2021 Directory

18 www.bfpa.co.uk the airline industry, in 2022, Eviation Alice plans on releasing the world’s first fully electric commercial airliner. This is already a reality. Eviation’s aircraft has already been unveiled to the world, and it’s not the first of its kind. One team of pilots has already circled the world in an electric plane. In 2022, we’re going to start seeing zero-emission electric airplanes charged with solar panels becoming a real option for many flights. Norway has already committed to using electric-powered aircraft by 2023 and plans on having the world’s first airport that is fully self-sufficient on renewable energy sources by 2025. How are we going to house all of those people we’ve been talking about? An analysis of BFPA member customers shows that the construction sector is by far the largest sector of interest (closely followed by the offshore sector). In the next decade ‘earthscrapers’ could help provide living, office and recreational space for ever-increasing urban populations. As populations move away from rural areas, urban planners look beneath their feet for answers. With space in cities so limited, often the only option for those who can afford to expand their property is to go underground. Luxury basements are already a feature beneath many homes in London, but with urban populations set to continue growing, subterranean developments are beginning to appear on a much larger scale. One idea, still at the concept stage, is the aforementioned earthscraper proposed for Mexico City. This 65-storey inverted pyramid has been suggested as a way to provide office, retail and residential space without having to demolish the city’s historic buildings or breach its 8-storey height restriction. Many questions remain as to the feasibility of such a project, however, such as how you provide light, remove waste and protect people from fire or floods. Some of these questions have potentially been answered with the construction of the Intercontinental Shanghai Wonderland hotel in China. This 336-room luxury resort was built into the rock face of an 88m-deep, disused quarry that opened for business in November 2018. Where does all this leave companies in the fluid power sector? Any discussion about the future of technology over a ten-year horizon could potentially evolve into a veritable encyclopaedia and would require far more space than is available in this Directory. However, a key ‘takeaway’ for fluid power companies is that they need to recognise the overarching impact that new technologies are going to have upon their working practices and the markets that they address. It is not simply a case of seeing a new valve technology or the development of improved hydraulic fluids. It is a fundamental change in the way that we work and undertake business. It will be driven by digitalisation and the all- pervasive Internet of Things along with evermore artificial intelligence (a little cliched I know – but still true). The Internet of Things is a reality. In line with wearable devices, machines will be talking to one another, with computer-connected humans observing, analysing and acting upon the resulting ‘Big Data’ explosion. Production machines, refrigerators, toasters and even waste bins could be computerised and, most importantly, networked. Fed by sensors soon to number in the trillions, working with intelligent systems in the billions, and involving millions of applications, the Internet of Things will drive new consumer and business behaviour, the likes of which we have never seen. I am thrilled to be alive to see it and I hope that fluid power companies feel the same and rise to the challenge.