Global technology-sector gold demand stayed flat at 323 tonnes in 2025 despite surging AI chip sales, as miniaturisation and design changes to reduce or remove gold offset new AI-related uses, the World Gold Council reports. Gold traded around US$4,270/oz on Friday, roughly 14% higher year-on-year, keeping cost pressure on manufacturers that are redesigning connectors and contacts. Co-packaged optics (CPO) for hyperscale AI data centres, backed by Nvidia and other chipmakers, could become a meaningful new source of demand because lasers and high‑frequency electrodes in CPO packages still rely on gold’s durability and conductivity.

Maidstone Borough Council has started a small-scale trial in two parks using a proprietary pothole repair mix that incorporates recycled clothing fibres as a partial replacement for conventional bituminous or aggregate content. The material is being laid in localised defects rather than full-width resurfacing, targeting reduced embodied carbon and lower-temperature installation compared with standard hot asphalt. If performance on ravel resistance, adhesion and durability under light vehicular loading proves acceptable, the council may extend the approach to wider footpath and car park maintenance.

Carbon capture in cement production is being pushed as a near‑term route to cut emissions from a material responsible for up to 8% of global CO₂ output, with technologies such as post‑combustion capture on kiln exhausts and oxy‑fuel firing now moving from pilots to early commercial schemes. Current projects focus on retrofitting existing clinker lines, integrating amine‑based capture units and planning CO₂ transport to geological storage or utilisation plants. For designers and contractors, this raises immediate questions on specifying low‑embodied‑carbon concretes, verifying EPD data, and managing supply risk as capture retrofits disrupt plant operations.