State of the Nation Launch - Wales

Following on from the national State of the Nation launch, 26th November was Wales’ turn and I have to say - our version did us proud. Firstly Mr G addressed us on the critical messages of the ‘Low Carbon Infrastructure’ report, aimed at helping us meet the tough emission targets government has set. Basically that:

- Government needs to create and environment to make lifecycle carbon impact of infrastructure key to decision making.
- Infrastructure managers need to develop carbon efficiency.
- Us Engineers must be more systematic in considering carbon impact when we design and deliver infrastructure.

Wales has set itself even tougher standards than the rest of the UK and, stood in the Senedd’s ‘Oriel’ Gallery, you couldn’t help but get inspired to achieve them. One of the main reasons for the success of our launch was the support of Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing Jane Davidson AM. In accepting the report she was extremely complimentary of ICE’s work both informing Government and driving forward change in industry and society.

Another theme of the report was making low carbon behaviour the norm, and discussing how people will have to adapt to achieve an 80% reduction in CO2 by 2050. It makes you think – what is going to have to change to achieve that? Mass electrification of vehicles is going through some serious tests right now, so Engineers need to be on hand to develop the supporting infrastructure and facilitate the critical ‘greening of the grid’. One of the coolest ideas on the table is ‘inductive charging’, where your vehicle is charged ‘on-the-go’ by a system implanted in the road. It might be a serious proposition for larger built up areas (and removes the need for massive batteries). The big decisions between which systems we choose have an air of ‘VHS v Betamax’ about them, so there’s some serious challenges ahead for Engineers to make sure our eggs go in the right baskets…..

You can see the full report and the Wales briefing note here: http://www.ice.org.uk/state_of_the_nation/index.asp

A couple of photos from the event, taken by a very professional photographer with one of those huge lenses!:

Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing Jane Davidson AM:



ICE Wales Cymru Chairman, Alun Griffths and I: