Like me, solar panels don't like heat waves! Degradation rates roughly double for every 10°C increase. Silicon cells used to lose 0.44% output every degree it warms, but over the last decade that fell by one third, now they lose only 0.3% per °C. More here: doi.org/10.1016/j.rs...

Solar PV has gone from green fringe to the dominant power technology. Output is decided by (1) the environment around them, and (2) the system built around them. Two review papers, free to read, 700+ sources, charts with pretty colours! Tech: doi.org/10.1016/j.rs... Env: doi.org/10.1016/j.rs...

A battery beside a wind or solar farm can be worth less than the same battery on its own. Our new paper in the @rsc.org EES journal maps where hybrid storage adds value, and where it does not. Free to read → doi.org/10.1039/d6ee...

The UK’s AI race is all about electricity. 70% of data centre capacity lies within 20 miles of London. They block new homes being built because the grid can’t cope. We must look beyond - to places with clean power and strong grid access. Read in full: reports.electricinsights.co.uk

So often I see posts showing that the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining, or that power prices are crazily high... But today, with oil and gas markets in total meltdown, British electricity prices keep calm while renewables do the hard work. electricinsights.co.uk

Cutting meat by 30% ≈ flying 70% less ≈ 1/6 of cars electric ≈ decarbonising nearly all cement plants. 🌍 Dr @iain-staffell.bsky.social and Dr Nathan Johnson show ~20 such ‘climate wedges’ are needed to limit warming to 1.5°C. #ClimateAction #NetZero

There is no single “correct” path to decarbonise. There are six trillion. Our new paper in Science puts 36 climate solutions into one common unit, so you can build your own pathways. Paper: doi.org/10.1126/scie... App: climatewedges.com What would your pathway look like?

It was very interesting developing these short @apolitical.bsky.social courses for civil servants on electricity grids, featuring a range of Imperial experts, including @iain-staffell.bsky.social. Any non-experts in government looking to learn about future electricity networks, check these out! 👇

Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment@granthamicl.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Built for public servants at any level working across the energy ecosystem, we've partnered with @apolitical.bsky.social to create two practical self-paced courses that teach: ⚡How electricity systems work ow.ly/3r8s50YcbSp 🔌How to future-proof electricity grids ow.ly/1ciR50YcbSL Sign-up today ✍️

We are all used to stories of the UK in decline… Electricity is no exception: demand has fallen for 20 years as we outsource industry. But Britain has turned a corner: demand up two years in a row. AI data centres now consume more power than Birmingham and could 4x by 2030.

MISLEADING: A new academic paper by @qmul.bsky.social has attracted significant media attention by claiming that EVs & heat pumps deliver no proven carbon savings in UK ahead of 2030 clean power target - and should therefore be postponed. Here is why this paper should never have been published.🧵

What do people in oil & gas and climate activists disagree on? Not “is climate change real”... The clash is on pace + trust. How fast can we change without unacceptable disruption? Can the fossil industry be trusted as part of the climate solution? www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Dr Iain Staffell@iain-staffell.bsky.social · 7mo ago

We interviewed UK climate activists and oil & gas employees on what the energy transition should look like. I expected polarisation. Instead: surprising shared ground on urgency, cutting demand, and how government must set the pace. Can we achieve more together? www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Clean energy cost projections that ignore actual financing terms are wishful thinking. Cool new paper finally gives empirical, national-level WACC for 10 key technologies across 176 countries. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

UK-based high density pumped hydro firm RheEnergise has successfully generated electricity for the first time - they tell me they hit their full output capacity of 500 kilowatts. Here's my piece from late last year which discusses their tech: share.google/gomKZ5pZ4aEG...

Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Is Having a Renaissance

As the world looks to incorporate more renewables into energy grids, centuries-old systems that can balance supply and demand are being reappraised and innovated upon.

share.google

We interviewed UK climate activists and oil & gas employees on what the energy transition should look like. I expected polarisation. Instead: surprising shared ground on urgency, cutting demand, and how government must set the pace. Can we achieve more together? www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Consensus and dissent between climate activists and oil and gas employees in the United Kingdom

Earth sciences; Climatology; Social sciences; Research methodology social sciences

cell.com

Where did Britain get its electricity from in 2025? Explore the data for yourself on the Electric Insights dashboard: www.electricinsights.co.uk#/dashboard?p...

Where did Britain get its electricity from in 2025? 🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️ 🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️ 🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️ 🌬️🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌳🌳🌳 🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌊☢️☢️☢️☢️ ☢️☢️☢️☢️☢️☢️☢️☢️🔥🔥 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🇳🇱🇧🇪🇩🇰🇩🇰🇳🇴 🇳🇴🇳🇴🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷 Explore the data for yourself on the Electric Insights dashboard: www.electricinsights.co.uk#/dashboard?p...

Britain's electricity demand has turned a corner. After twenty years of de-industrialisation... electric cars, heat pumps and data centres meant demand grew by 3% this year. And that growth was more than met by renewables, so emissions keep falling. www.thetimes.com/business/ene...

Demand for electricity in UK surges after two decades of decline

Electric vehicles, heat pumps and AI data centres are driving a new era of electrification, with renewables helping to meet the extra demand

thetimes.com

If you do any cost analysis or economics for energy then stop assuming 8% is your discount rate! Getting specific data on costs of capital was a nightmare, until now: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Historical and future projected costs of capital for ten energy technologies across 176 countries - Scientific Data

Scientific Data - Historical and future projected costs of capital for ten energy technologies across 176 countries

nature.com

Batteries are now Britain’s biggest form of energy storage. More than 6 GW installed and ~45 GW already consented or being built! But, batteries aren't going to solve the problems of wind curtailment... Long-duration storage is the next big challenge.

Do climate conferences actually achieve anything? A lot of people have strong opinions, but we wanted measurements, so we look at how the stock market moves during yearly international meetings called COPs – explanation below, or read the paper here: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

Dirty or damaged solar panels waste vast amounts of clean power. Introducing SolarSynthNet: a deep learning model that spots cracks, dust & snow. It's the new state-of-the-art with 97%+ detection accuracy and is built for real-world farms. Paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

SolarSynthNet (SSN): A deep learning framework for binary and multiclass classification of damaged or obstructed solar panels using images

The rapid rise in solar photovoltaic (PV) installations globally drives demand for tools to optimize system operations and maintenance. Machine learni…

sciencedirect.com

Climate models have underestimated the departure of high temperature extremes from monthly means. If we assume these model biases persist in future projections, then the climate models are also likely underestimating the magnitude of future high temperature extremes. www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Historical model biases in monthly high temperature anomalies indicate under-estimation of future temperature extremes - Communications Earth & Environment

Models tend to underestimate mean monthly maximum temperature anomalies by 2-3% and extreme anomalies by 11-12% over the period 1980 and 2023, which could lead to temperatures 3 °C to 5 °C higher than...

nature.com

1/ New study @UniLUT on the techno-economic potential of global offshore wind power doi.org/10.1016/j.ap.... Potential within 200 NM & 1000 m depth adds up to 27.3 TW or 66200 TWh, with 2/3 on floating foundations. Economic potential is projected to grow, with declining costs.

The UK is installing solar panels at its fastest rate in over a decade! renewablesnow.com/news/uk-inst...

There will be no transition without transmission! Power grids are the hidden star of the net-zero story. Our new study maps how Europe's Transmission System Operators are using innovation to keep ahead. From NWAs to AI, see what they are doing here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

How do electricity TSOs embrace innovation to future-proof their role in the energy transition?

Access to electricity is the lifeblood of modern society. Electricity grids are undergoing transformative changes, driven mainly by decarbonization, d…

sciencedirect.com

🕯️ The recent blackout in Spain & Portugal shows how the grid is the front-lines of the energy transition. ⚡ Innovation is key to keeping the lights on. Our new study reveals what Europe's TSOs are rolling out to stop it happening again... 📕 See where they are betting big: doi.org/10.1016/j.es...

Global hydrogen demand has grown 𝟯𝘅 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 than the experts predicted. For 50 years, analysts have projected rapid uptake (6-15% pa.). Instead hydrogen has tracked global GDP, growing ~3% pa. Will hydrogen finally take off - or are we still being too optimistic? 📖: www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Why are Ferraris outselling all hydrogen cars combined? Decades of R&D from top automakers couldn’t make fuel-cell cars mainstream. BEVs now outsell them 1,000-to-1. Great breakdown by Nathan Johnson & @iain-staffell.bsky.social for @carbonbrief.org 🔗 www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-w...

We must stop focusing hydrogen research and investment into dead-ends. EVs out-sell fuel cell cars 1000:1. Find out what's hot and what's not as the famous @mliebreich.bsky.social Hydrogen Ladder enters the peer-reviewed literature. New paper in Nature Reviews: www.nature.com/articles/s44...

For decades, forecasts of a clean hydrogen economy have relied on rapid scale-up driving down costs. However, production costs are dominated by engineering and energy, and supplemented by transport, storage & usage costs which seem unlikely to exhibit rapid reductions. www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Realistic roles for hydrogen in the future energy transition - Nature Reviews Clean Technology

Hydrogen has been proposed as a fuel for widespread use since the 1970s, but uptake has repeatedly fallen below projections, primarily due to high costs. This Perspective considers hydrogen’s potentia...

nature.com