Jess Ralston

@jessralston.bsky.social

Head of Energy at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit. Mainly power, homes & heating. All views my own etc

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.🧵

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Some highly questionable industry assertions about ‘tiebacks’ and new oil & gas exploration licensing covered by the Sunday Times this morning, incl. the volume of potential production & the impact on jobs & supply chains. Let's take a closer look: www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Labour looks to water down North Sea drilling ban

Ed Miliband is expected to allow exploration next to existing sites to increase fossil fuel production without breaking a manifesto pledge

thetimes.com

Why are bills going up by £100 in April? R4 Today's Nick Robinson claimed "People say bills are going to go up... because *you’re determined not to use fossil fuels*" With many households still struggling with the cost of living, let's look at what's *actually* happening...

💵 ENERGY BILLS & RENEWABLES How much are they going up by? Why are they going up? What are the long-term causes of high bills? A short 🧵 on why the answer isn't all blowing in the wind...

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A day after the Spending Review, the Govt has quietly announced its ending the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme after 2027/28 The PSDS supports insulation, solar & heat pumps in the public sector like schools & hospitals Lowering their energy bills - which taxpayers fund.

Spending Review: energy & industry... Warm Homes Plan will improve 5m homes (insulation, solar, heat pumps) backed by £13.2bn. This is the manifesto pledge. More details "by October" GB Energy also gets full £8.3bn manifesto pledge & inc support offshore wind supply chains

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Warm Homes Plan: will it be cut at the Spending Review? Mood music WAS yes, but there's rumours that it WILL now be funded by the Govt's Manifesto pledge of £13.2bn... Why's it important? Warm homes for better health 🏥, lower bills for growth 📈& improved energy security ☑️

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Lots of coverage of the Tony Blair Institute's report on net zero Inc. what Tony said & what he didn't But I spotted this little nugget of a graph which is potentially misleading... 1) it uses old data 2) it is based on primary energy, NOT end-use energy

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There's lots of speculation about what happened with recent powercuts across Spain, Portugal and France, and answers may take a while. It's worth bearing in mind 1) Major blackouts in UK & Europe are rare but have happened throughout history - no system is 100% reliable. 🧵

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This is an, ahem, interesting piece from Jawad Iqbal in today's Times: "Miliband has in the past boasted about the previous Labour government’s decision to phase out coal power… Miliband claimed other countries would follow “our example”. Really? It seems highly unlikely." Here’s why he's wrong 🧵

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🚨Some major errors & misleading claims from experienced presenter Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4 Today, when discussing British Steel with Treasury Minister James Murray I hope these are corrected on tomorrow's programme, and Robinson sticks to the facts in future. Here's what he got wrong... 🧵

⚠️ Case study of media misinformation ⚠️ On Tuesday, this graph appeared in a Telegraph article about Ed Miliband's heat pump. After its flaws were explained to the Telegraph, it's now been taken down. 🧵 on what it got so wrong...with Qs remaining about HOW it did so

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