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Gallery: Prince Charles warns ‘time has run out’ to save planet as he visits Whittle Laboratory at University of Cambridge




The Prince of Wales said that time has “run out” to save the planet from man-made emissions as he toured a research laboratory in Cambridge yesterday (Tuesday).

His Royal Highness stressed the importance of acting quickly to address the climate crisis at his visit to the University of Cambridge’s Whittle Laboratory, which has ambitions to develop the world’s first zero-carbon flight.

Prince Charles at The Whittle Laboratory for the launch if the National Centre for Propulsion and Power. Picture: Keith Heppell
Prince Charles at The Whittle Laboratory for the launch if the National Centre for Propulsion and Power. Picture: Keith Heppell

During the visit, Prince Charles heard about the latest advances in the decarbonisation of flight and wore ear defenders as he was shown a wind tunnel test of a prototype plane component.

The prince also listened to a series of talks from engineers as he toured the facility before a private meeting where the urgency of addressing the climate crisis was discussed.

Speaking after the meeting, he told a crowd of dignitaries, engineers and students: “We haven’t got time to waste.

“We have run out of time now to rescue this poor old planet from man-made emissions and all the complications we’re now facing, all the challenges we’re facing.

Prince Charles meets Cambridge mayor Gerri Bird at The Whittle Laboratory. Picture: Keith Heppell
Prince Charles meets Cambridge mayor Gerri Bird at The Whittle Laboratory. Picture: Keith Heppell

“So it is places like this, it is ingenious new ideas of how we decarbonise and produce the new engines, the new fuels for the future.

“And the future has to happen much quicker than it used to, that’s the problem, so we have to find the best ways to bring everybody together for once so we don’t have endless ‘argy-bargies’ about it but actually get down together.

“If you mount a military campaign, because you’re up against it you have to produce the answers, overnight practically.

“That is what I think is the challenge now.”

He said there is a “great deal more interest from the investment community” in how to help “drive forward the sustainable investment opportunities”.

Prince Charles at The Whittle Laboratory for the launch if the National Centre for Propulsion and Power. Picture: Keith Heppell
Prince Charles at The Whittle Laboratory for the launch if the National Centre for Propulsion and Power. Picture: Keith Heppell

The prince said it was his hope that this would happen, with the help of the “genius” of engineers at the centre.

Prince Charles then unveiled a plaque to launch the new National Centre for Propulsion and Power, due to open at the New Whittle Laboratory in 2022, which aims to accelerate the development of decarbonisation technologies with funding from the Aerospace Technology Institute.

He then wished the centre “every possible success because we all depend upon it to save this planet”.

The centre will bring together researchers from UK universities with industry partners such as Rolls Royce, Mitsubishi, Siemens and Dyson to accelerate the development of low-carbon technologies for the propulsion and power sectors.

The prince, who is founding royal patron of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), hosted a meeting of aviation and power generation business leaders, senior government officials and researchers about how the UK can accelerate the development of decarbonisation technologies.

HRH Prince Charles at The Whittle Laboratories for the launch if the National Centre for Propulsion and Power. Picture: Keith Heppell. (27846103)
HRH Prince Charles at The Whittle Laboratories for the launch if the National Centre for Propulsion and Power. Picture: Keith Heppell. (27846103)

Afterwards, Professor Rob Miller, director of the Whittle Laboratory, said: “Our enemy is time. To achieve net zero by 2050 we have focused on accelerating the technology development process itself. The results have been astonishing, with development times being reduced by a factor of 10 to 100.”

The Whittle Laboratory was opened in 1973 by Sir Frank Whittle, whose original designs led to the development of today’s highly efficient systems that can power huge aircraft over long distances.

The laboratory is collaborating with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership to raise the profile of the lab’s efforts to develop a world-first zero-carbon flight, to inspire greater industry ambition.

HRH Prince Charles at The Whittle Laboratories for the launch if the National Centre for Propulsion and Power. Picture: Keith Heppell. (27846781)
HRH Prince Charles at The Whittle Laboratories for the launch if the National Centre for Propulsion and Power. Picture: Keith Heppell. (27846781)

It is also working on technologies to enable decarbonisation across aviation and other sectors, and the innovations required to decarbonise the aviation industry to net zero by 2050.

It is aiming for rapid development for ultra-low emission aircraft and low-carbon power generation, to cover around 80 per cent of the UK’s future aerodynamic technology needs.

Emily Shuckburgh, director of Cambridge Zero, the university’s climate change initiative, was in the meeting with Prince Charles.

She said: “He’s been interested in this area for almost longer than anybody else, and he’s really been involved in thinking about sustainability and from an entire systems perspective – bringing together all the different players. He’s genuinely passionate about it.”

She said there is a “real urgency” to address the climate crisis and that the Whittle Laboratory is working to accelerate the innovation cycle in the aviation sector, where it normally “takes a really long time to produce new aircraft designs”.

“If there’s one overriding message that came out from the round-table just now, it’s that to achieve decarbonisation of flight on an accelerated timetable you need to bring together all the different players: the academic community, the business and industry communities, the entire supply chain of that sector, and also the policy makers,” she said.

“But if you do so and do it in a framework that’s really inspiring innovation, then it’s actually really exciting and so actually responding to the climate challenge turns out to be really exciting and we can all get behind it and be enthusiastic about it.”

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