© Christopher ThomondResurfacing the road network are among the recommendations from engineers on how to protect the UK's infrastructure from climate change.
Generating power from human waste and resurfacing the UK's road network are among the recommendations made by engineers in the most extensive study to date of how to protect the country's infrastructure from the worst effects of climate change.
Extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, heatwaves and more intense storms are expected to become more common as the world warms. This means vital infrastructure - including transport, sewage and water treatment, and electricity and communications networks - is vulnerable to severe damage. But the UK is unprepared for these effects, according to the leading professional bodies for engineers.
"We need to have a debate on this - it all depends on what politicians are prepared to do," said David Nickols, chair of the water panel at the Institution of Civil Engineers, and one of the authors of the report published today by the Royal Academy of Engineering and seven other professional engineering bodies, representing nearly half a million engineers.
The engineers said all of the country's infrastructure could be rendered more resilient to the probable effects of climate change, but this would require new regulations from the government.
For instance, in order to take some of the strain off water systems, sewage could be diverted to anaerobic digestion works, where it could be used to generate electricity and heat. More reservoirs would also help to ensure clean water systems remained operational, and help to control flooding by acting as storage for the more intense rainfall expected in a warmer climate.
Pavements and road surfaces might also have to be changed, as the UK's current road system has not been built to withstand high temperatures.
Flooding is the most serious of the likely effects of climate change, as it would cause most damage to vital infrastructure, according to the engineers. Nickols warned that many people would have to get used to being at risk of flooding. He predicted that the current state of affairs, where everyone is insured and government agencies have the remit to try to protect all homes from flooding, was likely to be unsustainable in the longer term. "We as a society should not try to defend everyone 100% of the time - that does not make sense to me."
As part of last year's comprehensive spending review, the government has cut funding for flood defenses. However, it is not known yet exactly which flood defense projects will have to be canceled as a result.
Work must begin immediately to ensure that the UK's vital infrastructure can be protected against the worst effects of climate change, the engineers warned. To provide full protection could be expensive, but as this infrastructure is constantly being maintained, providing protection against climate change can be built into the repair schedule. Nickols noted that infrastructure spending is likely to double in the next decade in any case.
If the UK succeeds in building more resilient infrastructure, that could be an attraction to investors, added Prof Will Stewart of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He said companies seeking sites for their IT systems, such as large data banks, already take local infrastructure into account in making their decisions, so businesses could be reassured if the UK were able to demonstrate its infrastructure could withstand climate change.
Reader Comments
to our Newsletter