Variable speed drives generate heat – that's a fact of life – and usually that heat is unwanted. But what’s the best way to deal with it? Alan Baird, country manager UK and Ireland at Danfoss Drives looks at the options.

Mark Rushton, UK marketing manager at Harting Ltd, explains how RFDI technology is helping the company’s European Distribution Centre set new standards in logistics.

Mark Redfern, managing director at Wieland Electric, looks at the role modular wiring plays in creating truly intelligent buildings and how it offers flexibility for the future in commercial buildings.

Right now, almost anyone can claim to be an electrician and carry out electrical work. The absence of the necessary qualifications and experience required to do so of course make this practice incredibly dangerous for both the ‘electrician’ in question and unwitting consumer. Here, SELECT discusses the importance of protecting the title for the profession of electrician.

As the coronavirus continues to engulf the global electronics industry, raising further concerns around component shortages, Russell Parr, marketing director at Prime Light, explains how European suppliers are preparing for any potential disruption to supply.

Another fallout from Brexit. The island of Ireland as a whole is heavily reliant on energy from Great Britain. The Republic and the North have constituted one single energy market ever since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. 

The energy cost to run an electric motor over ten years is at least 30 times the original purchase price. With energy consumption responsible for the vast majority of whole life costs, Marek Lukaszczyk of motor and drive manufacturer, WEG, explains five ways to improve motor energy efficiency. 

Karl Walker, market development manager at Beckhoff, discusses what the term “smart building” might mean from various viewpoints and explains why data is the key to a truly effective intelligent building. 

E+I Engineering explores the role of microgrids in critical power management.

Rob Mather, solutions director at Power Control, discusses the often controversial topic of sizing DC cables and DC isolation.

Yselkla Farmer, director policy and marketing at BEAMA, highlights some of the challenges facing the UK if it is to achieve its ambitious net-zero target by 2050.

In my December diary I pointed out that there might be problems ahead for the woman who had been appointed in the summer by Prime Minister Johnson to be president of the big fortnight-long multinational climate change conference, due to be held in Glasgow this November.