More and More and More - or Less?
Over the past year, lots of people have asked me what I think of the argument Jean-Baptiste Fressoz makes in More and More and More - that sources of energy are only ever additive. TLDR: not much.
Thoughts of Chairman Michael
This is where I'll be posting my writings on all things clean energy, transport, finance, technology, development and net-zero related - plus no doubt some random other stuff, and maybe some guest-authored pieces.
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Latest posts
To drill or not to drill? Lessons from Norway
In the UK, debate is raging about opening up the North Sea to oil and gas drilling. The latest episode of Cleaning Up with Anders Opedal, CEO of Norway's Equinor, contains important lessons.
EU proposes unachievable electrification target
The EU is targeting an increase electricity's share of Final Energy from 24% to 46% by 2040. The arithmetic of the Final Energy Fallacy makes this entirely unachievable. We need a course correction.
The interview they don't want you to watch?
Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated the JCPOA and the Paris Agreement. Here he is very critical of President Trump - and YouTube seems to have shadow-banned the conversation.
Make Electricity Cheap Again!
Electricity needs to be cheap, clean, abundant and resilient. Here's my 8-point plan to turn the current Power Price Doom Loop into an Electrification Virtuous Circle.
Let's target 35% electrification, but of what?
The co-presidents of COP 31 have announced a target of 35% electrification as a percentage of Final Energy. Electrification is the right target, but percentage of Final Energy is the wrong metric.
The Electrification Staircase is go!
You Loved the Hydrogen Ladder (I know, Version 6.0 is long overdue!), meet the Electrification Staircase. Electrify Everything is dead; long live Electrify Almost Everything. And here's the road map.
The trouble with sea level rise
Following yesterday's piece on the demise of RCP 8.5, the implausible scenario that has underpinned climate science for two decades, I've been asked about sea level rise and tipping points. Here goes.
RCP 8.5 is officially bollox
Back in 2019, I created a Twitter hashtag, #RCP85isBollox, to highlight the danger of building the case for climate action on a wildly implausible scenario. This month RCP 8.5 was retired.
Cleaning Up with Fatih Birol - the man at the heart of "the Mother of All Energy Crises"
This week's Cleaning Up is quite the scoop. I visited Paris to speak with Fatih Birol, Secretary General of the IEA, a few days after the release of 400m barrels of oil from its Strategic Reserve.