessel can take the equivalent of 18 HGV loads off the road.But water

287、freight traffic remains so minimal that much of this bene-fit is being missed.According to the Department for Transport,water accounts for about 14%of goods moved in the UK and 6%of goods lifted.This is down from 19%of goods moved in 2010.London is the second-largest handler of water freight in the

288、UK,but even that fig-ure is constrained.John Spencer is director of GPS Marine,the largest multi-cargo intra-port barge operator on the Thames and Medway.His fleet moves about 1 million tonnes of everyday freight each year but typ-ically works at only half-capacity between major projects.“We could d

289、o so much more,”he says.“Moving cargo on large inland waterways is an easy win for the climate.But the problem is,were using 19th-century infrastructure to solve 21st-century problems.”hink of British canals and your mind may turn to bucolic trips in the sun-shine or the waterways role in the indust

290、rial revolution.But one point is generally agreed:these mam-moth pieces of infrastructure are from another age.That may be changing.Transport experts think that increasing the amount of freight moved on the UKs inland waterways could help it to rise to the very modern challenge of hitting the govern

291、ments net-zero targets on CO2 emissions.For instance,at the end of last year,the City of Edinburgh Council floated the idea of reintroducing commercial barges on the Union Canal.These would bring freight into consolidation hubs in the city to reduce the number of lorries contributing to road congest

292、ion.Regular commercial traffic has also recently returned to the 18th-century Aire and Calder Canal.This was made possible by the conversion of a 500-tonne barge called the MMS Off-Roader.Moving David Stirling approach and a change of mindset from just put it on a truck.”Kate Willard,the government-

293、appointed Thames Estuary envoy,acknowledges that landing points are a significant factor holding back the use of waterways for freight.“Pier and wharf infrastructure is one of the key barriers to the indus-trys ability,”she says.“Studies are looking at the necessary adapta-tions and costings.The gov

294、ern-ments subsidy programme the mode shift revenue support scheme is designed to support the shift from road into more sustainable forms of transport,including water,but this does not allow for capital investments in infrastructure.”Tim West,company secretary of Robert Wynn&Sons,a specialist intrans

295、porting abnormal loads by water,believes that policy-makers could and should go further.“There is work to be done to understand the market and what levers can be applied in government to encourage this modal shift,”he says.“The commercial waterways need to be considered like the stra-tegic road and

296、rail network and funded accordingly.Planning poli-cies need to encourage the move-ment of freight by water and ensure that waterside developments dont compromise this.”Dr Momchil Terziev is a research associate specialising in naval architecture,ocean and marine engineering at the University of Stra

297、thclyde.He thinks that the use Lock and load the return of freight to the nations canalsEfforts to revive the UKs inland waterways as commercial routes could ease some of the pressure on its creaking road and railway networks.But there is much work yet to doBemoaning the relegation of the Thames to“

298、Londons hinterland”,Spencer says that the barriers in-clude a lack of investment in mod-ernising wharves.It wouldnt be prohibitively expensive to reacti-vate a wharf he estimates the cost at around the 500,000 mark.But obtaining planning permission is often a stumbling block.“Most opportunities have

299、 evapo-rated long before you have planning consent and that has meant mil-lions of tonnes going on to London roads,”Spencer says.“Outside the capital there are also issues with waterways that have fallen into dis-repair.They havent been dredged and their locks work only during shop hours.It needs to

300、 be 24/7 for a proper freight network.”A lack of distribution centres or manufacturing plants located near wharves is also hampering develop-ment,he adds.“We need a national organisation whose job it is to keep waterways infrastructure working,”Spencer argues.“It requires a joined-up TMoving cargo o

301、n large inland waterways is an easy win for the climate.But the problem is,were using 19th-century infrastructure to solve 21st-century problems25tonnesEven the UKs smallest canals can take barges carrying loads of up to550tonnesBut the latest barges can carry up to50%The carbon footprint of a barge

302、 is about half that of a lorryCommercial Boat Operators Association,2023R A C O N T E U R.N E TF U T U R E O F I N F R A S T R U C T U R E1918Updating the built environment should be a priority in the UKs effortsto hit its 2050 decarbonisation targets,but the sector is worried about a lack of policy

303、 coordination from Westminsterhas incentivised owners to con-duct deep retrofits with a finance package offering long-term low interest rates.The government did not respond in time when asked for a comment for this article,but industry bodies believe that it understands the need for more policies on

304、 retrofit-ting and is working on them.Meanwhile,proactive property owners are leading with voluntary retrofitting solutions.The UKGBC reports that many of its members are using so-called green contracts to define responsibilities for man-aging emissions in a building.Hutchins adds:“Our members are a

305、lso using technologies to im-prove energy performance and in-stalling insulation,heat pumps,solar power and measures such as green roofs to capture carbon.”Business leaders are increasingly looking at their options too.For example,the BREs environmental assessment method enables firms to improve the

306、ir buildings energy performance from design through to construction,use and refurbish-ment.Charlesworth says that such certification can help building owners to attract green investment and avoid compliance failures and reputational risk,while maintain-ing long-term asset values.As the government re

307、freshes its energy strategy,the built environ-ment sector is hoping for a strong signal that retrofitting will be an exciting growth area.But,until more coordinated policies arrive,many players will have to go it alone,voluntarily fast-tracking their retrofitting measures.cutting the UKs energy dema

308、nd by 15%before 2030.“This is encouraging,but we still await the strategy and long-term,stable policies and investment be-hind that,”says Louise Hutchins,head of policy and public affairs atthe UKGBC.“The governments strategy needs to be more joined-up and commensurate with the scale of the challeng

309、e.”Part of the problem has been a lack of big-picture thinking.Lee Fraine,head of building services and sustainability at property consultancy Rapleys,reports that much of the focus so far has been on the necessary building work,with insufficient attention paid to upgrading infrastructure to sup-por

310、t these changes.For instance,decarbonising the nations public sector buildings alone will cost up to 30bn,according to government figures.But Fraine says that ac-counting for the necessary sup-porting infrastructure will push the final figure up towards 90bn.Without those infrastructure up-grades,qu

311、ick fixes may not work.For instance,a heat-pump system for a large business premises re-quires a big power source,which may necessitate energy upgrades for the surrounding area.A heat pump might cost a building owner 45,000,but the full cost inc-luding infrastructure could be 135,000.Some owners may

312、 feel that they cant afford their part of the investment,while theres plen-ty of griping about the cost on the governments own backbenches.he built environment ac-counts for a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions,according to the UK Green Building Council(UKBC).Simply retrofitting as many buildin

313、gs as possible with better insulation or cleaner power would seem like a slam dunk,then,but its not so straightforward.The governments net-zero strat-egy includes measures to support retrofitting,from providing grants for repairs to promoting the use of heat pumps.Unfortunately,many in the property

314、sector believe that such interventions are meagre,myopic and uncoordinated.The UKGBC which has more than 600 members from across the sector,promotes green building methods.According to its analysis,the governments approach will reduce the built environments emissions by only 60%by 2050 missing the n

315、et-zero goal by a mile.In November 2022 the chancellor began to address this problem by pledging new investment aimed at Tim CooperAnother problem is that some building owners are yet to appre-ciate the value of retrofitting,de-spite research from real-estate services giant JLL showing that sustaina

316、ble buildings can support higher rents.Even if all building owners do come on board,there arent enough skilled professionals inc luding architects,designers and engineers to deliver large-scale retrofitting.A House of Lords committee recently found that there were fewer than 2,000 heat pump installe

317、rs in the UK,but more than 130,000 gas engineers.Gillian Charlesworth is CEO of the Building Research Establish-ment(BRE),a body that sets sus-tainability standards for buildings.She acknowledges the recent an-nouncement of 5m in training grants to help 10,000 trainees be-come experts in low-carbon

318、heat-ing.But she says the governments retrofitting strategy lacks provi-sion for green jobs retraining.“The government estimates that 50,000 qualified workers will be needed,but the Heating and Hot-water Industry Council suggests that we need 150,000 trained heat-pump installers.Without them,the UK

319、wont meet its 2050 targets,”Charlesworth says.There are yet more barriers to retrofitting.Some owners dont want to alter a buildings appear-ance or character,for example.Building work can bring inconven-ience,while there are persistent shortages in the supply chain.What needs to change?Chris Delaney

320、,managing director of low-carbon energy adviser Green Building Renew ables,points to a near neighbour that has been get-ting things right.“Ireland offers an excellent illus-tration of a joined-up strategy,”he argues.“It has built an infrastruc-ture of financing,advice,training and quality assurance

321、to deliver retrofits nationwide through ap-proved one-stop shops.Many UK stakeholders are raring to go on retrofitting.Done correctly,its an incredible opportunity to create thousands of jobs.With our organ-isations and skills,we could be a world leader.But the government must unlock the potential.”

322、Hutchins believes that the UK needs a comprehensive package of incentives,regulations,standards and planning reforms for exam-ple,removing constraints that might block retrofitting in heritage buildings.The UKGBC would also like to see the monitoring of car-bon impacts throughout a build-ings life,a

323、s this transparency can show how much more sustainable retrofitting is than demolition.The government has several pol-icy levers at its disposal.It could encourage action,for instance,by reforming VAT and business rates or by offering investment rebates to incentivise retrofitting.Theres a critical

324、role for local government too.Manchester City Council is one of only a handful of UK authorities to have led on retro-fitting.Elsewhere,cities such as New York,Melbourne and Vancou-ver are pioneering decarbonisation initiatives for buildings.New York Retrofit for purpose?The challenge for government

325、The governments strategy needs to be more joined up and commensurate with the scale of the challengeC O N S T R U C T I O NTGrosvenor,Peabody,Historic England,the National Trust,he Crown Estate,20231/3of all commercial buildings in the UK are more than 100 years old150knew tradespeople will be requi

326、red towork solely on decarbonising theUKs historic buildings in order tomeet its 2050 net-zero target5%Improving the energy efficiency of the UKs old buildings could reduce yearly CO emissions associated withthe built environment bysturti via iStockCommercial featureuilding for the future will alway

327、s create waste from nuclear materials to remnants of precious metals,along with the res-idues from treating exhaust gases from power stations to prevent air pollution.As infrastructure grows and devel-ops,UK plc must find ways to manage it all.One of the main ways to do this is through landfill,but

328、the word often conjures up images of dirty dumps cov-ered in seagulls on the edge of towns.However,according to John Rauch,chief executive at Augean,modern hazardous waste landfills are com-pletely different and highly-engi-neered.With a range of sustainable waste management sites across the UK,Auge

329、an caters for the wide-rang-ing needs of heavy industry and UK infrastructure.This includes recycling,processing,treatment and disposal.Tight regulation and traceabilityAugeans sector is underpinned by very strict legislation for authoris-ing the management of hazardous waste.The UK is committed to

330、moving towards a more circular economy that will see resources used for as long as possible,extracting maximum value,minimising waste and promoting resource efficiency.stations or asbestos must be man-aged safely to prevent harm to human health and the environment.Metals are in-demand due to increas

331、ed electric vehicle production and new manufacturing technologies.Extracting them as part of the circular economy to put back into the manu-facturing process is important but not always cost effective.However,this may be possible in the future,explains Rauch,which is where responsible landfill could

332、 provide a resource bank.“Leftover residues containing heavy metals disposed in landfill could be traced and removed in the future,if technology and economics have moved on to make this worthwhile,”he adds.A boost for UK plc and nuclearTo reach net-zero targets,the UK needs nuclear power to be part

333、of the solution.This does generate waste,with highly radioactive mate-rial dealt with in deep geological stor-age.However,the majority of waste from nuclear facilities is PPE,wood,stone or concrete,which have low or very low levels of contamination.These can instead be safely dealt with through landfill.“A thriving economy needs the right waste management infrastructure to deal with all of these t