Engineering at the coalface of global warming
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The recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report for 2023 was stark in its warnings about the real and imminent threat of global warming, but it did outline how climate action can be achieved through “systemic climate mitigation in urban areas, deployment of renewable energy sources and infrastructure, increased energy and materials efficiency, circular material flows, electrification of transport and industry combined with carbon removal technology”.
The common denominator here is, of course, engineering. Indeed, ingenuity in engineering is the reason we have energy-efficient buildings, smart electricity grids, green public transport infrastructure, and resource-efficient food processing facilities, to name but a few key elements of our necessary transition to a low-carbon society.
The goal is that renewables will account for 80 per cent of Ireland’s electricity by 2030. Pauline O’Flanagan, director of Engineering Industries Ireland, Ibec’s newest trade association, says its goal is to support engineering industries to play a leading role when it comes to achieving this ambitious target, as well as the development of new sustainable products and processes.
“A thriving engineering sector is vital to Ireland’s economic success and to fundamental challenges facing our society,” O’Flanagan says. She explains that the sector is delivering innovation in technologies to support renewable energies and supporting greener global supply chains through sustainable local manufacturing and engineering services.
“Our continued success will depend more than ever on our ability to adapt. The engineering industry is very innovative and this is important not only to meet climate action targets but to be competitive,” O’Flanagan asserts. “The very real threat of climate change around the globe requires flexibility and agility from the Government and the engineering sector, collaborating to reduce the dependency on carbon and manage industry activities in a more sustainable way.”
The recent announcement that a national strategy will finally be developed around offshore wind highlights the huge opportunity for engineering innovation, which has already been instrumental in building Ireland’s onshore wind capacity, she says, noting that Ireland hosts a number of companies setting new standards in the technological design, production, and maintenance of wind turbines.
“Many of our members would be working on hydrogen storage, for example, because we have to find ways of improving the planning system and connecting to the grid, not just the national grid but the European grid and when the wind isn’t blowing we have to find ways of storing the energy in the form of hydrogen.” There are “lots of fantastic new engineering start-ups” beginning to work on this, she adds.
Engineers will also be driving huge change as our cities transition to “smart cities”, with engineering services firms functioning as “critical enablers of digitalisation”, O’Flanagan says. “This will involve a move towards data analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and machine learning.” The engineer of the future is more likely to be found at the laptop analysing data than toiling on an offshore oil rig, she adds.
What people may not know is that food production is responsible for about 25 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is another area where savvy engineering solutions are making a difference.
Stephen Daly is a sales engineer with Endress + Hauser, which provides solutions for process engineering, including the food and beverage sector. He says recent growth in the sector has its upsides in terms of economic benefits but it also poses challenges for the industry in terms of the environmental impact of such growth.
“In the last 10 years, we have seen significant production expansion across many sectors. We have all heard about the expansion of the national dairy herd spurred on by lifting of quotas which has resulted in increased milk processing capacity, but investment in other sectors such as alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages has also increased at a pace,” he explains.
Increased plant throughput, if unchecked, can result in increased pollution to our water systems and significant increases in greenhouse gas emissions. Endress + Hauser manufactures instrumentation that provides real-time, accurate and reliable insights into customer processes, Daly says, enabling them to make informed decisions resulting in reduced emissions and lower operating costs.
“Optimisation of how the core process operates, based on live and reliable measurement, can significantly reduce a plant’s energy consumption and efficiency,” he explains. “Not over-drying milk powders, for example, can improve the product while at the same time reducing energy consumption.”
And, for example, every large-scale food production plant has a wastewater treatment plant designed to reduce organic and inorganic pollutants. Without increasing capacity of the wastewater treatment plant and optimising the process, Daly says, the impact on the water courses can be negative.
This means having real-time accurate data on what is leaving the treatment plant outlet is critical. “Armed with this information, we can prevent discharges which result in damage to our aquatic environment. In addition, having a deep insight into the efficacy and efficiency of the water treatment process across all stages is critical in optimising its function and reducing risk.”
The threat of climate change is bigger than ever but some good news is that Ireland is quickly developing into a hub for cutting-edge research into engineering solutions that tackle the problem, while educational opportunities are also springing up that reflect this shift; for example, Trinity College Dublin now offers a new degree in Environmental Science and Engineering, while University College Dublin offers a master’s degree in Sustainable Energy & Green Technologies.
The critical role being played by engineers in the battle against climate change is serving to make an already gratifying career in engineering even more fulfilling, according to O’Flanagan. “They will really feel like they are making a difference and helping to save the world by developing new solutions.”
Demand for skills in this area will be high, she adds, as engineering becomes increasingly sub-specialised.