Our Industrial Life is an essential source of information about technology, innovation, and the industrial sector. Learn about how software and innovation shape the future of our industrial life.
Blogs
The illustrated guide to sixteenth-century mining
Published in 1556, De re metallica is arguably the mining industry’s foundational technical handbook. Here’s the five-step guide to sixteenth-century mining, complete with remastered illustrations from the original book.
Next-gen airports revolutionize air travel
Airport 4.0 promises to revolutionize air travel with cutting-edge technologies like digital twins, robotics, and biometrics, enhancing efficiency, sustainability, and passenger experience.
How to increase solar energy efficiency with giant clams
Scientists discover why giant clams are nearly twice as efficient as our best photovoltaics at capturing solar energy.
How to increase solar energy efficiency with giant clams
Scientists discover why giant clams are nearly twice as efficient as our best photovoltaics at capturing solar energy.
From the spinning jenny to the smart factory: The threads of innovation that shape our world
From the spinning jenny to AI-powered smart factories, innovation has transformed manufacturing, shaping work, industry, and global economies
Energy—not technology—defines modern life
How the World Really Works outlines the critical but overlooked material processes that sustain modern societies, challenging readers to assess the complexity of the systems they live in.
From deserts and soil to oceans and skies: The innovations changing the way we think about carbon
As fossil fuel emissions hit record highs, explore innovative carbon capture tech for net-zero emissions: direct air capture, marine algae, sea-water CO2 removal.
How can diamonds help us make sense of the world?
Lab-grown diamonds make ideal quantum sensors, allowing scientists to uncover mysteries of life from detecting neuron signals to advancing space exploration and fusion energy research.
Turning mine waste into profit
New technology selectively filters valuable minerals from mine wastewater, turning a costly problem into new revenue.
Our industrial year in review: 2024
AI, the skills gap, water use, and decarbonization shaped the last year and will continue to affect industry in 2025.
How cities are heat-proofing for climate change
Rising temperatures make cities less liveable and take a toll on human health. Planners and architects are trying to beat the heat with everything from green corridors to high-tech sensors.
Are artificial islands the future of wind power?
In the North Sea, companies are plotting to build a network of artificial islands and undersea highways with a lofty goal: a transcontinental power grid fit for the renewable age.
Benign-by-design pharmaceuticals: Designing eco-friendly drugs to protect biodiversity
Discover the impact of APIs on wildlife and human health, and the urgent call for “benign by design” pharmaceuticals to create a greener, safer future
AI and the second generation of smart cities
After being sucked into a whirlwind of local politics, privacy concerns, and tech-skepticism, the smart city is back – this time with AI. What could possibly go wrong?
Sharing land: Can photovoltaic energy and agriculture coexist?
Agrivoltaics combines solar power with agriculture, increasing land use efficiency, boosting crop resilience, and supporting sustainable farming.
From food scraps to face cream
Malaysian researchers extract collagen from sardine bones and banana peels, transforming food waste into eco-friendly collagen for cosmetics and medicine.
The virtual patients revolutionizing drug manufacturing
Researchers are revolutionizing drug and medical tech manufacturing by using digital twins as virtual patients in clinical trials.
Toilet-to-tap water: Making the case for recycled water with data
Municipalities can build public trust in recycled drinking water through data transparency, showing the safety and sustainability of direct potable reuse (DPR).
Why Norway is pumping carbon deep beneath the sea
In Norway, a trio of oil companies are pioneering a project that could prove vital for the future of European industry: pumping captured carbon deep below the seabed.
The mining industry levels up: how the industrial metaverse will power Mining 4.0
The industrial metaverse, powered by technologies like VR and digital twins, is revolutionizing mining by enhancing safety, enabling remote monitoring, and offering immersive virtual training that prepares workers for real-world challenges.
Salmon cannons and dancing rods: the wild world of hydropower fish management
Managing fish around hydroelectric dams has long been a headache for utilities. Now a slew of start-ups and researchers are trying to figure it out.
Digging deep to dig better: Smart mining’s digital tools
Digital tools like advanced geo-spatial mapping and AI are helping mining companies find new revenue streams
Construction’s sudden digital renaissance
The historically slow-to-innovate construction industry is undergoing a sudden digital transformation, catalyzed by the Covid-19 pandemic and regulatory pressures for more sustainable practices. The recent embrace of technologies has significant promise for improving productivity and sustainability within the industry.
The rise and fall of coal
The UK has become the first industrialized country to phase out coal power, more than 140 years after pioneering it. How did it happen?
From seeds and sprays to data and digitization: the new agrochemical landscape
Agrochemical giants pivot to digital tools and precision agriculture, blending data and services with traditional crop inputs to boost efficiency and profitability
Flexing their mussels
Mussels and fish are generating digital data to monitor water quality and detect poisons in the water supply.
3D Bioprinting: The future of customized tissues and organ replacement
3D bioprinting is transforming medicine by creating lifelike tissues and organs for transplants, drug testing, and cruelty-free medical advancements.
Profiting from electric vehicle battery recycling
EV battery recyclers are profiting by closing the loop on supply chains for the critical minerals that power electric vehicles.
Chocolate production and the challenge of supply chain optimization
Data sharing and coordination could help companies improve food production supply chains
How to make green steel
The steel industry is trying to make the production of the world’s most important metal emission-free to reduce its carbon footprint.
Undersea cables—The thread holding our world together
Undersea fiber optic cables carry more data more quickly than satellites but repairing undersea cable breaks requires more investment.
Space debris is getting SSPICY
New technology like SSPICY Otter is gathering data on space debris to prevent damage to communications and GPS satellites and other spacecraft.
The struggle to curb HFC-23 emissions
Chemical companies can effectively reduce their HFC-23 emissions by implementing a few simple strategies
AI-powered smart grids can optimize energy management in manufacturing
AI-powered smart grids are transforming energy management in manufacturing, optimizing efficiency and preventing failures.
Hurricane Helene threatens global semiconductor supply chain
Hurricane Helene has interrupted mining of high-purity quartz from Spruce Pine, which the semiconductor and PV industries depend on.
How to tackle the power storage problem
Energy storage is crucial for the power grid to handle more wind and solar. Pumped hydro has long fulfilled this function; now, everything from molten salt to liquid air helps plug the gap.
Carbon removal: slippery slope or climate cure-all?
Carbon removal is seen as a promising solution to reach net-zero emissions. But is it up to the task, or distracting from more meaningful climate action?
What’s causing the growth in drug shortages?
Drug shortages hit record high. Manufacturing factors and market dynamics are driving the crisis. Possible solutions involve substantial investments.
How process simulation software will help build a new green ammonia economy
To increase ammonia supplies while reducing carbon emissions, innovators are using industrial simulation software to create greener ways of generating ammonia.
Cement: The foundation of industrialized societies
Concrete is vital but cement production causes 8% of global emissions. Learn how advancements in technology aim to make cement production more sustainable.
Dot dot dash: 35 years that shrunk the world
The growth of the telegraph system was a remarkably short time in the history of telecommunications, connecting the world across undersea cables within 30 years
Tomorrow’s phantom ships
The first zero-emissions autonomous ship—along with the AI and digital infrastructure supporting it—will transform logistics as did the first diesel ships.
Using bacteria to turn post-consumer plastic into silk
Scientists are using engineered bacteria to transform plastic into biodegradable silk.
Generative AI Is Reshaping Material Science
AI is revolutionizing material science, accelerating the development of sustainable materials and transforming global manufacturing.
What can you do with wind turbine waste?
Companies are developing new ways to re-use, recycle and engineer wind turbine blades to make wind power both sustainable and part of the circular economy.
Nobel-Prize physics relies on industrial data
The SNOLAB neutrino detector relies on industrial data to conduct Nobel-Prize winning experiments, searching for solar neutrinos in a cleanroom within a mine.
The water-energy nexus
With water and wastewater using more energy and energy generation using more water, the water and energy sectors must share data about the water-energy nexus.
Air conditioning: The climate-change dilemma
We need air conditioning that doesn’t stress electric grids and uses refrigerants with low carbon footprints.
Predicting earthquakes with AI
AI is predicting earthquakes more successfully, finding correlations in sensor data that can improve advanced warnings.
AI washing: Avoid the hype and deception
AI washing: what counts as AI and when is using AI valuable and not simply empty hype?
An AI by any other name: What counts as AI?
A simple breakdown of AI/machine learning: supervised, unsupervised, reinforcement and deep learning, neural networks and transformers
Governments are jump-starting the green hydrogen economy
Building out the hydrogen economy to help decarbonize transportation and shipping will require government subsidies
Are EVs using too much water?
Electric vehicles (EVs) with lithium batteries require twice as much water as internal combustion cars that burn fossil fuels.
Decarbonizing shipping: Net-zero by 2050?
To decarbonize and get to net-zero by 2050, the shipping industry relies on innovative, power-saving engineering as it transitions to alternative fuels.
Government and Industry: Promises and perils
Government regulation and subsidies for the hydrogen, wind power, space exploration and pharmaceutical industries teach lessons about innovations in government industrial policy.
AI: A sustainability friend or an environmental foe?
AI has been helping industries decarbonize for years by making their operations more energy efficient. But, manufacturing, training and running the computers that power AI also produces a lot of carbon emissions. So, which is it? Is AI increasing or decreasing our industrial carbon footprint?
Industrial AI—Increasing or decreasing carbon emissions
Industrial AI is already increasing the efficiency of industrial processes but at what (carbon) cost?
Green ammonia—underappreciated?
Green ammonia offers a sustainable future for fertilizer & fuel. Discover its surprising history, role in our food & potential to combat climate change.
The source of the skills gap isn’t always a lack of skills
Unlock insights into the skills gap: It's more than just tech solutions. Discover why hiring practices, values, and adaptability matter.
The future of the power grid: Navigating decarbonization challenges through technology and innovation
Journey towards a carbon-free future with Our Industrial Life's podcast series The future of the power grid. Experts address challenges, from re-engineering for renewables to navigating aging infrastructure, and DERs.
Podcasts
“The Victorian Internet”—The world’s first global communication network
The telegraph system went from speculative theory to a global telecommunications network connecting continents via undersea cables in just 35 years.
Dark matter and ghost particles—industrial data helps uncover the secrets of the universe
SNOLAB is the deepest clean lab in the world. It searches for the most elusive building blocks of our universe: neutrinos and dark matter. The Nobel Prize website describes its experiments as like searching for a particular grain of sand in the Sahara—and it relies on industrial data to do it.
AI: A sustainability friend or an environmental foe?
AI has been helping industries decarbonize for years by making their operations more energy efficient. But, manufacturing, training and running the computers that power AI also produces a lot of carbon emissions. So, which is it? Is AI increasing or decreasing our industrial carbon footprint?
Green ammonia is decarbonizing food production
Half the world relies on synthetic ammonia fertilizer to grow its food. But traditional ways of making ammonia produce about 2% of global CO2 emissions. On this episode, we speak to Dr. Zhenyu Zhang about how he’s decarbonizing the processes and making green ammonia.
Bridging the skills gap with connected workers
A whole generation of industrial workers is about to retire, taking extensive knowledge and skills with them. How can companies attract new high-quality workers and quickly give them the skills previous generations took years to develop?
Industrial data will matter more than ever in the wake of COP28
Industrial companies will need to change how they think about and interact with data if we’re going to meet the ambitious COP28 targets. We discuss cloud, AI, and the importance of data-sharing in facilitating collaboration.
How to turn connected workers into proactive workers
In this episode, we explore what connected solutions are and what HENN connector group is using to connect its workers to real-time industrial data, digital systems, and each other, helping them work faster, safer, and more proactively.
The future of the power grid: The challenge of DERs
In the final episode of our series, “The Future of the Power Grid,” we talk to three industry experts about how grid operators are incorporating distributed energy resources (DERs)—like rooftop solar—in ways that maintain the integrity of the grid and don’t undermine their potential for sustainable power generation.
The future of the power grid: Aging infrastructure
How industrial software and data will help expand and decarbonize our aging power grids.
The future of the power grid: Re-engineering for renewables
In the first episode of our series, “The Future of the Power Grid,” we talk to three industry experts about how to decarbonize the power grid and how new technology—like smart grids, DERs, and advanced industrial software—will help us create a carbon-free, energy-secure future.
How digitization is decarbonizing industry
Your carbon footprint doesn’t just cover the emissions from daily operations. It also includes upstream and downstream emissions: upstream emissions from the products and services daily operations use, and downstream emissions from the products and services they produce.
Why should businesses care about COP26?
Lisa Wee and Ruchi Shah discuss how AVEVA is working other businesses and investors in the private sector at COP26 to become more sustainable, reduce carbon emissions and get to net zero.
What can real-time data do in an emergency?
Senior Pre-Sales Engineer Dan Lopez discusses how AVEVA™ PI System™ helped his family during Texas’s polar vortex and how it can help companies in emergency situations.
Smart water for a changing environment
In this episode, host Rebecca Ahrens talks with Gary Wong, the Global Water Industry Lead and Expert for AVEVA , about some of the most pressing challenges facing the water industry. They discuss how data and technology can help utilities survive and thrive in a rapidly changing world.
