- Written by Robert McCaffrey Editorial Director, Global Cement Magazine
I’ve recently finished a two-day mountain marathon in the UK Lake District, where myself and my running partner David - the web editor here at Global Cement - carried all our cooking gear, food, sleeping bags and tent. I feel that it was a great opportunity to learn some life and business lessons.
- Written by Peter Edwards Editor, Global Cement Magazine
As I write this Last Word for this October 2024 issue, it is tempting to ask where the summer went. Perhaps time flew while I was enjoying myself. It certainly ‘went,’ but where - or when - did it go to? I thought it was about time to find out.
- Written by Robert McCaffrey Editorial Director, Global Cement Magazine
Earlier this summer, the UK saw the demise of one of its favourite people: Dr Michael Mosley. You may not know him, but he was a popular TV and radio doctor, who had been broadcasting for nearly 20 years. He had an appealing down-to-earth manner, and seemed to give a lot of good advice. He was not averse to experimenting on himself, having been injected with snake venom and been infected with parasitic tapeworms, in order to gauge their effects on his physiology. In fact, after working around the edges of media for years, he was brought to a wider public on a TV show after he had received a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, whereupon he decided to find out if he could ‘diet’ his way back to health. He undertook an intermittent fasting regime (severely reducing calorific intake for two days each week), and at the end of the programme he had lost 9kg and his diabetes was in remission, after the fat had ‘drained out of his pancreas and liver.’ He wrote a number of books about weight loss (although not everyone agreed with his conclusions), and had recently become even better known through a series on TV and radio called ‘Just one thing,’1 about how simple changes can transform your life.
- Written by Peter Edwards Editor, Global Cement Magazine
The city of Zermatt, Switzerland, has no cars. Difficult to reach, locals and visitors must park in the next town across and take an Alpine train to get there. Post, deliveries, police and taxis are all milkfloat-style electric vans. Walking, cycling and, in the winter months, skiing are commonplace, while private vehicles are not allowed. Indeed, anyone wanting to use a milkfloat van for their own business must make their case to the city authorities. The result is an eerily quiet oasis in the Swiss Alps, without the constant rumble of traffic.
- Written by Peter Edwards Editor, Global Cement Magazine
As the main active ingredient in concrete, cement is essential to the past, present and future of the global construction sector. As well as homes, schools, hospitals, commercial buildings, roads, ports and other facilities, it will be vital to building the new infrastructure that helps the world to deal with climate change. This material will build CO2 capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) installations, offshore wind turbines, new water management infrastructure, sea-defences and much more besides.
