Author Archives: Matthew Lockwood
A town in South Africa beginning with D
So the UNFCCC juggernaut gears up again for another year. According to reports, top celebs attending COP17 in Durban include Angelina Jolie, Bono, Leonardio di Caprio, Arnold Schwarzengger and Sarah Palin. But for them, and the thousands of official delegates … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Denial Tango
Nice bit of satire from the delightfully named Men With Day Jobs – thanks to John Macgrath via Duncan Green.
Filed under Uncategorized
The renewable energy backlash – Part 2
In the previous post, I reviewed the current controversy about the costs of expanding offshore wind, and the argument made by organisations like Policy Exchange that we could meet our 2020 carbon targets more cheaply simply by bringing in a … Continue reading
Filed under Energy prices, Renewable energy, UK politics
The renewable energy backlash – part 1
In early 2008, I interviewed the generation portfolio manager (the guy who decided whether to invest in new power stations, and what kind) for one of the Big 6 UK energy companies. In the course of the interview he said … Continue reading
Filed under Energy prices, Public opinion, Renewable energy, UK politics
Is the UK decoupling?
Interesting new report from Chris Goodall out recently (hat tip to Reg Platt) suggesting that the UK may have reached “peak stuff” – i.e. consumption of physcial resources, including energy – in the early/mid 2000s. Goodall’s paper is a bit … Continue reading
Filed under Decoupling, Growth
Desertec and energy security
According to media reports, Morocco is to be the site for the first investment by the Desertec consortium led by German energy firms. We argued earlier this year that the Arab Spring opened up a big opportunity for integrating North African and … Continue reading
Filed under Europe, Renewable energy
Back from the dead
After a long summer away, assessing options for the future of this blog, we are back. We intend to try to blog once a week, at least initially, and see if that is sustainable. First post should be up shortly, … Continue reading
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Taking a break…
Regular readers may have noted that posts have become increasingly irregular and infrequent. This is not because there isn’t anything important to blog about. It’s more that we’re indundated by the pressures that our day jobs put on us, and by the … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Go figure
David Wheeler at the Washington DC based thinktank Center for Global Development says that the number of Americans affected by extreme weather events has skyrocketed from fewer than 10,000 a year in 1980 to over 2 million a year by 2008. The … Continue reading
Filed under Climate disasters, Public opinion, US
The Battle of the 4th Budget
So, the epic battle in the UK over the Fourth Carbon Budget (2023-2027) is now over and the dust is settling. The issue was whether to approve the Climate Change Committee’s recommendation that carbon emissions be effectively reduced to 50% … Continue reading
Filed under Climate policies, UK politics
Matthew Lockwood
andrewpendleton
chilesl
