Richard Lowes

What does an energy governance failure look like? How about the same road seeing gas mains replaced and the installation of a district heating network AT THE SAME TIME. I present the A259 and… | Rich... What does an energy governance failure look like? How about the same road seeing gas mains replaced and the installation of a district heating network AT THE SAME TIME. I present the A259 and surroun...

What does an energy governance failure look like? How about the same road getting a replacement gas pipe and a heat network at the same time?

www.linkedin.com/posts/richar...

Shockproof: how electrification can strengthen EU energy security | Ember Electrification, using homegrown clean power, is the main tool to reduce the EU’s exceptionally high and risky dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Ember demonstrating, in numbers, how electrification is central to reducing energy imports in Europe. Heat pumps in the Netherlands are already reducing gas demand in homes by around 10%! ember-energy.org/latest-insig...

Tens of thousands of homes insulated under government schemes need repairs Insulation programmes costing billions of pounds have led to widespread problems with damp and mould.

Such a depressing situation when solid wall insulation can have such an incredible positive impact when installed properly. Designing the policy to deliver it as cheaply as possible without appropriate safeguards was never going to end well: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Tens of thousands of homes insulated under government schemes need repairs Insulation programmes costing billions of pounds have led to widespread problems with damp and mould.

Such a depressing situation when solid wall insulation can have such an incredible positive impact when installed properly. Designing the policy to deliver it as cheaply as possible without appropriate safeguards was never going to end well: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Careers Are you ready to put your passion for a cleaner energy future to work? Join the RAP team. RAP is seeking collaborators who are enthusiastic about clean energy. We’re looking for curiosity, humor and i...

The brilliant Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) is looking for two UK based people to join our team as HR assistant and people operations coordinator. Please share. www.raponline.org/who-we-are/c...

I'm delighted to share two new translations of version 2 of our global heat pump policy toolkit, one in French and one in Polish (these sit alongside the English and Korean versions). This is a key international resource for growing clean heating. www.raponline.org/toolkit/heat...

North Sea liabilities may already be larger than future sales revenues implying this may have significant costs. But more fundamentally, the quicker you deplete an already declining basin, the more rapidly you become exposed to more imports.

Proper energy strategy needed.

Fra næste år vil regeringen næsten helt fjerne elafgiften I første omgang får forbrugerne billigere strøm i to år, men regeringen afviser ikke at gøre nedsættelsen permanent.

Denmark is proposing removing nearly all tax from electricity bills from next year and taking it down to the EU minimum required level. Will knock off around 5p/kWh. www.dr.dk/nyheder/indl...

Help needed: I'm looking for the best case studies of governments around the world actively reducing the (relative) price of electricity for households (ideally to actively support electrification). So far I have Germany, The Netherlands, Massachusetts, Sweden, Denmark. Thx

Three hard truths about air-to-air heat pumps. | Richard Lowes Three hard truths about air-to-air heat pumps.

Three hard truths about air-to-air heat pumps. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

Blowing hot and cold: Reflecting the potential value of air-to-air heat pumps in UK energy policy Air-to-air systems are air-source heat pumps where the useful heat is distributed into a building as warm air rather than warm water, which is used in Richard Lowes explores the potential for air-to-a...

Perhaps someone thinks the Boiler Upgrade Scheme reform might be a good opportunity. Some detailed thinking from me a couple of years ago here: www.raponline.org/knowledge-ce...

Boiling Britain: How air conditioning could become a political priority in the UK Politicians blowing hot air won’t solve Britain’s record-breaking hot summers.

It's getting pretty boring/weird seeing campaign groups obsess over air con. It's not blocked - in fact planning permission now allows it for most existing homes. And it won't reduce carbon. Not sure this is London bubble thinking or a funded campaign.
www.politico.eu/article/brit...

Full interview here with the why and how we could do pylon support better. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

Great letter from Dr Richard Lowes, Exeter University + RegulatoryAssistance Project on the continuing insane electricity pricing conditions given the need to incentivise clean energy uptake.

Still no published plan (promised by Boris Johnson in 2022)
www.ft.com/content/4931...

Reminder that electricity is stacked with levies and a carbon tax and gas gets a free pass, fundamentally imbalancing the market.

While a heat pump specific payment might deliver a few heat pumps, it won't solve fundamentals and is at risk of cancellation. Wider reform needed.

Update. My letter has today, been published.

Letter: Government must slash electricity prices to boost green tech - on.ft.com/4lM5Xhp via @FT

I wrote a letter to the FT two weeks ago about bringing down electricity costs, which was never published. | Richard Lowes I wrote a letter to the FT two weeks ago about bringing down electricity costs, which was never published. Today government has said it will not reform the power market to reflect more local issues, d...

Very frustrating news on (no) electricity market reform in GB. Some thoughts.

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Careers Are you ready to put your passion for a cleaner energy future to work? Join the RAP team. RAP is seeking collaborators who are enthusiastic about clean energy. We’re looking for curiosity, humor and i...

Like energy policy? Excellent communicator? Want to be at the leading edge of the energy transition?

New energy and climate comms job with @regassistproj.bsky.social as communications lead in our Europe programme.

www.raponline.org/who-we-are/c...

-Reducing the demand for cooling is sensible at the design stage.
-Normal air to water heat pumps (with rads) are not normally well suited to provide cooling. (2/2)

Air-con is a fever dream in boiling Britain A creaking power grid and high energy bills mean we may have to put up with the sweltering heat

I spoke to the Telegraph yesterday about air-con.

TLDR
-Get it if you need it.
-Despite what some commentators say, it's not banned.
-Air to air heat pumps will not magically clean up the UK's buildings en masse, but they might help. (1/2)

www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

Progress in reducing emissions 2024 Report to Parliament - Climate Change Committee Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 36 (1) of the Climate Change Act 2008. This report was laid…

Good to see progress on the UK's journey to clean energy and a healthy climate and great to see the @thecccuk.bsky.social leading with the importance of electricity prices.

Reminder, it was the Johnson government which first committed to doing something in 2022.
www.theccc.org.uk/publication/...

This is such a good idea I LOVE IT.

Was on Times Radio on Saturday talking about the heat wave and air-con with I hope, some useful tips.

Flexing industrial muscle: Electrifying process heat with electro-thermal energy storage European industry is a very large user of heat: around 1,900 TWh each year for a range of low- to high-temperature processes. Electrification of this RAP analyses the opportunities and benefits associ...

How can we electrify industrial heat and at the same time unlock valuable flexibility for the grid? Electro-thermal energy storage (ETES) might just be the answer:

New policy brief together with @elianpusceddu

www.raponline.org/knowledge-ce...

#energysky

Simple, because it allows more local decisions to be made and gives more efficient outcomes (cheaper costs). RAP's power system blueprint has this explainer on what LMP is and why people might want to support it blueprint.raponline.org/locational-m...

Switching to more granular 'locational marginal pricing' is currently being discussed as part of plans to reform the UK electricity market. But what is it? And why do the economists and independent voices like it?

We got there in the end! Well done to all involved. But that took a long time and there was a huge amount of mis-information on the way. I just found this post from February 2022.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article....

We hope it can be a useful guide to those working on energy policy with an interest in heating. If you have any questions or requests for regulatory and policy assistance, please do reach out.

Thanks to everyone who has worked on this. It's been quite a few years! (2/2).

RAP expertise on clean heating in Europe | Richard Lowes The Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP)'s Europe programme has been tackling the issue of how to drive clean heating for well over half a decade. This primer, published today, describes our work ...

The @regassistproj.bsky.social Europe programme has been tackling the issue of how to drive clean heating for well over half a decade. This primer, published today, describes our work on heating and provides links to all of our public research (1/2).

www.linkedin.com/posts/richar...

Don't look up.