The hype-cycle is one view of technological development [1] Hydrogen has been popping its head up recently through various reports and is being touted as a potential option for decarbonising heat. I have previously written about hydrogen when I was considering a report from the hydrogen supergen hub last year. I am concerned…

  With budget cuts and reform approaching, is it time to fundamentally think the RHI? The RHI has been incredibly successful at delivering biomass and biomethane. The graph below produced using DECC data shows this extreme technology split by looking at heat generated (GWh) under the non-domestic scheme since it began (biomass is the orange chunks). Small…

Despite the headline grabbing stories around cuts to energy subsidies and tax breaks for fossil fuels, is it all doom and gloom for sustainable energy? In this blog I’m going to explain the energy sectors that are actually likely to do quite well out of the Conservative Government and why it may not all be…

Dear Readers, My old blog platform started charging and I did nothing about it so my blog disappeared into the ether. I wonder whether the old one even exists……. Anyway my friend and ex-colleague told me to get it back up so here it is. Some pictures and graphs are missing so let me know…

A little while back I wrote a blog (you can read it here) on a fairly large deal in which Marks and Spencer had bought some certificates which supposedly had some sort of associated carbon saving and that it was using these as part of its plan A strategy for sustainability. I explained in my…

In 2012 the IEA released its Golden Age of Gas report explaining that we could be entering a new era where gas beats coal to become the second most important source of global energy by 2030. I remember people across industry rejoicing that this heralded the end of all of the talk about low-carbon and renewables and…

Green Gas Certification Scheme, one of the green gas schemes I mentioned in my previous blog have replied to the issues I raised and their response is below. Many thanks for taking the time to respond.   I still don’t understand why, if as their note suggests, the scheme is not causing additionality, anyone would want to pay…

Firstly, it’s worth understanding that the upstream gas ‘market’ really is a murky world. It’s certainly more of a market than the oil ‘market’ (prices often controlled by managing supply)  but that’s not saying much. Overall though, it’s not a very difficult system to understand. Suppliers are responsible (through Ofgem license conditions) for ensuring that…

At the core of my research project is my framework for where power is, who has it and how it is enacted within the heat policy/regulation arena. I’ve produced the diagram below because it’s good to visualise how this all fits in the multi level perspective approach to understanding transitions and everyone likes a nice…

Sometimes you see something and you look back and think, why didn’t I act then, push harder and shout louder? Thankfully this wasn’t a murder, or any sort of criminal act, just a poorly designed, overly confusing and potentially damaging energy support mechanism. Ok, so I’ll start at the beginning but want to outline a…