By Michael Bradshaw and Caroline Kuzemko

In the film The Age of Stupid, an archivist in 2055, played by the late Pete Postlethwaite, asks: "Why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?"

We believe the COVID-19 pandemic offers a significant ‘counterfactual opportunity’ for us to reflect back, at the end of this decade, on an opportunity missed or an opportunity taken to put the energy system on the path required to mitigate climate change.

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Growing demand for a green recovery from Covid-19 – has strengthened the findings from a 12-month study released today into how the West Midlands can capture the benefits of cleaner economic growth.

As the government has announced proposals to ban the sale of petrol, diesel and hybrid cars by 2035 the race to electrify the motor industry is on, and motorbikes aren’t to be overlooked.

This has inspired 25 students from a range of Departments including: WMG, School of Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Law and Maths to work together to make Aurora, an electric superbike with thanks to support from WMG and the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult team at WMG.

The superbike, Aurora, will be raced when appropriate after the Coronavirus pandemic, however the students have been working hard at home, and have finalised their designs for the bike.

The WMG Battery School, supported by the APC and HVM Catapult, will take place, from 14th to 18th September, for key industry personnel.

WMG battery experts will facilitate a mix of live lectures and pre-recorded practical hands-on-sessions, virtually, over the five days.

The two records were set over the weekend as renewable energy generation soared, coinciding with continued low demand due to the ongoing coronavirus lockdown