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Process engineers
(finally) wanted
UK process operations have long worked to
a beat set by the financial sector and the
demands of owners and shareholders for
near-term profitability – too often at the expense
of investment in improving engineering practices
and equipment.
However, now with the global credit crunch and
increasing concerns over energy costs and climate
change, it seems that the powers that be are finally
waking up to the importance of process
engineering to the business organisation and the
economy as a whole.
On the national and international stage, there is an
urgent need for
expertise to drive the
development of
energy-efficiency and
emission-reduction
technologies – as
highlighted by our
news report on the UK
government’s carbon capture and storage initiatives.
More significant, though, are the signs that process
engineers are gaining a stronger hand within their
own organisations, which increasingly need to
reduce their production costs and meet tightening
environmental regulation.
Reflecting the new mood, Dave Sheppard of MWH
forecasts that regulations to reduce industrial
emissions will free pump-system engineers and
designers from the costdown pressures of the past.
As Sheppard comments in our Energy feature:
"The climate change debate offers engineers a
tremendous opportunity to bring to fruition the kind
of efficient pumping systems that they have been
advocating for years.”
Meanwhile, Paul Coffey, managing director of
npower business, predicts "a move away from the
quick-win situation in which energy efficiency
measures are only made for short-term financial
gain.” He urges companies to adopt policies in which
energy-buying and related investment decisions are
done on a more holistic basis.
However, there seems some way to go before we
see a shift in the balance of power to the engineering
departments. Our Drives feature, for example, finds a
continuing reluctance among engineering managers
to break free from the shackles of the past, and push
for investment in new process technologies.
EDITOR’S COMMENT
More significant, though, are the
signs that process engineers are
gaining a stronger hand within
their own organisations
PROCESS ENGINEERING : JULY/AUGUST 2008
Patrick Raleigh
Editor
05
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