Physically and culturally diverse human ancestors lived across Africa

The UK should seize a 'golden opportunity' to move away from fossil fuels, towards cheaper, greener energy sources, according to a new report, published by the National Infrastructure Commission. The National Infrastructure Assessment (NIA) is the first long term view of the UK's infrastructure needs, and is underpinned by analysis produced by a consortium of the UK's leading universities, including Oxford University, who led on the work. The report calls for a more joined up view of infrastructure, with significant investments to tackle road congestion, deal with water shortages and provide secure low-carbon energy supplies. It proposes ways of promoting greater innovation, for example through the roll-out of 5G mobile services and the uptake of autonomous vehicles. The move to renewables has long been framed to be an expensive one, however, the report highlights renewable energy as being a "golden opportunity" to make the UK greener and make energy in general more affordable. The academic research that informed the report's development includes advanced modelling and analysis which scenarios of the future. This adopted methodology has been proposed by the UK Infrastructure Transitions Research Consortium, a consortium of seven of the UK's leading universities, led from the University of Oxford.