Energy efficiency saves energy, but it also creates purchasing power. The money saved on fuel, heating, or electricity usually gets spent somewhere else instead, sometimes on highly energy-intensive activities. Economists call this the indirect rebound effect. Latest short explainer 👇

If your car becomes twice as efficient, you’d expect to use half as much energy. But that’s not what happens in reality. Because when driving becomes cheaper, people often drive more. This is called the rebound effect.

Making coal use more efficient caused society to burn more coal. That was the insight behind Jevons Paradox in 1865, and it still matters today. Efficiency improvements reduce costs, expand markets, and can increase total resource use across society.

We’ve spent decades making technology more energy efficient. So why does global energy use keep rising? The answer is something called the rebound effect, and at societal scale, Jevons Paradox. New video: youtu.be/3ypxcJhFgOM

Rising fuel prices is an equity issue. It hits the poorest hardest. So it's perhaps no surprise to see a split between the South East and the rest of England. Some areas are spending more than double on fuel costs, as a percentage of income. The question, of course, is what we can do about this?

“Solar and storage” has always felt off to me. Storage is not about one technology. It is about the whole system. The phrase quietly puts the burden of intermittency on solar alone. That is a framing problem, not just a wording one.

Many climate solutions do not fail because the technology is bad. They fail because the system around them is incomplete. No installers. No infrastructure. No coordination. That is the real challenge. #Energy #Climate

EV adoption is no longer just a Europe, US, China story. Emerging markets are leapfrogging. Vietnam ~40% EV share. Indonesia ahead of the US. Brazil, India, Mexico ahead of Japan. That is a big shift in where the future market is being shaped.

The energy transition is not just about building new systems. It is about replacing old ones that are still working, still familiar, and still widely used. That is what makes it hard. #Energy #Climate

Climate action feels slow for a simple reason. We are not just changing technology. We are trying to change entire systems that were built to resist change. That takes time. #EnergyTransition #Climate

"Every dominant civilisation throughout history has been defined by the particular energy source or sources it mastered. [China..] dominant clean energy civilisation, superseding the previously polluting Western civilisation that sparked the first industrial revolution" www.scmp.com/opinion/arti...

Why do we keep using worse technology even if there are much better alternatives on offer? Love this new video from @chrisjardineenergy.bsky.social @ecioxford.bsky.social! www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtfX...

Why do we keep using technologies we know are worse? QWERTY keyboards. British taps. Microsoft Word. Not because they’re better. Because everything around them reinforces their use. The same thing is happening in energy. youtu.be/jtfXFfDYaew

8am. I’m reading an article, in mainstream media, on shifting energy demand to match supply. In the kitchen, the radio is playing an EdF ad offering free electricity on summer Sundays. Is demand flexibility... going mainstream? www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Climate policy has a problem. The tools voters support are the opposite of the ones economists recommend. This article asks: Can education help voters think like economists? But the real question is: Can education help economists think like real people 🤔 energyathaas.wordpress.com/2026/04/13/t...

Turnips + solar = higher yields 😃 New research suggests agrivoltaics could unlock ~$36bn over 25 years. Shift to “food first” solar design to balance crops + power 👍 www.yahoo.com/news/article...

There’s no single solution to energy security. Every solution involves trade-offs. That’s what makes it difficult.

The biggest energy risk isn’t today. It’s whether the system can change. Some systems adapt. Others get stuck. Part 5 of a short series on energy security.

The real problem isn’t failure. It’s recovery time. Part 4 of a short series on energy security. Part 4: Resilience

Energy systems fail suddenly. This is part 3 of a short series on energy security. Part 3: Robustness

Energy can be available and still unaffordable. This is part 2 of a short series on energy security. Part 2: Affordability

Energy security is not just about supply. This is part 1 of a short series on the five types of energy security. Part 1: Availability

At this time of crisis, it's worth reminding ourselves that energy efficiency is a double win 👍👍 Of course, being more efficient uses less energy, and you therefore save money on your bills. theconversation.com/why-saving-p...

The Iran war isn’t really an energy supply crisis. It’s something much more complicated. And most of the commentary you see in the media is missing it completely. 👇 Explained here

The solar industry has many inherent advantages over its competitors - it's modular and very scalable. But we can add a new adjective to that list: it's also incredibly nimble. www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2026/03/sola...

There's a lot of stories around at the moment about how renewable energy shields countries from oil price shocks. It's a nice narrative, but one that's not quite right in my opinion,, because it ignores the flows of different fuels within an energy system. www.dw.com/en/iran-war-...

Knowing who is responsible for carbon emissions is essential for finding ways to reduce them. In the latest episode of my Energy 101 Youtube series, I look at different definitions of energy and carbon. 👇 👇 Link to video in the comments

What if we could get more power from hydro by making the water heavier? 😲 A new project in Devon uses a mineral-rich fluid two and a half times denser than water. - A great way to open up new projects? -Or is it pumping chemicals up and down a hill? www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Dear Journalists, In light of the recent AR6 auction for new wind farm projects, please note that the agreed price per kWh is NOT a 'subsidy'. It is an agreed price to be paid for the generated electricity.

The speed of the rollout of renewables in China is at such an unprecedented pace that it's sometimes difficult to take in the numbers. So, instead, here's a wonderful photo essay, capturing the scale, majesty, and yes - beauty - of the energy transition in action 😍 e360.yale.edu/digest/china...

New research shows agrivoltaics can reduce the need for fertilisers. Better water retention under partial shade slows nutrient loss and enhances fertility, impacting on both the nitrogen and phosphorous cycles. That means less man-made fertiliser is required 👍 bioengineer.org/boosting-sus...

"It's no longer clear that major economies are even running the same race" Great review of the status of the energy transition from BloombergNEF Different industrial strategies are leading to a fragmented approach to energy - petrostate vs electrostate. about.bnef.com/insights/cle...

If you're appalled at Trump's military action in Venezuela and are wondering what you can do, the answer is pretty simple. Switch to an electric vehicle. ⚡ 🚗 electrek.co/2026/01/03/e...

Whilst agrivoltaics offer clear benefits in sunnier climes by protecting plants from heat stress, you wouldn't necessarily expect the same to be true in Alaska. www.pressreader.com/malaysia/the...

Energy systems are at the heart of climate change, technology, and the future of how we live, but they’re far more complex than most people realise. This is a great explainer video by @chrisjardineenergy.bsky.social that helps to make sense of the energy system. www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCXG...

So, what are energy systems, exactly? In my latest video, I look at 3 different ways of looking at energy systems - a technical view, as a social system, and even looking at chaos theory and feedback loops. Which one of these approaches resonates with you? youtu.be/sCXGmh4sdP0

There's a lot of talk about the growing energy demand for data centres. But could we use small distributed data centres in homes for heating? That's the novel solution being trialled as part of UKPN's SHIELD project. Would you swap your boiler for a server farm? www.aol.com/articles/cou...

Tesla is recalling over 10,000 Powerwall 2 units in the US due to overheating concerns and potential fire risk. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

This could have the potential to rewrite the record books for offshore wind power. The current largest offshore turbine in commercial operation is the 15MW Siemens Gamesa. Yet this double-headed monster of a floating turbine is being developed with a capacity of 50MW split between the 2 rotors. 😲

Here's a neat bit of solar innovation - vertically mounted floating solar panels. 😲 1.87 GW of panels have been installed in a gravel pit in Bavaria. The panels are vertical, and face east-west. The reason: to optimise generation in the morning and evening to access higher electricity prices.

Well, this isn't just disappointing ... it's shockingly bad 😡 Of the 23,000 homes that had external wall insulation fitted under the ECO and GBIS schemes, 98% of them are in need of repair. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A start-up called Reflect Orbital plans to launch thousands of satellites with mirrors to redirect sunlight to ground-mounted solar farms. So, a genius way of extending the operating hours of solar plants? Or unnecessary technology meddling? 🤔 www.latimes.com/science/stor...

Wind turbine blades are difficult to recycle at end of life. Europe is expected to produce 10,000 tonnes of turbine blade waste per year as sites are decommissioned or repowered. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Solar panels? Made out of onions? 😲 Well, part of them anyway ... scientists have found that nanocellulose coupled with the dye from red onions providea a natural alternative to petrochemical-based UV filters on the surface of solar panels. 👍 www.popularmechanics.com/science/gree...

🎬 ICYMI ... my latest video looks at the Kaya Identity - an equation that splits carbon emissions into its 4 driving forces of lifestyles, energy efficiency, cleanliness of fuels and population. 👇 This, and all other episodes of Energy 101, can be viewed here 👇 www.chrisjardine.energy/energy-101

🎬This is the film I've always wanted to make 🎬 The Kaya Identity is one of the most important insights in the study of energy and climate. It breaks down carbon emissions into 4 different factors: lifestyles, energy efficiency, carbon intensity and population. youtu.be/6XN6Inie6Rw

"Sunlight is everywhere — it falls on the earth in almost unimaginable quantities, bathing us in a steady supply of energy that far exceeds anything we could ever conspire to actually use" ☀️ ☀️ www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

🤔 Can we stop talking about range anxiety now? Another 17,000 public EV chargepoints have been installed in the UK in the last year. That's about 300 new chargepoints added per county ... www.evinfrastructurenews.com/public-charg...

🤔 Have CO2 emissions in China peaked? Amidst a massive rollout of renewable generation, CO2 emissions in China have plateaued, if not decreased slightly, even against a backdrop of continued economic growth.