Didcot power station. | Image by Andrew Smith
There’s no such thing as free energy, just ask the first law of thermodynamics. The fuels we get our energy from and how we can improve their efficiency are the focus of this zone. Engineers in Fuel Zone could be working on extracting fossil fuels, keeping nuclear fuel rods cool, developing new engines for all sorts of machines that make better use of their fuel, or discovering completely new types of fuel that we haven’t even heard of yet!
In the Fuel Zone you will meet engineers designing mini nuclear power plants used in submarines by the Royal Navy, researching how to improve jet engines to make them more efficient, and developing a Smart Solar test site. There are also engineers designing electric powertrains for cars of the future, and maintaining the electricity equiptment on a Heat Power station.