I hate the phrase ‘we apologise for any inconvenience’ It’s usually obvious inconvenience occurred - say, if your Vodafone internet went down for hours So why not just say ‘we apologise for THE inconvenience’? In the happy event a customer wasn’t in fact inconvenienced, then you look generous!

This is an interesting case study of a neighbourhood clean heat scheme in California - with some helpful pointers for future schemes (it didn’t go exactly to plan, but ultimately it did work)

It really would be so helpful if the signs of overwatering your plants were not also the signs of underwatering your plants

With electricity pricing in the news again today, we’ve just published a paper setting out Nesta’s position on the best approach to reforming policy costs on bills www.nesta.org.uk/report/how-t...

Fuel poverty and decarbonisation goals can often seem in tension - what would need to change to align them? My colleague @martinakavan.bsky.social looks at the role cheaper electricity could play. We’re v keen to work further on this theme, and to hear thoughts www.nesta.org.uk/blog/we-need...

Today, the 1 metre ruling requiring a minimum of 1 metre between a heat pump & property boundaries has been lifted for homes in England, meaning thousands of homeowners can make the first step to getting one. 🔖 Our new explainer outlines the planning process for getting a heat pump: bit.ly/4mAIDo0

🔥 1,600 heat pump visits in one year 🔥 Over 900 hosts signed up 🔥 47 installers registered www.nesta.org.uk/blog/one-yea... @codrinacretu.bsky.social @alasdair.co @madgabes.bsky.social @kieranran.bsky.social @markobroin.bsky.social

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?🧵

If only we already had an established way of funding public spending that sets thresholds by which higher earners pay more 🤷🏻‍♀️ www.theguardian.com/money/2025/a...

Last year we ran a big survey of UK heat pump installers with @betatalk.bsky.social and @imsheat.bsky.social We couldn’t put all the data in our main report, so the team is writing follow ups. Here’s a deep dive on what installers say about skills and training www.nesta.org.uk/project-upda...

Would people be more likely to switch to low carbon heating if they could do it as part of an area-based scheme? In principle, a coordinated scheme could reduce hassle, lower costs & boost confidence, compared to acting alone We commissioned BIT to do an online experiment to test these ideas…

EDF launched a new heat pump tariff today - no electricity standing charge and ‘six hours of discounted energy per day’. It’s tied to their HP offer with Ideal www.edfenergy.com/media-centre... All the biggest UK electricity suppliers (and some others) now offer some form of heat pump tariff

It’s good to see insurers speaking up on impacts of climate change. Heavy rain & prolonged dry weather increase risk to properties from flooding & subsidence. 2024 saw a 2-decade high in UK property insurance claims. This could quickly become unsustainable www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Have probably spent longer than I should trying to photograph the partial eclipse through holes in things

Good morning to everyone, and especially the Bloomberg crew who just did the deep dive on transformers I’ve been waiting 3 years for someone to write. And you should read every word of it. 🔌💡 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

Could grants for low-carbon heating be brought together in new ways to help fund area-based schemes? @marine-furet.bsky.social sets out some ideas www.nesta.org.uk/blog/how-cou...

This is an incredible story Experienced pilot reports safety concerns Her employers have her diagnosed with bipolar & stop her flying She fights back and wins. Delta keep appealing - and losing She wins a final legal battle and eventually gets compensation Her (male) bosses are… promoted

Love birds and renewables? Good news: a new study finds that when managed in a way that allows grass and hedges to grow, solar farms have more diversity and abundance of birds than arable land

Jon Davis cartoon in the Guardian on "how the UK government is tackling the climate crisis" Or any government, for that matter... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Welsh Gov is consulting on planning rules - as my colleague @marine-furet.bsky.social sets out, it’s a good chance to make heat pumps easier to install by removing the ‘3m rule’ - and to avoid making it harder by increasing costs for HP planning applications www.nesta.org.uk/blog/the-wel...

Cars are getting 1cm wider every two years. That may not sound much, but over time it adds up, and they're showing no signs of slowing down 😬 That's #carspreading. Our new campaign is calling on city leaders to make parking policies fairer by varying costs based on the size of a car. Why? 🧵1/8

I generally like David Gauke's writing, but this is really poor on energy prices and net zero I'm afraid. Not going to rebut the whole thing, but a couple of quick points... www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

With all the talk about energy prices, I'm sure you're all asking yourselves how much households other than yours pay for energy. Surely not everyone spends £[insert price cap] a year. Ask no more. Here we explain and chart how things like heating tech, house size and lifestyles affect bills:

Contrary to popular belief, there are only four kinds of bats.

Ofgem gas just confirmed the energy price cap for January - March 2025. But what’s in an energy bill anyway? My colleague @martinakavan.bsky.social has written a great explainer… www.nesta.org.uk/report/whats...

It's only right that my first post here is sharing Scotland's map of named ice gritters. You can follow where they all are in real-time. Some favourites this year: Sir David Attenbrrrrrr Stone Cold Steve Frostin Lord Coldemort You're a blizzard, Harry www.traffic.gov.scot/gritter-trac...

I’ve created a starter pack on heat pumps, including a mix of experts and advocates for a key technology in the climate fight. go.bsky.app/KCLxmj9

It’s great to see gov announce a package of measures to support heat pump rollout today Removing ‘1m rule’ will mean fewer heat pumps need planning permission & make installations quicker & cheaper (NB contrary to some news reporting, noise rules remain in place!) www.gov.uk/government/n...

Right - EPC reform! You know those energy performance certificates that you see on Rightmove? They’re terrible, everyone in the energy sector hates them. But actually reforming them is tricky. My colleague @tomleach.bsky.social tries to chart a way forward www.nesta.org.uk/blog/epcs-ne...

Join us tomorrow to hear key findings on our research on heat pump flexibility and how it can support the national grid ⚡ Sign up to our lunchtime webinar ⬇️

We're working @nestauk.bsky.social on how to help people switch to clean heating via neighbourhood schemes. There are many things we need to test, so we've put out today a call for collaboration on three problems we want to explore further www.nesta.org.uk/project-upda...

This feels like something that we should be absolutely be able to address in setting up a new community here...

🏡We have analysed over 1 million forum interactions to identify what homeowners say about home heating and heat pumps when posting in online forums. 🏡 Read our report and explore our dashboard here: nesta.org.uk/data-visuali... More in thread ⬇️

The data science team at Nesta have been looking at what people have been saying about energy and heating on two online forums (Money Saving Expert and BuildHub). The results are out and the charts are *beautiful*. www.nesta.org.uk/data-visuali...

How do people using smart prepayment meters experience demand flexibility services? @mikefsway.bsky.social & team have published a new report based on interviews with Utilita customers. V relevant in helping think how to make energy transition accessible to all www.nesta.org.uk/project/unde...

We’re really pleased to have launched a new consumer facing website to help people find out more about heat pumps, in collaboration with MCS Foundation and supported by Which? and Energy Saving Trust. If you thinking of getting a heat pump, try getaheatpump.org.uk (And ofc, feedback welcomed!)

Want to know what it’s like living with a heat pump? Free on 8 October, 12-1? Then join a virtual tour with Nesta and heat pump owner Lucy Haden - she’ll give a virtual tour and answer questions online. Sign up details 👇🏻 www.nesta.org.uk/event/inside...

It’s price cap day, so here’s a quick explainer on what it is, and what’s changed - for all those who don’t spend their spare time poring over Ofgem spreadsheets 🤓 The energy price cap — an explainer medium.com/all-you-can-...

One of the big failures of policy makers is not paying attention to how a new policy is actually going to work. Who's going to do it? How? The design team @nestauk.bsky.social have been using a Policy Blueprinting approach to this. Here's how we think it works... www.nesta.org.uk/project-upda...

*New piece* Do heat pumps work in rural areas? YES! Rural areas are where most UK heat pumps are, actually. In his net zero speech, Rishi Sunak slowed down the switch to heat pumps in rural areas. Instead, he should have been trying to accelerate it... www.nesta.org.uk/blog/do-heat...