COMMENT
Editor: Will Dalrymple
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Deputy Editor: Adam Offord
Contributors: Brian Wall, David
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Operations Engineer is the
official journal of the Society of
Operations Engineers, produced
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Mission statement
Whether testing a pump,
lubricating wire rope or
monitoring environmental
emissions, operations engineers
inspect, maintain and repair
equipment across a range of
industries.
The mission of Operations
Engineer magazine is to:
Improve readers’
understanding, knowledge, skills
and competencies in operations
engineering
Promote the advancement
of science, technology and
practices in this field; and
In so doing, promote safety,
efficiency and environmental
sustainability in operations
engineering to benefit the wider
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Adam Offord adam.offord@markallengroup.com
Give and take
Over the years covering industry, I’ve written a lot about nature
and the environment. Usually I channel my inner Attenborough,
reiterating how we need to do more to protect our lands and
oceans, help wildlife, and minimise air and waste pollution.
The public and industry are told on a daily basis that they need to do more
to protect the environment, but this usually relates to the protection of flora
and fauna or combating greenhouse gas emissions that are raising sea levels
and changing weather patterns. I would argue there is another reason to give
the environment more respect.
Profiled in OE this month is a regeneration project in Scotland, whereby
water source heat pumps will take heat from the River Clyde and use it
to provide heating and hot water for a nearby residential development
(see pp24-25). This project is a great case for how nature can be used to
complement industry. Another example that comes to mind surrounds
poultry hens at Glenhead of Aldouran Farm in southwest Scotland. The birds
are not only producing eggs, but also creating enough manure to generate
heat and power for the farm. This approach, which is helping to manage
power cuts, is a clever example of humans helping animals helping humans.
Projects like the above are innovative, but they also rely on nature ‘doing its
thing’. With the future looking increasingly uncertain due to obstacles such
as Brexit, cost fluctuations, and a growing skills gap, more companies may
need to tap into natural resources due to cost, legislative, time and logisticalrestraints.
But will that be possible with the way the planet is currently heading?
Industry will, one day, be as reliant on nature as nature is on industry; perhaps
not relying specifically on chicken s**t, but on other natural resources. Maybe
it really is time to place environmental impact at the top of the agenda.
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