February: the first steps to normality?

A sad start to the month with the news that Sir Tom Moore (posting of 1st May 2020) had died of Covid in hospital. He was an inspirational figure who walked 100 lengths of his garden just before his 100th birthday, with the ambitious aim of raising £1000 for the NHS and ended up raising more than £32 million!

On the 4th of the month 10 million people in UK had been given the first vaccine jab, and the chief medical officer declared that we were now past the peak of the 2nd Covid wave. On the 14th of the month more than 15 million people in the UK had had their first coronavirus vaccine, an extraordinary feat by the NHS, reached just over two months after the first jab was given on 8 December. On the 22nd Boris Johnson announced his "road map" out of the pandemic, saying "the crocus of hope is poking through the frost and spring is on its way..."

Like many regular travellers it is now over 12 months since I last boarded a plane. That was on February 26th 2020, a flight from Phoenix to London Heathrow. On that afternoon I had just left the SME Annual Meeting where I had visited the exhibition for the last time and called in to see one of our Comminution '20 sponsors, ME Elecmetal, who were looking forward to attending the conference in Cape Town two months later. Not to be, of course, and that postponed event will now take place online two months from now, this year's SME Meeting, planned for Denver, now beginning today online.

ME Elecmetal delegates on the last day of SME 2020

Covid infection rates have fallen markedly in the UK and down here in Cornwall the infection rate is now very low, but with foreign travel looking risky this year, we are expecting a huge influx of visitors when the summer arrives. Cornwall is one of the most attractive holiday destinations, but have you ever wondered why Cornwall is also the best place in the UK for geothermal projects? Two excellent short videos, one for the younger people who might be interested, explain it all.

The Geothermal Explainer video shows why Cornwall is such a good resource for geothermal energy, and looks at the geology and the history of the rocks, showing how the United Downs Deep Geothermal Project targets a fault structure and aims to intersect it to produce heat.

Miss Molecules Geothermal Mission, aimed at the youngsters, looks at the environment, global warming and renewable energy sources. The 6 minute animation follows Miss Molecule (a H2O water molecule) through the geothermal system at the United Downs Deep Geothermal Power project to learn how it works.  

@barrywills