1. Get incentives right between electricity and gas. Right now we are subsidising pollution in domestic heat. Various options out there and government has committed to deliver.
Mar 31, 2023 • 17 tweets • 5 min read
A personal thread on retrofit, on a train journey after attending one of the Government energy efficiency taskforce sub-group meetings (for avoidance of doubt, these are my views and no way reflect the discussions that took place)....
I still feel the wider debate is too caught up in technology tussles or pointing at different future scenarios with big numbers.
This is all about people (call them consumer, voters, citizens or whatever).
Feb 24, 2023 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
One of the most exciting projects as part of the hugely ambitious Prospering from the Energy Revolution programme was @_Project_LEO in Oxfordshire. Doing the hard yards turning the smart system we all put on a powerpoint into something real....
The team (which include @ssencommunity) has just released their final report. You can find it here (the website is well worth an explore)...
Reports today that one idea the Government is considering to deal with the winter energy crisis is allowing GPs to 'prescribe' vulnerable patients help with their energy bills.
Cue universal condemnation. A thread on why I think this is a good idea...
Some context. Even without the current horrific bill rises, fuel poverty is a significant and persistent problem in the UK.
Oct 19, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
So, had a chance to smash through the Net Zero Strategy and the Exec Summary of Heat and Buildings Strategy.... Some updated thoughts on what it means for low carbon heat sector.
As I mentioned earlier the regulatory/market edges, if they survive consultation, are potentially game-changing:
✅intention to phase out the installation of new natural gas boilers from 2035
✅Future Homes Standard in new build 2025 (10 years too late, but still welcome)
Oct 19, 2021 • 19 tweets • 6 min read
What to make of Heat and Buildings Strategy announcements? (will update once the actual strategy has been released)
Three tests for me:
❓will it make it easier for consumers to switch to low carbon heating
❓will it encourage the businesses/heating engineers we @EnergySysCat work with to switch their focus to low carbon installs
❓does it enable local action
Sep 28, 2021 • 25 tweets • 6 min read
At the weekend, I bemoaned the apparent absence of market liberals in energy.
So perhaps only fair to deal with the one area where the challenge to market liberals is most profound: what to do about new nuclear power....
It has become a bit of cliché but the strategic case for nuclear remains strong. Our analysis sees a potentially important role for both large-scale nukes and Small Modular Reactors.
This Spectator leader column seems to rally against both suppliers going bust in the retail energy market and the lack of gas storage in the UK. And energy policy over the past 10 years is squarely blamed.... (a thread)
First of all, for a market liberal, suppliers going bust is not always a bad thing. Yes, it is terrible for the people who have lost jobs, but business models based on failing to hedge your key commodity and selling stuff for less than you buy it for is rightly doomed.
Sep 10, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Nice article by @emilygosden on the current electricity price spikes, and what it might tell us about the future energy market...
‘The situation in recent days is another postcard from the future energy system - we would expect a system with more wind and solar on it to create spikier wholesale prices - sometimes negative, sometimes high.
May 20, 2021 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
We @EnergySysCat are delighted to be running the Energy Digitalisation Taskforce, w.@Laura_Sandys. Ensuring the energy system captures the potential of digitalisation is an urgent challenge.
But do taskforces work? Lessons from Energy Data TF (thread)
es.catapult.org.uk/news/energy-di…
Taskforces often get a bad rap.
'How are we going to get out of this awkward spot we have found ourselves in?' asks desperate minister.
'What about a taskforce, minister?' says Sir Humphrey.
Sounds like Gov't acting with urgency, but rather kicking can down the road.
Apr 2, 2021 • 26 tweets • 7 min read
Some thoughts on this thread, that @JonathanWaxman1 put together on why he was against some of the findings on @EnergySysCat recent report on the future of power markets....
First, I think the word market can be problematic. Markets are social constructs, they do not just magically appear. Ones that work well often tend to have elaborate rules, backed up by regulators and law, as well as social norms.
Mar 31, 2021 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
The first phase of Electricity Market Reform transformed the UK's power sector.
But navigating to a smarter grid - where supply is more variable and demand more flexible - requires a new power market design.
@jojohubba from @ElectronDLT: “Markets are best placed to determine what technologies need to be built and where. Our experience developing local energy markets underlines the cost efficiencies and speed that this approach supports....
Dec 23, 2020 • 25 tweets • 6 min read
Finally found the time to digest the Energy White Paper properly. Here is the slowest hot take ever (thread).
TL;DR: The WP (rightly) mainly focuses on progressing some chunky tech decisions. It also reveals several emerging faultlines that still need to to be resolved...
Big clean power tech delivery: delighted to see moves on nuclear, CCUS, offshore wind (inc. floating), building on announcements in the 10-point plan. We are going to need a bucket-load of low carbon power. So moving into negotiations with EDF on Sizewell very welcome step.
Nov 22, 2020 • 21 tweets • 5 min read
Some reflections on the PM's 10-point climate plan, now I have had a chance to read the main document thoroughly (including trying to read between the lines).
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
First, to underline the points I made in this thread. This is a big step forward in ambition. It shows evidence the Government is willing to take political risk, most obviously with the 2030 decision on ICEs.
Some thoughts on the PM 10-point package. First, the politics. This is the first substantial climate intervention by a PM since the start of the coalition. That matters. It gives a clear signal outside and, just as importantly, inside Government that this is a priority....
Second, the 2030 ban on new ICE cars and vans is a huge step, and carries real political risk. This underlines the seriousness of intent. Such a regulatory move is much more important for innovators/investors than subsidy, which is why moans about money committed is overdone....
Sep 18, 2020 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
A thread on nuclear in the UK, in light of the unsurprising, although disappointing, decision by Hitachi to walk away from Wylfa....
Our analysis @EnergySysCat finds that the strategic case for nuclear remains robust. We think it is likely low regrets to commit to 10GW of nuclear beyond HPC (there is a recording of an excellent webinar discussion of the findings at the link).
This is a tour-de-force from @MLiebreich on the potential for improvements in energy efficiency -- so much more than lagging. Key line, for me, among many: "Digitization is an all-round energy efficiency game-changer...."
"... enabling more efficient use of built infrastructure from office desks to water pipes, highway lanes to parking spaces...."
Apr 24, 2020 • 23 tweets • 6 min read
On a very warm Friday afternoon, a short thread on my experience with @tado this winter and what it might mean for the decarbonisation of the UK's homes (1/n)
For those of you who don't know, Tado is a system that allows you to control the temperature of your home room-by-room. You have to change your radiator valves, which is pretty easy, and then everything is connected to your app (see picture)
Feb 12, 2019 • 21 tweets • 8 min read
(part 2) Last week @BristolEnergy were the first company to trial selling heat as a service in our Lab. es.catapult.org.uk/news/bristol-e…
Our experience in our trials is that most consumers really like this. They like the control and they quickly begin to understand how what they pay relates to what service they get, and adjust accordingly. That is a long way from the current low level of understanding of energy.
Feb 12, 2019 • 25 tweets • 6 min read
How to decarbonise heating is probably the thorniest problem in UK energy policy. Here is are a couple of (too long) threads on how we @EnergySysCat approach the problem….
1. Start with the consumer, not the technology (or the top-down model)
Oct 5, 2018 • 23 tweets • 6 min read
Lot of attention, understandably, on the PM announcement this week on freezing fuel duty. Inevitably controversial. But it does raise the question of whether road transport is under or over taxed from a carbon pricing point of view (thread)
We @EnergySysCat are looking closely at carbon pricing. It is pretty clear that if you want to create energy markets that encourage low carbon innovation and identify cost-effective decarbonisation across different vectors, consistent carbon pricing would be a big help.
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