The UK press has seemingly panicked about solar panel fires over the last few days How concerned do we need to be? The numbers suggest... not very 🧵

Lots of talk about the "cost of renewables" But have they actually LOWERED the price of electricity we pay TODAY? TLDR; yes, by around a quarter, or £25/MWh That's why it's a mistake to stop investment in them (*cough* certain politicians). eciu.net/analysis/rep...

Some highly questionable industry assertions about ‘tiebacks’ and new oil & gas exploration licensing covered by the Sunday Times this morning, incl. the volume of potential production & the impact on jobs & supply chains. Let's take a closer look: www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Why are bills going up by £100 in April? R4 Today's Nick Robinson claimed "People say bills are going to go up... because *you’re determined not to use fossil fuels*" With many households still struggling with the cost of living, let's look at what's *actually* happening...

How much oil and gas is REALLY left in the North Sea? 🤔 According to a new report by oil and gas lobby group @oeuk.bsky.social, loads!!!! *As long as they get subsidies and deregulation* Is this true? And if so, would it lower bills? Let's investigate...

💵 ENERGY BILLS & RENEWABLES How much are they going up by? Why are they going up? What are the long-term causes of high bills? A short 🧵 on why the answer isn't all blowing in the wind...

Well this is strange 🧐 Yesterday the @telegraphnews.bsky.social had an article about Ofgem's much-needed £24bn investment in upgrading the gas and electricity networks. The author correctly stated that the *net increase* on an energy bill would be £24/yr by 2031 (£104/yr added, £80 saving):

🔎 How has the gas crisis impacted industry? New @eciu.net analysis finds energy costs for British industry surged by £29bn during gas crisis Highlighting the heavy price paid for UK's continued reliance on gas Let's look at the evidence... 🧵 ca1-eci.edcdn.com/reports/Indu...

Blackout risk in Britain is LOWEST this winter since pre-Covid, according to @neso-energy.bsky.social & renewable power generation in the UK is HIGHER than ever Renewables = energy security 💚 independent.co.uk/news/busines...

🚨TODAY - at 11am 🚨 Media briefing: Defence, security and climate Please do join us: - Lt Gen Richard Nugee (former British Army, now climate change NED at MOD) - Professor Mike Bradshaw (Warwick University) - Camilla Toulmin (IIED) Register: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Kemi Badenoch's oil & gas speech: "When the oil and gas windfall tax was brought in, the oil price was near a historic high...but for months there has not been a windfall to tax" The global oil price today, after conflict in Israel / Iran overnight📈 tradingeconomics.com/commodity/cr...

A day after the Spending Review, the Govt has quietly announced its ending the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme after 2027/28 The PSDS supports insulation, solar & heat pumps in the public sector like schools & hospitals Lowering their energy bills - which taxpayers fund.

Spending Review: energy & industry... Warm Homes Plan will improve 5m homes (insulation, solar, heat pumps) backed by £13.2bn. This is the manifesto pledge. More details "by October" GB Energy also gets full £8.3bn manifesto pledge & inc support offshore wind supply chains

Warm Homes Plan: will it be cut at the Spending Review? Mood music WAS yes, but there's rumours that it WILL now be funded by the Govt's Manifesto pledge of £13.2bn... Why's it important? Warm homes for better health 🏥, lower bills for growth 📈& improved energy security ☑️

Why does the @telegraphnews.bsky.social keep using this misleading graph about heat pump demand in the UK? There's been 5 articles in recent weeks that present this graph with the heading "heat pump demand falters" when the actual trend is the opposite Here's why it's misleading...

Melanie Phillips had a misleading column in @thetimes.com yesterday Claiming "net zero targets" have driven up energy prices, when actually it's the cost of gas Here's a letter in this morning's paper challenging it.

In January, the BBC wrote an article fear mongering about pylons "springing up" across the country It contained some wildly misleading figures which spread to other newspapers. I'm glad to say they've FINALLY been corrected. Here's what happened...🧵 bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Yesterday, Ross Clark claimed in the @thespectator1828.bsky.social "The likely fall in the energy price cap will be purely a reaction to lower wholesale prices on international markets... it is simply markets at work" Is this the same Ross Clark who blames "net zero" every time bills go up? 🧵😂

The @telegraphnews.bsky.social claims that the 'boiler tax' has returned. Has it? Was it even there in the first place? And what about claims that heat pump demand is "flatlining"? & did the boiler companies ensure that the boiler tax they collected was returned to 'ripped off' consumers?🧵

@telegraphnews.bsky.social columnist Zoe Strimpel's opening sentence in a column this weekend states: "Ed Miliband is obsessed." [with net zero] The Telegraph has written over 110 articles with "Miliband" in the title so far this year That's one article every 30ish hours Who's obsessed now?

Lots of coverage of the Tony Blair Institute's report on net zero Inc. what Tony said & what he didn't But I spotted this little nugget of a graph which is potentially misleading... 1) it uses old data 2) it is based on primary energy, NOT end-use energy

There's lots of speculation about what happened with recent powercuts across Spain, Portugal and France, and answers may take a while. It's worth bearing in mind 1) Major blackouts in UK & Europe are rare but have happened throughout history - no system is 100% reliable. 🧵

This morning, Today on BBC Radio 4 @bbcsounds.bsky.social had the Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband, on to discuss the costs of energy, among other things. Veteran presenter Justin Webb made a few dodgy claims. Later, @skynewsrss.bsky.social and Wilfred Frost were at it too. Let's examine 🧐

This is an, ahem, interesting piece from Jawad Iqbal in today's Times: "Miliband has in the past boasted about the previous Labour government’s decision to phase out coal power… Miliband claimed other countries would follow “our example”. Really? It seems highly unlikely." Here’s why he's wrong 🧵

🚨Some major errors & misleading claims from experienced presenter Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4 Today, when discussing British Steel with Treasury Minister James Murray I hope these are corrected on tomorrow's programme, and Robinson sticks to the facts in future. Here's what he got wrong... 🧵

Glad to see the Sunday Times correcting a significant error in its reporting from last week on oil & gas jobs figures. @thetimes.com

What's going on at the @telegraphnews.bsky.social today? It's running two articles citing different figures for the same thing 🧐 One article states the OBR estimates the "cost of subsidising renewable energy will hit £20 billion by 2030"..."paid by households and businesses on energy bills"

🤔 how much oil and gas is there *really* left in the North Sea? 🤔 According to this morning's headlines, courtesy of oil and gas lobby group @oeuk.bsky.social, plenty! As @nstauthority.bsky.social's latest production projections seem to suggest otherwise, I was skeptical. Let's investigate... 🧵

⚠️ Case study of media misinformation ⚠️ On Tuesday, this graph appeared in a Telegraph article about Ed Miliband's heat pump. After its flaws were explained to the Telegraph, it's now been taken down. 🧵 on what it got so wrong...with Qs remaining about HOW it did so

The impact of renewables on electricity costs: Recently Reuters @breakingviews.reuters.com wrote about the impact of renewables on electricity costs, featuring the below left I thought it was misleading, so I created the below right. It tells a crucial part of the story missed by Reuters🧵

TODAY: Europe’s Largest Battery Storage Site Goes Live at Blackhillock, Scotland. Europe’s largest battery storage facility now officially operational - major milestone in the UK’s push for a net-zero power grid by 2030. It has a capacity of 600MWh – enough to power 3.1 million homes for 2 hours.

But I thought nobody wants heat pumps? And they dOn'T wOrK iN tHe CoLd? Looks like misinfo isn't slowing growth in UK heat pumps Good, bc we can't have energy security with the status quo (gas boilers) & we can't have national security without energy security Heat pumps = national security

🚨 Energy price cap raised by 6.4% (£111 per year for average household) 📈 Expensive gas prices drive up bills and have done so for the past 4 years.. to a total UK spend of £140bn on wholesale gas Let's be clear, we are NOT out of the gas crisis yet🧵 eciu.net/media/press-...

The net zero economy grew 10% last year📈 so it's now worth over £80bn GVA and supports nearly 1 million jobs would be madness to advocate against net zero when it means growth & energy security according to a NEW report with analysis by CBI Economics: eciu.net/media/press-...

Matthew Lynn wrote an 'interesting' @telegraphnews.bsky.social article a few days ago, arguing for fracking in the UK and dismissing concerns about earthquakes: "If Alberta and Texas have been engulfed by earthquakes, they have done a remarkably good job of keeping it out of the media."

Energy bills to rise around £85 per year in April for typical dual fuel home THIS IS BECAUSE OF GAS which remains expensive - still about 2x higher than pre-crisis levels - and volatile, despite some recent falls according to @cornwallinsight.bsky.social

🚨 New analysis of NHS England data finds over 26,000 babies and toddlers were admitted to hospital last year with lung conditions linked to damp and mould exposure 🏥 How are the UK's cold and damp homes impacting public health? 🇬🇧 🧵 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector – what’s the story? ❌Private rented homes are some of the worst quality ❌The Government’s target is a 2 years later than originally proposed ❌Landlords are pushing back, as they don’t want to invest in upgrading homes

Fantastic to see this letter from Labour MPs in the Times explaining why Rosebank & Jackdaw are red herrings for energy security and lower bills Chef's kiss, no notes

⚠️ An oft-debunked myth is circulating again: "domestically produced gas is four times cleaner than LNG imports" This claim has come recently from the boss of UK fracking company Cuadrilla (shock) As a reminder, here's why that's not accurate... 🧵

Some, erm, *interesting* analysis from EUA (a gas lobby group) in the @telegraphnews.bsky.social today about heat pumps DESNZ has dismissed it outright: "We don't recognise these speculative & misleading figures" Some other reasons to take it with a pinch of salt 👇🧵

*NEW* Scotland's economy is benefitting from roll out of clean power and net zero: - 150 jobs made in a new £350m subsea cable manufacturing facility - digital skills passport to help O&G workers transition to net zero jobs, like offshore wind net zero IS growth www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/...

Matthew Lynn's latest article on heat pumps states that the so-called 'boiler tax' is a "huge new tax" which means buying a new boiler will cost "several hundred pounds more". Could he tell us exactly how much more? Or ask the boiler manufacturers who levied the tax? 🧵

Government will consult on hydrogen heating this year‼️ Miliband confirms to ESNZ Committee National Infrastructure Commission, Climate Change Committee, National Audit Office have been calling for a decision & 50+ independent studies recommend no significant role for hydrogen in heating

Hmm...maybe we just leave the energy & climate policy to people who understand that climate change is real? www.desmog.com/2025/01/14/t...

Climate science scepticism has “almost entirely disappeared” from opinion pages of British national newspapers in past ten years. But articles dismissing or contesting policies designed to address climate change have marginally increased over same period: pressgazette.co.uk/media-audien...

🚨 Spotted: dodgy numbers CORRECTED in the @telegraphnews.bsky.social🚨 The paper published a correction notice online last week, referring to a false claim that the UK would need "up to a billion solar panels" to reach DESNZ targets. How many solar panels will we actually need? 10x less! 🧵

Well, this is quite the turaround Having spent much of 2024 complaining that the ZEV mandate was too hard, @Stellantis has announced that is has successfully met its EV sales targets Joins the likes of BMW, Mercedes and Hyundai in proving it can be done www.media.stellantis.com/uk-en/corpor...

1) Quite a misleading @telegraphnews.bsky.social piece here: the 'average' heat pump cost is not £12,800 as cited in the article A £7,500 Govt grant goes to every homeowner who installs a heat pump, meaning the 'average' cost is closer to £5,000.

Irony in the @telegraphnews.bsky.social today: One article on Ineos features an op-ed by Ineos's chairman (ex-BP) saying we need more O&G Second article reports nearly 1 million more UK homes are at risk of flooding now & this could grow to 1 in 4 homes by mid-Century BECAUSE of climate change