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THE WORLD'S second largest independent nuclear engineering company has announced it will become part of a UK consortium that aims to design and build low-carbon compact nuclear power stations. The consortium, comprised of Assystem, Atkins, BAM Nuttall, Laing O’Rourke, National Nuclear Laboratory, Nuclear AMRC, Rolls-Royce, Jacobs, Wood and TWI, is working together to design 'a first of a kind power...

H&M Group has been named number one out of 250 fashion brands ranked in terms of how much information they disclose about their suppliers, supply chain policies and practices, and social and environmental impact by campaign group Fashion Revolution. The Fashion Transparency Index 2020 reviews and ranks 250 of the biggest global fashion and apparel brands and retailers according to...

THE FALLOUT from the coronavirus, including delayed customer payments, increased bad debts and modified consumption volumes, will temporarily reduce cash flow, liquidity and covenant headroom of UK water companies in FY21, new analysis by Fitch Ratings says. The credit-rating agency states that short-term cash-flow pressure will further erode rating headroom, which is already limited for companies with "Negative Outlooks", including...

THE LOCKDOWN has seen unusual water reports both in the UK and abroad, as suppliers work continuously to offer safe drinking water to their customers. Yesterday Bristol Post reported on city residents who had taken to Reddit to voice their concerns over 'blue tinge' and 'taste of bleach' in their water. Bristol Water explained this is due to higher than usual...

CLEAR skies and cool temperatures have helped UK solar to break the all-time peak generation record. Around 12.30pm yesterday, a peak of 9.68GW was recorded by Sheffield Solar live PV generation tracker, surpassing the previous record of 9.55GW set on 13 May 2019. At the time of the peak, solar was meeting almost 30% of UK electricity demand. Chris Hewett, Chief Executive...

A NEW app allows users to see how their electricity is being generated and predicts when it will be greenest – so consumers can use energy at the ‘cleanest’ possible time of day. National Grid ESO's app shows where electricity is coming from at any given time, whether it’s from renewable sources or more traditional forms of power. The app then...

U.S. crude oil futures collapsed below $0 on Monday for the first time in history amid the coronavirus pandemic last night. The price of US crude oil crashed from $18 a barrel to -$38 in a matter of hours, as rising stockpiles of crude threatened to overwhelm storage facilities and forced oil producers to pay buyers to take the barrels they could...

THE LIVES of residents must measurably improve as a result of how councils commission and provide local public services, a report by the think-tank Localis has recommended. The new report, ‘Brighten All Corners – maximising social value in place’ calls for a standardised approach to evaluating social value which would give communities a greater say in the benefits received in...

UK RESEARCH and Innovation have announced funding projects for the first phases of the Deployment and Roadmap programme for decarbonisation strategies, run on behalf of the UK government. The projects awarded funding are focused on helping the UK achieve net zero emissions by 2050 as part of the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge, a key component of the government’s Clean Growth Strategy. Through...

UK businesses driving innovation and development will be helped through the coronavirus outbreak with a £1.25 billion government support package, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced today. Rishi Sunak said the targeted and tailored help would ensure firms in some of the most dynamic sectors of the UK economy – ranging from tech to life sciences – are protected through...