It is fascinating to see how Poland 🇵🇱, once an unlikely leader in the energy transition, is increasingly giving the green light to smart use of renewable energy. Dynamic energy contracts make smart energy use attractive to consumers. Supportive optional network tariffs offer an additional boost. 🧵

Reminder that electricity is stacked with levies and a carbon tax and gas gets a free pass, fundamentally imbalancing the market. While a heat pump specific payment might deliver a few heat pumps, it won't solve fundamentals and is at risk of cancellation. Wider reform needed.

Good thread by @guynewey.bsky.social. I remain in the camp that I do not understand the problem that zonal pricing aims to fix. But, I do agree that change is needed, and soon. We need to have markets that work for the future energy system. Especially local heat, power, transport and people.

Context. . .

I'm humbled to be appointed for this role leading a great team of researchers and experts focused on having policy impact through rigorous research and analysis.

📢 Big Personal News! At the end of April, I’ll be leading the Energy Programme @ecioxford.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk @oxfordgeography.bsky.social. I’m excited to build on its legacy of world-leading energy research and create a global powerhouse on energy demand. 👇 www.eci.ox.ac.uk/news/global-...

I know everything feels grim right now but let's be realistic. These people are idiots. They're going to tank their economy. They're going to fuck-up every deal they sign. They're going to leave America looking shattered and deranged. And all those who supported them will look as idiotic as they are

It's been a long time since Private Eye's satire has made me audibly wince, but this is so to the point if it were a knife people would demand it be banned.

Two crucial features of this fascinating chart: 1. Starmer is preferred as PM to every other leader, despite Labour's polling woes 2. Farage loses to both Starmer and Davey, and ties with Badenoch despite Reform's polling surge

He makes himself big

This is tantamount to a revolution in regulatory affairs, inasmuch as Government is actually imposing consequences for poor work. If this were applied to the housebuilding sector, many companies would disappear overnight. utilityweek.co.uk/government-s...

This article makes no sense. It asks the reader to believe that people who want to put capital into Thames demand a SAR to get rid of poor performers and bad debt, and simultaneously to believe that Reeves thinks a SAR would be bad for investment. /1 www.theguardian.com/business/202...

You must earn and energy nerd badge. You cannot blurt your way to an energy nerd badge.

These look pretty sensible to me.

Helen and I were married in the Horniman Museum and insisted on a wedding photo under this #absoluteunit

One week in the life of Kemi Badenoch. She may well be the most hapless opposition leader we've seen in our lifetime. She makes Michael Foot look like Barack Obama. iandunt.substack.com/p/one-week-i...

Ah man getting up in the dark is tough. My son is furious about it this morning. I’ve seen some efforts to launder January’s reputation on here, but I’m not having it. Things get better so slowly in Jan - February is the truly underrated, fastest improving month

What are people's theories about why uk productivity growth collapsed in 2007? Grateful for any suggestions. Added bonus points for reconciling dire outcomes with very good inputs on things like regulation, universities, talent, openness etc?

Excited to announce that the Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC), which I direct together w. Prof Sara Walker, is now on BSky. Follow @edrc-uk.bsky.social for updates on how we address #energydemand in buildings, transport & industry. Updates to come on research themes, findings, news & events.

My 19 yo son wrote for @labourlist.bsky.social on why young men are attracted to Reform. The commentariat talk a lot about this phenomenon, but we rarely hear from the young men themselves. What struck me was that although "anti-woke" is part of it, so is economics. labourlist.org/2025/01/news...

…morning has broken

It’s time for THE charger. Today, the USB-C becomes officially the common standard for charging new mobile electronic devices in the EU. It means better-charging technology, reduced e-waste, and less fuss to find the chargers you need! #DigitalEU

Having not read the sentencing remarks, I’m cautious about rushing to conclusions, but on its face Feathers McGraw appears to be a prime example of the rampant sentence inflation that has led to chronic overcrowding in our zoos and the unedifying spectacle of animals being released early.

big news: from 8 Jan 2025, the absolute unit tweet will be on show in an actual museum (the National Science and Media Museum).

"Back then people didn't have deal with NIMBY's". I hear that a lot. The first ever National Grid involved negotiations with 222k landowners and tenants. The Central Electricity Board appointed thousands of officers to persuade. Astonishingly, only 600 cases (0.27%) needed compulsory purchase.

Sorry to say we're closed today (Tuesday) 😔 Someone has bricked our window, robbed the cash drawer and, bizarrely, the Bluetooth speaker 🎶 All the books are safe! Turns out robbers dont read. If you wanna help out this struggling queer bookshop our website is still open Merry bloody Christmas 😥

This is all well and good. But Ministers are risking holding a party and having no-one turn up. I now understand a decision on locational pricing has been delayed until next summer. This means investors won't know what returns they'll make - and won't be able to bid. /1 www.ft.com/content/4f16...

This solar scheme in Hackney is a nice example of local energy projects benefiting a wider range of people, including flats in city centres, which normally send power straight to the grid with no benefit to tenants. www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/hac...

Any Powervault P3 battery owners out there? I've had a unut for a few years and it has caused me no end of trouble and is currently broken again. Powervault say they are very reliable and I want to check if that is the universal user experience?

I dunno man, I feel like some of the obscenely wealthy people encouraged to move fast, ignore regulations and break things and told they are geniuses who owe nothing to society because their success is entirely their own achievement... might have found their way to right wing politics on their own.

Hello all. I haven't posted much yet, and thought I'd start slow. Is GB entering a new era of central energy planning? Is there an explicit trade-off being made on infrastructure over communities? Is this the fastest/only way to get to CP2030? (My view is that going fast means engaging more).

We really need to stop suggesting, either implicitly or explicitly, that we can decarbonise society without people making any changes. It's not only dishonest, but is sure to bake in further distrust in Gov when it turns out not to be true.

Thanks for noticing.

🧵This is the story of THE WORST GIG I've EVER done. NYE 2018. I posted on Facebook about what a fab year I’d had, donned my best lashes and set off for my last gig of the year: singing pop to 80 people at a pub in Essex. Easy, easiest of gigs and paying sweeeet dollar.

JOB OPPORTUNITY The LOCAST project wants to reduce future global carbon emissions, potentially by millions of tonnes We need a PhD physiologist, kinesiologist or similar to run human testing in the globally unique VSimulators facility tinyurl.com/4n5yb792 www.swansea.ac.uk/jobs-at-swan... RT!

Word of the Day is a true favourite, as some of you will know. Apricity (17th century) is the warmth of the sun on a winter’s day.

Changes in global temperature (1850-2023) Find similar graphics for your country or city: www.ShowYourStripes.info #ShowYourStripes

Weather report from #Shetland. Sideways snow ❄️

About Bluesky and X, part 2. From someone who came here when you still needed an invitation. Rule no 1: REPOST (BOOST) WHAT YOU WISH TO HAVE MORE READERS! Unlike on X, the 'like' button does NOT enhance the chance of the post to reappear in someone else's timeline. IT'S THE REPOST, STUPID!

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #1,330,298!

Right, finally binned Twitter as it's such a bin fire. Who else do I know on here?

Please give @carbonbrief.bsky.social a follow, as well as my first-mover colleagues @giulianaviglione.bsky.social and @leohickman.bsky.social Help us encourage more colleagues to make the leap!

So how is the sustainable energy geek scene here?