The survey for the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) showed that just 17 percent of respondents thought that building new airports would benefit the UK economy while only 12 percent said that building extra runways at existing airports would benefit the economy. This compared to 43 percent who thought extending superfast broadband to all UK households would deliver more economic benefit.
The IET's Professor Will Stewart said the survey clearly shows that the vast majority of the general public see less economic benefit in increasing capacity at airports.
“The public have told us that supporting the e-economy by rolling out universal superfast broadband will have more economic benefits for the UK than more traditional infrastructure projects like increasing airport capacity or high speed rail,” he adds
The survey also showed that 16 percent thought that building a high speed rail line would benefit the economy compared to 32 percent who opted for building new nuclear power stations.
The survey, of 2,011 adults aged 16-75 in Great Britain, was carried out by Ipsos Mori on behalf of the IET between 13 and 18 December 2014.
World War One and engineering innovation
In this year of commemoration of the start of World War One, three engineering institutions plan an online exhibition of engineering developments associated with the conflict, due to go live on November 11 2014.
A joint venture of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Institution of Engineering Technology (IET), the exhibition is intended to highlight the efforts and innovations that were spurred by the impetus of war, from tunnelling techniques, to women staffing ammunitions factories.
Information about materials, developments and innovations of the time are held in the archives of each of the participating institutions.
The IMechE's Karyn Stuckey says research into the content of the exhibition is still in its early stages, but she is keen to hear from members, whose family archives may contain important evidence.
The themes are likely to incorporate engineering developments in infrastructure, tunnelling and equipment, communications, the home front and the aftermath of war.
“Many members may have their own stories, records, photographs or documents to illustrate the engineering contributions of their ancestors,” says Ms Stuckey. “It was felt that these three Institutions should hold a joint exhibition because many engineering developments are developed across specialisms, and the spirit of collaboration should be recognised by coming together to commemorate this auspicious centenary.”
If you want to find out more about the exhibition or want to share the story of your own family’s engineering contribution to World War One, contact archive@imeche.org
Clouds with silver linings
Not surprisingly, given the stormy weather most of us have been experiencing over the past weeks, December proved a record month for wind power in the UK. A slew of other records were shattered too, according to the industry's representative body RenewableUK, including the amount of electricity generated in a week and the percentage of electricity supplied by wind in a single month compared with other forms of power generation, which was higher than ever before.
During December, a total of 2,841,080MWh of electricity were generated by wind power for the National Grid, enough to power more than 5.7 million homes. Overall, wind power supplied 10 percent of Britain’s total electricity demand for homes, businesses and factories.
Over the course of one week (starting on Monday 16th December), wind generated a record 783,886MWh – the highest ever for a seven-day period – providing 13 percent of Britain’s total electricity needs that week.
The Saturday before Christmas (21st December), one of the busiest shopping days of the year, saw a record daily amount of electricity produced from wind with 132,812MWh generated - that was 17 percent of the nation’s total electricity demand that day.
Les Hunt
Editor