AI challenges employment-based taxation, this risks decoupling economic growth from employment. Societies must rethink public revenue mechanisms so services etc. are funded. We must redefine the social contract to align prosperity with societal wellbeing, rather than relying on employment taxes

Who Pays for Society When AI Does the Work?

The emergence of agentic AI challenges traditional employment-based taxation systems, risking a decoupling of economic growth from job creation. As automation increases productivity, societies must rethink revenue mechanisms to ensure public institutions are funded. The key lies in redefining the social contract to align prosperity with societal wellbeing, rather than solely relying on employment taxes.

noviaworks.co.uk

I bloody love graduation ceremonies. So many luminous, happy, smart young people, each to be rightly celebrated. This was the #Engineering and #Science Sheffield University ceremony. A rough count 60:40 ladies to men; so positive. The world needs brilliant people, brilliant women especially so.

AI agents are beginning to perform work once carried out by people. If they act autonomously, make decisions and create organisational risk, should we still manage them as software? Or is it time to treat them as a new kind of workforce, with managers, governance and accountability?

Managing the Digital Workforce

Why Every AI Agent Needs a Manager For most of the modern corporate era, organisations have operated on a simple assumption. People perform work and technology supports them. Human beings make decisions, exercise judgement, take responsibility and are held accountable for outcomes. Systems, applications and software tools provide information, facilitate communication and automate routine tasks, but ultimately remain subordinate to human direction.

noviaworks.co.uk

The Met Office 'State of the UK #Climate 2025' makes fascinating, and somewhat terrifying reading. Here are just a handful of the disturbing charts. The report: rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #ClimateChange

Building Climate-Resilient Village Communities "The goal is not to create climate-proof villages. That is impossible. The goal is to create communities that can anticipate, withstand, adapt to and recover from climate-related challenges while continuing to thrive." Climate change is no longer a…

Building Climate-Resilient Village Communities

"The goal is not to create climate-proof villages. That is impossible. The goal is to create communities that can anticipate, withstand, adapt to and recover from climate-related challenges while continuing to thrive." Climate change is no longer a future problem. Across East Yorkshire we are already experiencing more frequent extreme weather, heavier rainfall, hotter summers and increasing pressures on our natural environment.

ferribysustainability.co.uk

Brand Centre Vs Brand Kit A chance repost by the ever insightful Ami Diamond reminded me that Microsoft has, in its wisdom, 'centralised' it's branding tools in SharePoint Brand Centre and Brand Kit. At first glance this feels like Microsoft creating two products to solve the same problem. In…

Brand Centre Vs Brand Kit

A chance repost by the ever insightful Ami Diamond reminded me that Microsoft has, in its wisdom, 'centralised' it's branding tools in SharePoint Brand Centre and Brand Kit. At first glance this feels like Microsoft creating two products to solve the same problem. In reality they target different audiences and, while there is overlap, they solve different parts of the branding challenge.

noviaworks.co.uk

Can I Ground Copilot in a Preferred Website? We often want to tell our AI to use a preferred or definitive website as the grounding source for certain types of queries. It seems like such a simple thing. This is why it isn't and what to do about it.

Can I Ground Copilot in a Preferred Website?

We often want to tell our AI to use a preferred or definitive website as the grounding source for certain types of queries. It seems like such a simple thing. This is why it isn't and what to do about it.

noviaworks.co.uk

I still come across people claiming that #Hydrogen cars are the future. I try not to laugh. So here is an update on the splendid comparison chart by @mliebreich.bsky.social with a realistic extrapolation to the next generation #EV

What Happens to Fossil Fuel Extraction if We Stop Burning Fossil Fuels? Although electrification promises to largely eliminate coal and gas extraction, we need oil for petrochemicals. Then what happens to the unused fuel part of oil?

What Happens to Fossil Fuel Extraction if We Stop Burning Fossil Fuels?

Although electrification promises to largely eliminate coal and gas extraction, we need oil for petrochemicals. Then what happens to the unused fuel part of oil?

ferribysustainability.co.uk

Fossil Fuels, Renewables and Nuclear: Which Really Requires More Mining? Building out renewable infrastructure obviously requires mining and has carbon emissions. It's the scale of that compared with fossil fuels that matters. The difference is shocking.

Fossil Fuels, Renewables and Nuclear: Which Really Requires More Mining?

Building out renewable infrastructure obviously requires mining and has carbon emissions. It's the scale of that compared with fossil fuels that matters. The difference is shocking.

ferribysustainability.co.uk

One of these is a contemptible parody of a decent politician who undermines the nobility of our democracy. Only a fool would vote for such a candidate. The other is Count Binface. Vote #Binface! Really... #UK #Clacton

The question isn't "Do renewables require mining?" It's "Would you rather mine fuel forever, or mine infrastructure that keeps generating energy for decades?" For the same useful energy over 25 years, fossil fuels are, literally, a disaster #Climate #Energy #NetZero #Renewables #ClimateAction

UK electricity prices are high. Some think it's because of #renewables; they're wrong. This article gives you better insights into what's really going on. #NetZero

Understanding the True Cost of UK’s Electricity Bills

The UK's high retail electricity prices stem from taxes, levies, and standing charges rather than elevated wholesale costs. Wholesale prices are competitive within Europe, positioned mid-pack. Other countries demonstrate both higher and lower wholesale prices based on their energy sources, with the UK not leading globally in costs.

ferribysustainability.co.uk

Belgium's brilliant comment on their drubbing of the US football team "Overturn this!" Nicely played...

We are surrounded by #disinformation. There's a science to it. Understanding how #propaganda works provides some protection, and explains why some people are both susceptible and intractable in their belief in the lies. Read/watch this lucasbean.substack.com/p/how-propag...

How Propaganda Actually Works on Your Brain

Most people think propaganda is something that happens somewhere else.

lucasbean.substack.com

I'm flattered to be speaking at this on Monday www.neynetzerohub.com/event/energi... Climate change action starts at home. Our houses, our communities, our organisations. It starts & ends with us. It's our problem to solve. So that's what we are doing. #SustainableFerribyCIC

Reasonable people, who are still the majority of British people, should read this. The facts are indisputable, as are the disturbing trends. yorkshirebylines.co.uk/news/home-af...

Immigration numbers are down: so why is the rage still rising?

If the latest immigration and asylum figures tell us anything, it’s that the far-right will never be appeased

yorkshirebylines.co.uk

Why are our energy prices still so high? A fact‑checked explanation for social media naysayers who keep asking without ever bothering to do an internet search or reading the comments. Some questions get asked so often you start to suspect people don’t actually want the answer, having been given…

Why are our energy prices still so high?

A fact‑checked explanation for social media naysayers who keep asking without ever bothering to do an internet search or reading the comments. Some questions get asked so often you start to suspect people don’t actually want the answer, having been given their opinion by a FUDwit, Oilbot or unethical media outlet or politician (I'm passed pretending otherwise). This one is a classic:

ferribysustainability.co.uk

Help with your homes sustainability upgrades UK mortgage lenders often offer incentives for homeowners who adopt renewables or improve energy efficiency, and the market has actually expanded. As of 2026 there are over 90 green mortgage products available, up from just four in 2019.

Help with your homes sustainability upgrades

UK mortgage lenders often offer incentives for homeowners who adopt renewables or improve energy efficiency, and the market has actually expanded. As of 2026 there are over 90 green mortgage products available, up from just four in 2019.

ferribysustainability.co.uk

If you think we should spend billions on more #nuclear power plants rather than more #renewables I think you are probably wrong. I'd even suggest we bet on it. Here's a layperson's explanation of why you shouldn't take the bet... ferribysustainability.co.uk/2026/06/18/n... #Netzero

Nuclear Power Vs Renewables

While there are many folk (often with dubious motivation) who claim that Renewable Energy Sources can never supply all a nations electricity needs, there is also a rather more sensible discussion o…

ferribysustainability.co.uk

Nuclear Power Vs Renewables While there are many folk (often with dubious motivation) who claim that Renewable Energy Sources can never supply all a nations electricity needs, there is also a rather more sensible discussion on the role of nuclear power in the operation of our grids. The thinking…

Nuclear Power Vs Renewables

While there are many folk (often with dubious motivation) who claim that Renewable Energy Sources can never supply all a nations electricity needs, there is also a rather more sensible discussion on the role of nuclear power in the operation of our grids. The thinking is that nuclear provides a robust, 'firm' (i.e. predictable and available) electricity supply that ensures that the baseload is covered.

ferribysustainability.co.uk

And here are the car sales numbers for May from SMMT www.smmt.co.uk/vehicle-data... #Petrol down 7%, #diesel another 2% down. Car sales up 7%, entirely driven by #EVs and hybrids. 27% EV growth Lots of traditional manufacturers had a terrible month. Lots of new companies changing the market.

Some #FUDwits claim sitting in an #EV exposes us to dangerous #EM fields. 😂 Inside an EV: 15–30 V/m Battery drill, 30 cm: 1,000–1,500 V/m Induction hob, cooking: 100–300 V/m Hairdryer: 200–600 V/m WiFi router, 30 cm: 50–200 V/m Mobile phone use: 1,000–5,000 V/m www.who.int/health-topic...

For the 2 million #UK homes with #solar panels and 26 million that can engage in grid balancing, wouldn't it be great if solar insolation and #wind availability were part of regional and national weather forecasts. Sign this petition to make it so petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...

UK Domestic #Renewables 2024 260,000+ MCS‑certified #SolarPV installation, a record year. Heat pump installs up 43% year‑on‑year. Battery storage up 105%, with most installed alongside solar. Solar PV prices fell from £9,238 to £7,561 on average

In 2025, #renewables overtook #coal as the world's largest source of electricity. The rate of installation is 180 times faster than 2015 forecast. Each doubling of global cumulative #solar capacity reduces costs by ~20% (Wright’s Law, echoing Moore’s Law, aka technology Learning Curve).

For years I've been saying the same as Steve. Let SharePoint do your staff and team communication instead. It comes with a bunch of benefits.

Don’t email your staff news and updates

noviaworks.co.uk

#Copilot #Cowork insights Cowork is part of the Microsoft #Frontier programme. It's really impressive. It's also very young, so not everything is shiny. www.microsoft.com/en-us/micros... As I find things that are perfect, yet, I'll add to this post thread

Copilot Cowork: A new way of getting work done | Microsoft 365 Blog

Copilot Cowork turns intent into action across Microsoft 365—automating tasks, coordinating workflows, and keeping you in control. See how.

microsoft.com

The UK has 28 million #cars, each with ~4 seats. That's 981 trillion seat hours available/year. There are 60 million of us and we each spend ~225 hours/year in cars. We use 13.5 billion seat-hours/year. That's just 1.4% of the total available. They spend the vast majority of the time utterly idle!