Nearly a year after its launch, OPITO – the UK’s Oil & Gas Academy, is making strides to secure a safe and effective workforce in the sector. Rupal Mehta explores how the industry-led body acts as a focal point for skills, learning and workforce development.

Manufacturing of durable precast concrete blocks using carbon dioxide emitted in cement production will be subject to industrial-scale pilot trials this winter. Canadian company Carbon Sense Solutions Inc, based in Halifax, claims its technique to accelerate concrete curing will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but will replace conventional energy-intensive steam and heat accelerated curing techniques. This could decrease energy and water consumption by as much as 155MJ and 142l/t of concrete, respectively, says the firm.

A cheap but effective polymeric coating to repair damaged aircraft wires and prevent them from sparking and causing an explosion is available, says a chemist at the University of Dayton Research Institute, USA. The Power-Activated Technology for Coating and Healing (PATCH) is a smart material available as a spray and a water-soluble solid material.