UK wind power records tumble - The Reengineer Monitor #6

Building with mud, geoengineering, winter flights - and more!

Photo by Kervin Edward Lara.

Heating and cooling

Mitsubishi Electric is investing $143.5 million to establish a heat pump compressor factory in the US state of Kentucky.

New York has launched a competition offering $10 million to manufacturers who design efficient and compact heat pumps to replace the packaged terminal air conditioning units often installed through exterior walls in apartments.

The UK government has opened a new consultation aimed at raising product standards for space heating technologies. There’s a focus on electrification of heating and improving the efficiency of fossil fuel-based heating systems. The consultation closes on 25 March 2025.

Hydrogen for heating is to become the subject of a new consultation process in the UK, according to a government response to a Climate Change Committee report. The response acknowledges that using hydrogen for domestic heating, which many discount as inefficient, has created “extensive debate” within the energy sector. Relatedly, Nick Kelly at the University of Strathclyde sent me a slide representing his personal view of hydrogen for heating versus renewables-sourced electricity for heating.

Photo by Nick Kelly.

Buildings and infrastructure

Forget dodgy mud huts. Buildings made with “rammed earth” can look sharp and considered. This construction technique is inherently sustainable, argues Radia Charef of Lancaster University, writing in The Conversation.