ChemEng Culture: Connecting with Industry
Sam Baker reviews three short films that premiered at Sheffield DocFest in June, each documenting...
Features
Golden Touch
Antimicrobial resistance is among the World Health Organization’s top ten global health threats....
Can HiiROC’s Zero-emission Hydrogen Pass the Tyre Test?
A startup hydrogen producer in Humberside, UK is promising to make the fuel with zero emissions. ...
Given Agency
With hands-on placements and a new graduate scheme, the Environment Agency is giving chemical eng...
Cleaning Up Consumer Goods
From capturing CO2 at a paper mill to producing detergent ingredients, the Flue2Chem project offe...
INWED 2025: Rebuilding Industry with Waste
To mark International Women in Engineering Day, Sam Baker speaks with Krisztina Kovacs-Schreiner ...
ChemEng Culture – Issue 1008
Tim Marsh speaks to Sam Baker about his 30-year career in occupational health and safety and argu...
Fizzing with Good Intentions
Sam Baker speaks to engineers at Carlsberg Britvic working to make their drinks more sustainable ...
ChemEng Culture – Issue 1007
Sam Baker speaks to former process safety engineer Tony Cox, the expert witness portrayed in the ...
ChemEng Culture – Issue 1006
The first in a regular feature looking at chemeng-related culture
Transforming Support for Chemical Engineers and their Families
The Chemical Engineers’ Benevolent Fund is changing to better serve chemical engineers worldwide,...
Empirisys Launch Memorial Fund to Inspire Future Data Scientists
Grant in memory of Alex White, who died at 29 from meningitis, aims to support students pursuing ...
News
Hull industry figures back UK bioethanol plant’s call for government support
INDUSTRY figures in Hull, UK have issued a joint statement backing Vivergo Fuels’ pleas for gover...
‘Unsuitable design’ blamed for gas release at Shell’s new North Sea facility
OIL AND GAS giant Shell has been ordered to improve the design of its newest facility in the Nort...
UK government launches competition for efficiency solutions in energy intensive industries
THE UK government has launched a Contracts for Innovation competition that will fund projects to ...
UK biodiesel plant to close, operator announces
BIODIESEL manufacturer Greenergy has announced plans to cease production at its Immingham plant i...
EDF to invest £1.1bn in Sizewell C – but reduces overall stake in project
ENERGY giant EDF has said it intends to invest £1.1bn (US$1.5bn) in construction of the Sizewell ...
Australian researchers develop software to design chemical-free pest killers
RESEARCHERS at the University of Queensland in Australia have developed and tested a software pac...
Edinburgh researchers use bacteria to turn waste plastic into paracetamol
RESEARCHERS at the University of Edinburgh have developed a method to convert waste plastic bottl...
MIT researchers develop membrane that can fractionate crude oil without heating
RESEARCHERS at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a membrane they believe...
Plastics recycling facility launched in Cornwall to process microfibres from laundry
A “WORLD-FIRST” recycling centre has been launched in Cornwall, UK which will recycle plastics ex...
Carbon Clean and MODEC strike landmark deal for offshore carbon capture
UK CARBON capture technology developer Carbon Clean has entered a long-term commercial partnershi...
Food giants announce plans to eliminate synthetic dyes from US products by 2028
FOUR food manufacturers have pledged to eliminate synthetic dyes from products sold in the US by ...
ABF begins closure process of UK’s largest bioethanol plant amid uncertain government support
ASSOCIATED British Foods (ABF) has today started formal preparations to permanently close the UK’...
Researchers inject vegetables with melatonin using microneedles to extend shelf life
RESEARCHERS from the US and Singapore have developed a method to extend the shelf life of vegetab...
Industry welcomes UK government’s industrial strategy with cautious optimism
INDUSTRY leaders have cautiously welcomed the UK government’s new industrial strategy, which outl...
Arla Foods and DMK Group secure board approval for dairy merger
DAIRY cooperatives Arla Foods and DMK Group have had their proposed merger approved by both board...
Imperial College London professor to give 2025 Danckwerts Lecture
IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON professor Claire Adjiman has been selected to give the 2025 Danckwerts Le...
Second UK bioethanol plant announces risk of ‘imminent’ closure
A SECOND UK bioethanol plant has said this week it faces “imminent closure” following the US-UK t...
Drones to monitor methane leaks from UK oil and gas facilities
OIL AND GAS giants Shell, Ithaca Energy and Equinor will use drones to measure methane emissions ...
Ineos to close world’s second largest phenol plant, blaming European energy costs and carbon tax
INEOS has announced it intends to close its phenol and acetone manufacturing plant in Gladbeck, G...
IChemE training gains official CPD recognition from Board of Engineers Malaysia
THE BOARD of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) has approved eight IChemE training courses for continuing p...
UK bioethanol plant closure delayed ten days after government talks
VIVERGO Fuels has extended the deadline to close its bioethanol plant in Hull, UK, pending govern...
UK government commits £200m for Acorn CCS cluster in Scotland
THE ACORN carbon capture and storage (CCS) cluster across Scotland will receive £200m (US$271m) o...
Wood awarded US$100m contract to reduce gas flaring in Iraqi oil fields
OIL AND GAS engineering consultancy Wood has been awarded US$100m worth of contracts to design ga...
UK spending review boosts CCS and R&D funding but industry awaits industrial strategy details
CARBON capture and storage (CCS) and research and development (R&D) received fresh funding commit...
Government selects Rolls-Royce to build UK’s first three SMRs and commits £2.5bn
THE UK government has chosen Rolls-Royce to build the country’s first three small modular reactor...
Sizewell C greenlit with £11.5bn of new state funding
THE UK government today promised to invest an extra £11.5bn (US$15.5bn) for two new reactors at S...
UK’s largest bioethanol plant to wind up operations next week if no state support confirmed
THE LARGEST producer of bioethanol in the UK could “begin the process of closure” next week if it...
UAE buys controlling stake from US firm in Congolese tin mine
CONTROL of a major source of the world’s tin supply has been sold by a US-based firm to a company...
Sellafield failing to address ‘intolerable risks’, damning parliamentary report warns
MANAGEMENT of the Sellafield nuclear facility in Cumbria, UK is not responding quickly enough to ...
Vaccine refrigeration and sewage treatment among winning projects in IChemE YEAIS
A SOLAR-POWERED refrigerator to make vaccines more accessible and a process to reduce the environ...
Northern Lithium completes two-month extraction demonstration, eying commercial production by 2028
NORTHERN Lithium, a startup planning to mine lithium in the northeast of England, has completed 6...
Bristol Myers Squibb signs US$11bn deal to manufacture BioNTech lung cancer treatment
GERMAN drug developer BioNTech has signed an agreement with US pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers...
Carbon capture reactor achieves commercial scale, which makers say will capture 100,000 t/y of CO2
BRITISH carbon capture and storage (CCS) company Carbon Clean has achieved commercial scale for i...
Water treatment projects among winners of £42m round of funding from regulator
PILOT projects to improve water treatment were among the biggest winners in the latest round of a...
UK bioethanol plant warns of imminent closure after US trade deal
THE UK’s largest bioethanol manufacturing plant will close “in the next few weeks” if it does not...
At least five killed and six missing after chemical plant explosion in China
AN EXPLOSION at a chemical plant in the Shandong province in eastern China yesterday has killed a...
Pharma’s US$150bn investment in US sparks ‘exodus’ fears
PHARMACEUTICAL companies have invested more than US$150bn in US manufacturing and R&D since the e...
LIVE Reporting from ChemEngDayUK 2025
Welcome to The Chemical Engineer magazine's live blog for ChemEngDayUK 2025 in Sheffield. Edited ...
British Steel confirms ‘stable supply of raw materials’ to Scunthorpe blast furnaces, ends redundancy consultation
BRITISH STEEL has closed its redundancy consultation for the two blast furnaces in Scunthorpe, UK...
Liquid air could be cheapest method for long-term energy storage, researchers predict
MODELLING by chemical engineers in the US and Norway suggests that liquid air energy storage (LAE...
Heidelberg Materials wins UK’s first approval for carbon capture cement plant
CEMENT maker Heidelberg Materials has been granted planning permission to integrate carbon captur...
Explainer: what next for Scunthorpe steelworks in the coming weeks and beyond
AMID the crisis at British Steel, questions are circulating about the long-term future of the Scu...
UK government ‘confident’ coke supply will keep Scunthorpe blast furnaces running while importing ‘whatever is available’
THE UK government is “confident” the supply of coke over the coming days will be sufficient for B...
UK’s first wastewater-based system to detect infectious disease outbreaks opens in Bath
A NEW research centre in Bath, UK is aiming to develop the country’s first nationwide early-warni...
Covestro scraps energy usage targets in favour of improved efficiency
GERMAN chemicals manufacturer Covestro has scrapped sustainability targets to reduce energy consu...
Teesside SAF plant selects joint Johnson Matthey and bp production process
US-BASED manufacturer Willis Sustainable Fuels (WSF) has chosen a production process co-developed...
Siemens to cut over 6,000 jobs globally in industrial automation and EV charging businesses
GERMAN technology conglomerate Siemens has announced it is cutting more than 6,000 jobs from its ...
Pipeline fire near Malaysian petrol station hospitalises 63, damages 190 homes
FIRE AND RESCUE authorities in the Malaysian state of Selangor have confirmed that at least 63 pe...
Shell, Equinor, and TotalEnergies to triple Norwegian CCS capacity with US$700m investment
NORTHERN Lights, a Norwegian joint venture between oil giants Shell, Equinor and TotalEnergies, h...
Croda opens new lipid manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania
BRITISH chemicals manufacturer Croda has opened a factory in the US to produce lipids that will b...
UK environment secretary targets waste reduction in pledge to make ‘reuse and repair the norm’
UK ENVIRONMENT secretary Steve Reed yesterday unveiled the government’s ambitious plans to reduce...
British Steel to close Scunthorpe blast furnaces after rejecting £500m government rescue package
BRITISH STEEL today announced plans to close its two blast furnaces in Scunthorpe, UK, with the l...
‘Non-stick’ coating boosts CO2 electrolysis run-time, paving the way for scalable green fuel production
RESEARCHERS in the US have discovered that applying a “non-stick” coating to electrodes used in C...
Energy majors to invest A$350m in new gas drilling projects for Australian east coast
OIL AND GAS giants ExxonMobil and Woodside have approved a A$350m (US$220m) investment to launch ...
RFK Jr eyes ban on synthetic dyes in food
ROBERT F Kennedy Jr has told US food and drink manufacturers he intends to ban synthetic dyes bei...
Project Willow to focus on recycling and bio-feedstock, first official glimpse of Grangemouth future shows
GRANGEMOUTH could host recycling and bio-feedstock production facilities after the site’s oil ref...
Microplastic pellets from North Sea cargo ship collision found washed up on shore
THE CARGO ship that crashed into an anchored jet fuel carrier near Hull, England last week was tr...
gigaCCS research centre opens in Norway to drive gigatonne-scale carbon capture
GIGATONNE-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) research will be the focus of a new facility in ...
AstraZeneca to acquire Belgian cell therapy biotech for up to US$1bn
BRITISH pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has struck a deal of up to US$1bn to acquire a biotech c...
No pollution seen following North Sea collision due to ‘fortunate’ circumstances
THE MARITIME and coastguard agency (MCA) has confirmed that no jet fuel appears to have spilled i...
North Sea oil spill may take two months to clear following ship collision – expert
JET FUEL that spilled into the North Sea following Monday’s collision between a tanker and a carg...
Update: Cargo ship owner says it was not carrying sodium cyanide at time of North Sea collision
THE OWNER of the cargo ship that crashed into a US-flag tanker in the North Sea on Monday has sai...
Liberty Steel begins pipeline production for transporting captured CO2 in Teesside
LIBERTY Steel has begun producing pipelines to transport captured CO2 from a future gas-fired pow...
Wood extends Shell contract to include work on new North Sea oil vessel
ENGINEERING firm Wood has signed a two-year extension to its contract with Shell for work on the ...
Burst water main ‘probable’ cause of Surrey sinkhole, geologists say
GEOLOGISTS have said a burst water main is the “probable” cause of a sinkhole that led to the col...
Concrete may last longer in nuclear power plants than previously thought, Japanese researchers claim
RESEARCHERS at the University of Tokyo have found that concrete could be more resilient to neutro...
UK government launches steel consultation to fanfare from industry and unions
A PUBLIC consultation on the future of the UK’s steel industry has been launched by the governmen...
UK chemical companies ‘optimistic’ about future growth despite recent decline
CHEMICALS companies have expressed a “high level of optimism” about future growth in the sector, ...
Chevron to cut up to a fifth of global workforce by 2026 after poor financial results
OIL GIANT Chevron has announced it will slash up to 8,000 jobs by the end of 2026, amounting to a...
US firm championed for sustainable investment to fund gas-powered data centres
AN INVESTMENT firm once hailed for “taking down big oil” has partnered with US oil and gas giant ...
Subsidies for Drax to halve as UK government sees ‘more limited role’ for power station
DRAX power station’s state subsidies will be halved once the current arrangement expires in April...
TCE Frank Morton 2025 live blog
Welcome to the The Chemical Engineer magazine's live blog for the Frank Morton sports day 2025, h...
‘The sooner the better’: UK village welcomes approval of new lithium extraction plant
PLANS for a lithium extraction plant on the site of a former cement works in County Durham, north...
US-based SAF producer becomes latest company to announce plans to open plant in Teesside
AMERICAN sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) producer LanzaJet has become the latest multinational co...
AstraZeneca scraps £450m Liverpool plant upgrade after UK government reneges on funding pledge
PHARMACEUTICAL giant AstraZeneca has scrapped plans for a £450m (US$559m) upgrade to its vaccine ...
UK government backs Cornwall's tin mining revival with £28.6m investment
TIN MINING’s return to Cornwall after nearly three decades received a boost last week with a £28....
Coca-Cola recalls drinks in UK due to chlorate contamination
COCA-COLA has recalled some drinks from UK retailers after discovering higher than normal levels...
UK chemicals sector on path of ‘steady decline’ according to new report
THE UK chemicals sector is on a trajectory of “steady decline” according to a new report publishe...
Food and drink companies urged to improve fertiliser use transparency in supply chains
FOOD and drink companies are not disclosing adequate information about the risks of synthetic fer...
Drax to expand US business with deal to supply wood pellets to Texas SAF startup
BRITISH-based power generator Drax has agreed the terms of a deal to supply wood pellets to a US ...
EU prepares ban on PFAS in consumer products as industry seeks exemptions
THE EUROPEAN Union will push ahead with proposals to ban PFAS in consumer products, the EU’s envi...
LA wildfires caused atmospheric lead levels to soar
WILDFIRES in Los Angeles have caused a steep rise in the amount of lead in the city’s atmosphere,...
US-developed drug formulation could eliminate cold storage for vaccines
RESEARCHERS at Pennsylvania State University have developed a new type of formulation for pro...
L’Oreal to start using AI for sustainable ingredient research
COSMETICS giant L’Oreal has announced a partnership with IBM to develop artificial intelligence t...
UK government launches lab in Gateshead to research heating from flooded mines
THE UK government has opened a lab in Gateshead in northeast England to research how heat can be ...
Aviation emissions predicted to rise until 2040s, despite increasing sustainable fuel alternatives
EMISSIONS from the aviation industry are projected to continue rising despite increased uptake of...
Middlesbrough team achieves UK’s first industrial-scale production of fusion-grade steel
MORE than five tonnes of fusion-grade steel have been produced using an electric-powered furnace ...
UCL academics praise UK government’s new AI strategy as ‘positive shift’
ACADEMICS at University College London (UCL) who met with Sir Keir Starmer on Monday have welcome...
Covestro announces nine-figure investment into Ohio polycarbonate plant
GERMAN chemicals manufacturer Covestro has announced a nine-figure investment to expand its polyc...
Ineos chairman says UK chemicals sector headed for ‘extinction’ following Grangemouth plant closure
BILLIONAIRE chairman of Ineos Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said the UK’s chemicals industry faces “extin...
Cornell researchers develop ‘win-win’ method for upcycling gold from electronics waste for CO2 conversion
CORNELL University researchers have developed a new method of extracting gold from electronic was...
Australian researchers create eco-friendly alternative to greenhouse gases in cooling tech
RESEARCHERS at Deakin University in Victoria, Australia, have developed a material which they say...
Ultra-potent greenhouse gases still ‘major problem’ – despite global agreement to phase out
EMISSIONS of ultra-potent greenhouse gases are much higher than official reported figures suggest...
EPA considers reclassifying vinyl chloride as a high priority substance
THE US Environmental Protection Agency has announced a formal review of how it classifies five to...
Israeli researchers develop gas-sensitive textile that could be worn by soldiers
ISRAELI researchers have developed a fibre that changes colour when exposed to toxic gas, which t...
Two IChemE Fellows awarded new year honours
TWO Fellows of IChemE have been awarded orders of the British Empire in the new year honours list.
UK chemical plants warned against ‘complacent’ safety standards as cold weather approaches
PLANTS handling hazardous chemicals should not be “complacent” to the risks associated with extre...
‘Birth’ of commercial nuclear fusion declared as plans for grid-scale Virginia plant announced
COMMERCIAL nuclear fusion moved a step closer after a US company announced plans to build a plant...
US researchers develop biodegradable material to replace microplastics
CHEMICAL engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a new type of bi...
Low-carbon cement production to begin at new Welsh plant
A UK STARTUP has opened a low-carbon cement production facility in North Wales which it claims wi...
Rio Tinto to invest US$2.5bn in Argentina lithium mine
RIO TINTO has announced plans for a 20-fold expansion of lithium extraction at a mine in northwes...
Rio Tinto agrees deal to build Western Australia copper mine with Japanese partner
MINING giant Rio Tinto has reached an agreement with Japanese company Sumitomo to build a copper ...
Report calls for greater alignment between EU and US toxic chemical waste regulation
TOXIC chemical waste regulations in the EU and US should be more aligned to improve transparency,...
Equinor search for potential hydrogen customers months after scrapping pipeline to Germany
OIL AND gas giant Equinor has pushed ahead with plans to market hydrogen in Europe, issuing a cal...
Berkeley researchers use AI and 19th century maps to find lost oil and gas wells
RESEARCHERS at the Berkeley National Laboratory in California have created a tool that uses artif...
Hinkley Point welcomes UK’s first nuclear reactor in over 30 years
CONSTRUCTION at the Hinkley Point C power plant in Somerset has reached an important milestone wi...
‘Major win’ for UK energy as four nuclear power plants granted extensions
EDF’S decision to extend the life of four nuclear power plants has been hailed as “a major win” f...
UK government launches nuclear cybersecurity centre months after Sellafield fine for data breaches
THE UK NUCLEAR Decommissioning Authority has launched a cybersecurity centre near the Sellafield ...
Tokyo University researchers find critical conditions for embryo development using rubber rings
TOKYO University researchers have discovered some of the conditions that cause human cells in emb...
US researchers design water filtration system based on manta rays
RESEARCHERS in the US have developed a new water filtration design based on the feeding system in...
