Madeleine Gabriel

I hate the phrase ‘we apologise for any inconvenience’

It’s usually obvious inconvenience occurred - say, if your Vodafone internet went down for hours

So why not just say ‘we apologise for THE inconvenience’?

In the happy event a customer wasn’t in fact inconvenienced, then you look generous!

This is an interesting case study of a neighbourhood clean heat scheme in California - with some helpful pointers for future schemes (it didn’t go exactly to plan, but ultimately it did work)

😂😩😂

It really would be so helpful if the signs of overwatering your plants were not also the signs of underwatering your plants

How to make electricity cheaper Reforming the levies on energy bills

With electricity pricing in the news again today, we’ve just published a paper setting out Nesta’s position on the best approach to reforming policy costs on bills

www.nesta.org.uk/report/how-t...

We need cheaper electricity to unlock a more effective fuel poverty strategy As fuel poverty rates remain stubbornly high, we call for a stronger role for low-carbon heat, cheaper electricity through levy reform and a move away from deep retrofits in hard-to-treat homes

Fuel poverty and decarbonisation goals can often seem in tension - what would need to change to align them?

My colleague @martinakavan.bsky.social looks at the role cheaper electricity could play. We’re v keen to work further on this theme, and to hear thoughts

www.nesta.org.uk/blog/we-need...

Today, the 1 metre ruling requiring a minimum of 1 metre between a heat pump & property boundaries has been lifted for homes in England, meaning thousands of homeowners can make the first step to getting one.

🔖 Our new explainer outlines the planning process for getting a heat pump: bit.ly/4mAIDo0

One year on, Visit a Heat Pump sees over 1,600 visitors Our research has shown visits make a clear difference to people’s attitudes, knowledge and confidence on heat pumps

🔥 1,600 heat pump visits in one year
🔥 Over 900 hosts signed up
🔥 47 installers registered

www.nesta.org.uk/blog/one-yea...
@codrinacretu.bsky.social @alasdair.co @madgabes.bsky.social @kieranran.bsky.social @markobroin.bsky.social

The @telegraphnews.bsky.social claims that the 'boiler tax' has returned.

Has it? Was it even there in the first place? And what about claims that heat pump demand is "flatlining"?

& did the boiler companies ensure that the boiler tax they collected was returned to 'ripped off' consumers?🧵

Increased bills for higher earners could fund UK energy upgrade, Ofgem says Regulator to consult industry on how to recover network costs via standing charge in a ‘more progressive’ way

If only we already had an established way of funding public spending that sets thresholds by which higher earners pay more 🤷🏻‍♀️

www.theguardian.com/money/2025/a...

What skills and training are heat pump engineers looking for? We found that beyond core technical skills, installers seek training in business management, administration, and system design to support their work

Last year we ran a big survey of UK heat pump installers with @betatalk.bsky.social and @imsheat.bsky.social

We couldn’t put all the data in our main report, so the team is writing follow ups. Here’s a deep dive on what installers say about skills and training

www.nesta.org.uk/project-upda...

Unfortunately here in the UK electricity is roughly four times the price of gas per kWh. It’s something those of us working on clean heating are pushing hard to change (one reason is because of government taxes on electricity). Her point is correct

Testing offers for a coordinated approach to low-carbon heating Nesta partners with the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) to test the effect a coordinated approach might have on low-carbon heating uptake

Full report here: www.nesta.org.uk/report/testi...

This gives us some food for thought. We’re keen to explore if /how neighbourhood schemes can help more people switch to clean heat

The research suggests it’s not a slam dunk. Scheme need to be more financially attractive than alternatives. Reducing hassle alone probably isn’t a big enough pull

Interestingly, people thought they were more likely than their neighbours to be interested in an area-based scheme

When we added in conditions that made costs more attractive, more people chose the coordinated switching option

Giving the option to spread upfront costs over time (at 0% interest) created a statistically significant increase in the % of people choosing low-carbon

We didn’t find any evidence that neighbourhood schemes would shift behaviour simply on virtue of being coordinated

Roughly the same proportion of people chose ‘low carbon’ in the control group (organise it yourself) and the basic coordinated switching group (be part of a scheme)

They were asked to make two choices - first, assuming the two systems cost the same, and second, assuming the low carbon system was more expensive

(We know cost is a big driver, so we wanted to try and separate out cost from other potential influences)

Participants were told they needed to change this boiler and offered a choice between a new boiler and a low carbon heating system. They were randomly assigned to see a ‘control’ offer (organise it yourself) or a ‘coordinated switching’ offer (be part of a scheme)

Would people be more likely to switch to low carbon heating if they could do it as part of an area-based scheme?

In principle, a coordinated scheme could reduce hassle, lower costs & boost confidence, compared to acting alone

We commissioned BIT to do an online experiment to test these ideas…

Thanks!

Dammit, missed an opportunity to start this thread with ‘Since we’re all talking about tariffs’

Understanding heat pump tariffs in the UK A heat pump tariff charges you a special lower rate if you heat your home with an air or ground source heat pump. See if you could save.

Snugg has done a nice guide to UK heat pump tariffs (last updated in January)

www.snugg.com/blog/underst....

EDF boosts heat pump savings with zero standing charge tariff EDF, in partnership with Ideal Heating, is helping more customers save cash and carbon every day, all year round, with a new zero standing charge heat pump tariff

EDF launched a new heat pump tariff today - no electricity standing charge and ‘six hours of discounted energy per day’. It’s tied to their HP offer with Ideal

www.edfenergy.com/media-centre...

All the biggest UK electricity suppliers (and some others) now offer some form of heat pump tariff

Climate crisis on track to destroy capitalism, warns top insurer Action urgently needed to save the conditions under which markets – and civilisation itself – can operate, says senior Allianz figure

It’s good to see insurers speaking up on impacts of climate change.

Heavy rain & prolonged dry weather increase risk to properties from flooding & subsidence. 2024 saw a 2-decade high in UK property insurance claims. This could quickly become unsustainable

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Holes in a colander with sunlight shining through, showing little ‘bites’ taken out of the images where the sun is partially eclipsed

The partial eclipse projected through pinholes in paper

Have probably spent longer than I should trying to photograph the partial eclipse through holes in things

Heathrow Shutdown Shows How Electrified World Depends on One Device A shortage of transformers is causing delays to power projects everywhere, holding trillion-dollar industries hostage—and that was before tariffs.

Good morning to everyone, and especially the Bloomberg crew who just did the deep dive on transformers I’ve been waiting 3 years for someone to write.

And you should read every word of it.

🔌💡
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

How could subsidies incentivise clean heat neighbourhoods? Restructuring public grants and subsidies can accelerate the heat transition, driving positive change

Could grants for low-carbon heating be brought together in new ways to help fund area-based schemes?

@marine-furet.bsky.social sets out some ideas

www.nesta.org.uk/blog/how-cou...

This is an incredible story

Experienced pilot reports safety concerns

Her employers have her diagnosed with bipolar & stop her flying

She fights back and wins. Delta keep appealing - and losing

She wins a final legal battle and eventually gets compensation

Her (male) bosses are… promoted

Love birds and renewables?

Good news: a new study finds that when managed in a way that allows grass and hedges to grow, solar farms have more diversity and abundance of birds than arable land