Tom Hyde

Agreed, this has to be big in scale to make it interesting. Also the comparison to lithium-ion may not be the correct benchmark with new battery tech coming to market. Donut industries stuff around solid state has gone a little quiet since the CES announcement.

Extraordinary. Think about it every day at the moment.

Oh I agree - I was working on the Code for Sustainable Homes at BRE at the time and when they 'cut the green crap' we lost a pipeline to have go to zero carbon homes nearly a decade ago just because they got lobbied into it. They even stopped local authorities setting standards beyond building regs

Its a downside of legal precedent being the basis of everything that happens in the UK. Everything is up for debate and continually changing. Also thatcher completely gutting the state really changed how we very everything other than the NHS.

There are papers drawing comparisons and there are differences between countries. The fundamental difference is that the state has a strong role through plans and regulations. If proposals adhere to these there isn't all the committee drama and debate about legislation and policy interpretation.

I'm a chartered town planner myself but ive essentially left the sector as I find it all a bit depressing, the quality/design of all these new urban extensions is just depressing. For planners it's all turned into legal arguments around interpretation of policy and case law most of the time.

I agree market adjustments are needed also through and tax. No one ever talks about land agents who are co-ordinating with those looking to release land and taking a cut. The local plan allocation process asks the market how towns and cities should grow, why! The Europeans don't build like this...

On the back of SDS's and local plans the government/lLAs should be assembling the land for houses and infrastructure. If land is identified it should be CPO'd. At the EA we scope out what we want, contractors build to our needs. Housing should be the same, the state is the client.

Zubimendi other than 2 sloppy errors has been excellent and added a few goals we weren't expecting. He's basically played every game so I'm not surprised a few mistakes creep in.

Prince William: Stop charging taxpayers for an empty prison Dartmoor Prison has been empty for over 18 months after toxic gas made it unsafe. Yet, with no prisoners inside, taxpayers are still forking out around £4 million every year in rent to Prince William’...

I just signed this petition calling on Prince William to end the rent on Dartmoor Prison while it remains empty and unsafe and save millions in public money. It only takes a few seconds - please add your name. you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/pr...

The utterly shameless & widely covered "report" out today, claiming net zero will "cost" £9tn is based on:

* Assuming free fossil-fuel energy, free petrol cars, free gas boilers, free gas power plants etc

AND

* Including climate damages in the "cost" of net zero

I kid you not, it is that stupid

YouTube video by Just Have a Think This is not the video I had planned to make.

Here is an excellent summary of last week's National Emergency Briefing in London. Well worth a watch and please sign the letter to the Prime Minister linked at the end.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sa7...
#climatechange #impacts #energy #health #tippingpoints #nationalsecurity #foodsecurity

Welcome! You are invited to join the global launch of the Earth Rover Program and the release of our inaugural report, which explores how a new scientific concept, ‘soilsmology’, is shaking up our und... We are delighted to invite you to the global launch of the Earth Rover Program and the release of our inaugural report, ‘Soilsmology: Transforming our Understanding of Soil’, which explores how an eme...

This is turning into one of the biggest Zoom meetings since the pandemic. Don't forget to register in advance if you want to join. 1400 GMT *this Friday* (December 5th): us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

We need to upgrade the grid but could need to build far less if they introduced regional pricing and encouraged development where the power is!

Wasted Wind Britain wastes millions a day switching off wind turbines. See how much has been wasted today, and in 2025.

Great Britain wastes £180,000 every hour switching off wind turbines and overpaying gas generators to switch on. That's £1,342,787,337 so far this year! wastedwind.energy

Going to give this a Saturday morning plug.
If you want a little dive into the hottest topic in the energy world right now - whether we can still blame gas for high energy bills - this is your piece

Is gas still the reason energy bills are so high? Despite rising non-commodity costs on energy bills, high gas prices remain the primary reason for expensive energy for most British households, making the switch to homegrown energy a top priority

There's lots more in the blog, including why it's not as a simple as "non-commodity costs are all down to net zero" either.

Thanks to @mashley.bsky.social for doing a lot of the analysis behind this (which you'll hopefully see more of soon!)

GB is actually a lot higher in this area than I realised.

Not quite sure I would say asking just under 8,000 people a mega poll... also we've got nearly 4 years to go. As much as I don't like labour policy on a lot of things right now things can change a lot (I can only hope)

Luckily I don't think anyone cares about what he or any conservative says on this. They seem to think that just saying the opposite of what they did in gov will win back votes. I'm surely also they are taking the last dregs of fossil fuel money they can get.

Nketiah scored 35 goals for arsenal - Is that correct? Seems a bit high.

China enlists solar panels in war to halt desert sands In arid northern China, dozens of workers prune goji berry bushes that stretch out under the protective shade of thousands of solar panels.

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

China is halting the expansion of the gobi desert by planting goji berries beneath solar panels.

The shade reduces heat and water stress on the plants.

Excellent

I wish that were true but I fear that the majority of people don't really read their policies and pledges!

Imagine all cars were electric, and then one Volkswagen engineer comes up with another idea …

#EMobility

Why every Sankey diagram you've ever seen is wrong The current debate over the Primary Energy Fallacy, has shone a light on the humble Sankey diagram. But what if those diagrams are missing something increasingly important?

Why every Sankey diagram you've ever seen is wrong. open.substack.com/pub/mliebrei...

Lib Dems: We have 12x Reform's MPs, can we have the same coverage?

BBC: But Reform has 2x your poll rating. If there were an election tomorrow, they'd be running the country.

Lib Dems: So you're putting their people and policies under scrutiny, right?

BBC:

Lib Dems: Right?

I just don't think he suits the current generation of cars. The margins are so tight. Also F1 is just terrible to watch now... Who wants to watch the same drs overtakes for 60 laps.

Privatisation of UK industries is driving cost of living crisis, says Greens leader Zack Polanski calls mass privatisation a ‘failed experiment’ as report finds it has cost UK households £250 a year more

“Decades of failed privatisation. From soaring water bills to crumbling rail services ... ordinary people pay the price”

@paulnowaktuc.bsky.social in @theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Silly Jimmy Kimmel. He should have just called for all homeless people to be killed and he’d still have a job.

While the Home Office wastes resources arresting people peacefully opposing genocide, the rise of the far right, fuelled by racist agitators and foreign billionaires whipping up hatred in our communities, continues unchecked.

When will the govt get their priorities in order?