Is deep geothermal energy the missing piece in the UK’s green transition?

In this episode of E+T Off the Page, hosts Tim Fryer and Jack Loughran sit down with Dr. Ryan Law, CEO of Geothermal Engineering Limited, to look inside the UK's first operational deep geothermal power plant at United Downs in Cornwall.

The episode covers how geothermal energy succeeds as a reliable, green, 24/7 base-load power source where intermittent options like wind and solar face daily challenges. Dr. Law also explains the massive "lithium bonus," detailing how extracting critical minerals directly from deep geothermal fluids is completely reshaping the economic landscape of clean energy.

The discussion also dives into the real-world logistics of deep-earth engineering, exploring the unique financial, planning, and scaling hurdles facing the industry in the UK today.

The IET’s Wiring Regulations BS 7671, colloquially known as the wiring regs, are a constantly evolving body of work and its latest iteration was launched in April 2026. It contains substantive changes in areas such as batteries, medical environments and power over Ethernet. E+T asked Mark Coles, head of technical regulations at the IET, to both explain the background to the update and summarise the key changes in the latest revision, and what practical changes they will make to the world of the electrical designer, installer and maintainer of electrical installations.

This article also touches on the evolution of the wiring regs and the need for regular revisions to ensure the electrical world is a safe world.

The print version of this article appeared in the May/June issue of E+T.

What does it mean to map the future? In this episode, E+T regulars Tim Fryer and Jack Loughran are joined by Tom Gray from Ordnance Survey to explore how mapping has evolved into a critical layer of modern technology.

Now largely digital, Ordnance Survey’s data is constantly updated - capturing everything from major infrastructure projects to small, everyday changes - and powering systems far beyond traditional navigation. The conversation looks at how tools like AI and machine vision are enhancing mapping, and how geospatial data is being used to plan EV charging networks, support autonomous vehicles, and optimise infrastructure like data centres.

They also dig into the National Underground Asset Register and the challenges of mapping what lies beneath our feet, before touching on the future of fully digitised road networks and national-scale digital twins.

A concise look at how mapping underpins the technologies shaping modern Britain - and what comes next.