So the gas grid operator, Sibelga, sent me an SMS to book an appointment to have my gas counter closed via a link. The link doesn't work. And when I did find the right page I am told I cannot make such an appointment online. 🙄

Home Energy Management help needed! With a heat pump now and soon solar panels and a smart meter I need to think about home energy management. Looking for guidance or experience on integrating heat pumps/PV/dynamic tariffs into the best automated package in Brussels or Flanders.

In other positive news, a local charity is crowdsourcing 12 of these pedal buses in Wezembeek-Oppem to replace the diesel buses that ferry kids to gym/swimming. Reaction on the local FB groups is really positive and the kids love it. www.facebook.com/reel/1571124...

Reaching the End of the ICEV Domination: 35 Years of Battery Electric Vehicles in Norway www.mdpi.com/2032-6653/17...

Opted for this quote yesterday. Price is in line with others and his kids go to the same school as mine. He was going to install the panels with a ladder but when he heard I have scaffolding up already he rejuggled his jobs to install my panels on Monday. @solarchase.bsky.social was right.

L'ETS est injustement attaqué. S'il peut et doit être amélioré afin d'en faire un outil à même de financer la décarbonation de l'industrie, le suspendre reviendrait à tirer un trait sur tout ambition climatique. Notre tribune en réponse : www.lemonde.fr/idees/articl...

6/8 The mandate is gone, but the necessity remains. EU storage operators now need to buy a lot more gas to build an energy security buffer ahead of next winter. Not because Brussels says so, but because the European energy system is still hopelessly reliant on gas and LNG to function.

Golden visas for heat pump installers, engineers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters and builders.

Left, Résidence Palace, now in its centenary year. Right, Maelbeek valley. Without the railway to bring construction material direct from the Meuse, this enormous complex would have been inviable. My article on one of urban history's biggest ever garden grabs is in the new Brussels Times Magazine.

It's wild to me how Italy paints 20 year old ETS as the cause of Europe-wide energy challenges when some countries have pretty low prices on average, support the ETS and have used the revenues, which mostly go to countries, to make their industry competitive.

Portugal's EDP 2025 profit rises 44% on renewables reut.rs/4s6aD4H

Interesting results reported by Laborelec from demand response mobilised by Engie in its Flextime product with "super offpeak hours": 15% demand shift representing 8,5 GWh. corporate.engie.be/nl/press/rel...

I don't really know anything about what Christian is talking about but the impression does remind me of Germany's approach to energy.

Will be interesting to follow uptake of this. Basically get a few hours of 'free' electricity mainly on sunny weekend afternoons between March and September. -Good for households who are concerned about full dynamic tariffs. -Everyone can easily schedule dishwasher/washing machine cycles.

Timeliness cleanser. A fairy ring of flowers in my garden!

Along with demands for EUR50/MWh electricity, calls to get rid of marginal pricing and attacks on ETS there are some bonkers things happening in Europe energy policies at the moment

brutal bag of charts by @ashendruk.com www.not-ship.com/america-isnt...

PSA: Clean flexibility can cut Europe’s gas dependence and save up to €300bn/year by 2030. Batteries, heat pumps, EV smart charging & demand response can keep the lights on without fossil gas. Our new report is out now 👉 beyondfossilfuels.org/2026/02/23/c...

I did a short video on the Electrification Action Plan www.linkedin.com/posts/electr... If you don't want to plumb the depths of LinkedIn...

NEW: The upcoming EU fleets law could provide up to 57% of the EV sales carmakers need to reach their 2030 EU targets... But only if lawmakers increase the proposed fleets targets in the Regulation on Clean Corporate Vehicles to require large companies to lead the EV transition. 🧵⤵️

I did a short video on the Electrification Action Plan www.linkedin.com/posts/electr... If you don't want to plumb the depths of LinkedIn...

Anyone have any experience or data on the value of insulating paint? Clearly, not as a replacement for proper insulation. But for an uninsulatable external wall that I have to paint anyways, is it worthwhile?

Quite a major political choice by the UK. There are precedents for the UK refusing to let the US use its bases for military operations, but not many.

Quick reminder that PHEVs suck. The gap between real-world performance and the claimed potential is massive. This has been true for years. The fact that no OEM has published real-world data to try and support PHEVs means they don't have it. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Now this is cool. Fluvius, the Flemish DSO, tested all-electric construction sites the last few weeks with only a limited grid connection to make it realistic. pers.fluvius.be/fluvius-test...

EuropeON, who represent electrical contractors in Europe (and are a member of the Electrification Alliance) have published a paper on energy security. I didn't know about efforts like these below. Makes sense. Paper is here: lnkd.in/erX8DjMa

🧵 THREAD: Energy Empire — The Podcast Clean Energy Needs 1/ For most of my career, people asked why I stuck with solar when it was fringe. My uncle said it was a career mistake. Turns out it wasn’t.

Brussels peeps, Sibelga have released their strategic vision for 2026-2030 and it's not bad. www.sibelga.be/fr/a-propos-... Gas grid investments have been cut in half. Lots more investment in low voltage 400v electrical network, no more hydrogen plans, anticipating a big shift to heat pumps...

Nice report. I got an A2A system last month. The main reason being my house is quite narrow and getting rid of the radiators gave me a lot more flexibility in how I use the space.

Heat pump installers getting tricky questions like ‘what about my pay back on X fuel’, ,or ‘if I’m now keeping the house warmer won’t that cost more?’ can be difficult. hgeek.co/payback

This week, @aroth.bsky.social , @tagliapietra.bsky.social, and I prepared a new policy brief for the ongoing discussions regarding EU electricity governance. As it covers extensive ground, I would like to highlight a few points:

There are lots of climate journalists around, myself included. If you want more reporting on climate, try sharing our stuff, write to editors and demand more such reporting, etc - basically, give them an audience they can't refuse.

‘Well, look, if I’m going to import the cars anyway, then I’d rather import less oil. We may as well import the one that cleans up local air quality and is cheaper to buy.’ The Great Story of the Extraordinary EV boom in Ethiopia www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Romania has decoupled economic growth from pollution faster than anywhere else in EU. Its net greenhouse gas emissions intensity fell 88% between 1990 & 2023, so each euro’s worth of economic activity heats planet 10 times less. Emissions have plunged by 75%. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

"In the many stories I’ve read to my children and grandchildren, not a single one ends with: '...and then the hero gave up'." Paul Polman (born 1956) quotesof.me/quote/f1f8fd...

Hey #industrialdecarb folks, while there's lots of literature now on heat pumps of various sizes and types, & obviously H2 from the mania a few years ago, there's very little to work with on heat BATTERIES of various sizes & types. Please point to good articles, including your own.

The fastest and cheapest way to keep European money at home? Replace the $70billion we send to the US annually for fossil fuels with European energy in European homes, industry and transport.

"Sur un continent sans gaz ni pétrole, la décarbonation de l'économie est l'unique option dont les Européens disposent pour s'émanciper" 👌 @neilmakaroff.bsky.social www.laprovence.com/article/opin...

for something allegedly concerned about the misuse of public money, i would love to know how much public money has been misused to try blacken the names of organisations defending clean air and water, healthy nature and a safe climate

In the battle for our energy future, it's Electrons vs. Molecules. A great primer from @ember-energy.org

I've been cranking numbers. Full year 2025, it looks like nuclear power just about kept its nose ahead of wind and solar. But in H2 2025, while wind didn't quite overtake nuclear, solar did. In 2026 nuclear will drop to third place in the production of clean electricity.

Spain is... doing something special.

NEW🚨EU energy markets will be high on the agenda of EU leaders at the upcoming European Council in March. In this new paper, we propose 3 steps to improve the efficiency of the EU energy system: 🖥️ Open data 🔌 Integrate network planning 📚Alignment of national plans www.bruegel.org/policy-brief...

I recorded a video about energy taxation and the bottom of my t-shirt says 'flex' but looks like it might say 'sex'. www.linkedin.com/posts/electr...

European electricity group urges companies to prioritise physical and cybersecurity “Preparing for, responding to and recovering from both physical and hybrid attacks must be a key element of power companies’ strategies going forward”, says Eurelectric www.cleanenergywire.org/news/europea...

FACTCHECK: Centrica's Chris O'Shea got blanket coverage for claiming electricity will cost more in 2030 than in energy crisis (Chris Stark: "he's wrong on this") I asked Centrica for evidence – they didn’t reply (Bills in crisis were >2x today, before huge govt subsidies) 1/4

600 days to form a government for the Brussels region. Brutal.

Holy moly. Had an incredibly busy day ferrying kids and various meetings around town. Just calculated I did 57km on the e-bike. No way I could have done that in a car. E-bikes for the win. @dlknowles.bsky.social

On energy market design : "we had an intense discussion" during the informal #EUCO said @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu 🚨She promised to come up with "different options" on whether there is a need to change the market design during March EU summit❗️