eco Nick

Behaving like a dictator

I agree. HKD Energy funded a new air to air heating system at Southwater Church Room - which is now loads more comfortable. The old night storage heaters can be chucked out.

Commercial interest rates are higher than the cost of government borrowing. So for infrastructure projects private finance is stupidity!

I wonder who funds the CPS? Cui bono?
Ah, yes. That’a secret, isn’t it?

My analysis here not only explains why the CPS numbers are wrong - but estimates that if they'd got their own arithmetic right, they would have concluded that migrants are a large long-term fiscal *benefit*. (3/3)

docs.google.com/document/d/e...

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 £963,425,704 so far this year! wastedwind.energy. So crazy - switch the grid to regional pricing & put the AI data centres in the places where power is lost from switch offs.

It doesn’t matter if you’re working class or a billionaire: climate change will hurt your grandchildren.

That’s why I cannot understand oil executives who sacrifice the planet’s health for their short-term profits

We must transform our energy system away from fossil fuels NOW.

Stupidity in the council resolution is breath-taking

Reform UK want a new nuclear reactor at Dungeness, on Kent coast. A site already needing continual maintenance to stop it being undermined by sea level rise

A new reactor there, with waste fuel stored for a century, would be a complete liability

Good going. How are you on the heat demand and airtightness metrics?

'Quiet sense of pride': Large majority of Brits back ambitious climate action Poll of over 7,000 people reveals strong support for clean energy, nature restoration, and climate action - but a deep disillusionment with politics and the cost of living remains

5/4

AND....

A much larger poll than Times one published today by More in Common shows "strong support" for clean energy, and that concern over climate change has become "a unifier in time of polarisation"

Clearly some newspapers don't want a united Britain

www.businessgreen.com/news/4518762...

UK Government needs to adopt proportional representation both for Labour to survive in office and to solve this short termism problem

Keynote at #Tyndall25UEA conference by @goneri76.bsky.social He links zero CO2 by 2050 with Paris 1.5°C commitment without overshoot, etc. I really can’t see how this can be possible. Latest 50% 1.5°C carbon budget is ~90GtCO2 from start 2026; just over 2 yrs of current global CO2.
#CriticalDecade

That also implies discussion of double versus triple and the respective u-values

Real retrofit costs compared to those reported on EPCs

How do you heat a city with freezing cold seawater?

The answer lies in Esbjerg, Denmark, where one of the world's largest heat pumps is transforming the North Sea into a sustainable energy source.

The use of 2012 carbon factors probably means that all the carbon budgets recommended by @CCC will be over-aggressive on housing (but their remaining carbon budgets estimate is far too generous for UK so that’s a good thing).

Your data seems incomplete. The methodology changed on 15 June 2025 to RdSAP10. Heat pumps are now being recommended. An EPC I did on 6th August has a recommendation for a heat pump. The methodology still isn’t perfect - uses 2012 carbon factors - doh!!! - but it’s a bit better (1/2)

The UK’s year of climate U-turns exposes a deeper failure Breaking free of the dangerous pretence that current efforts suffice demands a fundamental rethink of the UK’s climate policy consensus.

New piece on Carbon Colonialism, net-zero nonsense, and how the UK Government's climate advisors (and many experts) shy away from speaking truth to power. We need a fundamental reboot of climate policy; - physics doesn't care about political sensibilities. theconversation.com/the-uks-year...

Heat pumps could halve heating bills with energy system reform, study finds Steps to make electricity cheaper, such as ending levies, could transform prospects for pumps, thinktank shows

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Agree wholly. The government should just get on with this, no further foot dragging.

Nature loss will cut UK GDP by 5% without action from private sector, say experts Report finds regenerative approach could yield economic benefits while helping to meet environmental targets

Sharp contrast

A 5% loss of UK GDP by end of decade from nature degradation. WWF (and UK govt) say business investment in nature needs to lead in preventing this

Meanwhile Prime Minister & Chancellor declare war on bats & newts, strip away nature protections

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Primarily I’d class that as maintenance not retrofit. If like-for-like there’s no payback. If condensing in place of non- , then efficiency gain might give a 10 year payback? It is reasonable to deduct the maintenance costs before calculating the ROI; and the “investment” may then be nil.

So it’s the overall payback that matters - ASHP, solar PV, battery, (insulation, ventilation), … I’ll have to live till I’m about 150 - but nicely warm!

Does it slump down over time, like cellulose cavity wall insulation? I guess thermal imaging would answer this.

In a heatwave, get your facts right - Owens Insight Times leader article makes elementary errors about heat transmission through double and triple glazing and proposes AC instead of insulation, so setting back net zero.

They have a similar incorrect downer on triple glazed windows. Detail here www.owensinsight.com/econicks-ene....
Forcing publication of an error correction sounds like delicious revenge. . .

Can we have one for Hassocks please - it’s crying out for a modern wind turbine up on the South Downs near the Jack & Jill windmills - a windy site with a history of wind power. Connect the past with the present!

Say No to New AI Data Centre Powered By Drax Drax, the University of York and the North Yorkshire Combined Authority have just submitted a bid to host an AI data centre at Drax, powered by burning millions of trees. The Government recently de...

I just signed a @stopburningtrees.bsky.social petition: Say No to New AI Data Centre Powered By Drax. Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/sa... tree burning is not zero carbon over the next 50 years, so not good enough.

Picture of dirty filters from an MVHR ventilation system

This is 6 months in a suburban/rural location. The dirtiest one is the F7 supply, the other is the G4 extract

Must express my appreciation for the Kirk Hill wind turbines and the Kirk Hill cooperative. Doing a great job generating electricity and very well sited.

Generative AI features are already making profit vs companies like Microsoft hiding additional fees 🤔