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30
Oct 2023
Business Breakfast: Harrogate robots help reduce UK's greenhouse gas emissions
The Stray Ferret Business Club’s next meeting will take place on Thursday, November 30.
The Business Club provides monthly opportunities to network, make new connections and hear local success stories.
A Harrogate advanced engineering company is working with gas networks to detect and repair leaks with the aid of state-of-the-art robots.
Synovate's LeakVISION robot crawls along pipelines and uses heat sensors to detect leaks, which are often caused by shrinkage, a phenomenon that accounts for more than 1% of the UK's greenhouse emissions.
The issue is a significant one for the gas companies. Earlier this year, a major methane leak in the UK was detected from space. The amount of methane – a potent greenhouse gas – that was lost over three months would have been enough to power 7,500 houses for a year.
Synovate's new robot technology was trialled by Cadent, the UK's largest gas distribution network, ahead of the King's Coronation festivities in London. The use of robots minimised the need for roadworks at a time when the capital was extremely busy with hundreds of thousands of visitors.
The technology earned Synovate the award for Innovation of the Year at last year's Gas Industry Awards.
Simon Langdale, engineering director at Synovate, said:
The design and development of the robots took two years and an investment of £1.2 million. Synovate collaborated with engineering experts from Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, and Leeds Universities.
LeakVISION's development was backed by the Strategic Innovation Fund, a collaboration between UK energy regulator Ofgem and Innovate UK under UK Research and Innovation.
Free leadership seminar
Harrogate-based business consultancy Quarterdeck will be holding a free leadership seminar next month.
The event will examine 'Why most leadership training is a waste of time and money', 'The difference between management and leadership', 'Why most people fail to become a good leader', 'How to motivate others to greater performance', 'Why most people don’t bother', and 'The one area that most people neglect but is essential', which deals with work-life balance.
Advertising the event, Quarterdeck's website says:
It adds:
Quarterdeck's leadership seminar will be held from 9am to 12 noon on Tuesday, November 21 at the Rudding Park Hotel in Harrogate. Bookings can be made online.
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