Reposted by Chris AylettJustin Mikulka @justinmikulka.bsky.social · 02/10/2026"To justify staggering investment sums, Americans will have to spend as much of their income on this one technology [AI] as they do on food" I'm pretty sure that ain't happening. 1156
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Subsea electricity cables are playing an increasingly important role in European energy security This new book from my colleague Katja is a must-read 153
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Brilliant thought experiment from @davidfickling.bsky.social It is rather naive, shall we say, for a government to bank on seaborne gas imports to meet future energy needs, while trade becomes ever more political, climate shocks increase, and data centres gobble up all our electricity 063
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 16/09/2026It's easy to become numb to the extraordinary violence the US government is systematically inflicting on the planet and all its inhabitants The Environmental Destruction Agency further abasing itself here, begging power plant operators to pollute more www.theguardian.com/environment/...theguardian.comUS ends limits on coal and gas plant emissions, removing key tool to battle climate crisisTrump’s EPA strips itself of regulation ability, gutting Clean Air Act in what experts say is a gift to planet polluters 021
Reposted by Chris AylettBritish Institute of Energy Economics @biee.org · 15/09/2026How could shifting geopolitics reshape GB’s energy security and net-zero goals? Join the opening panel at the BIEE Policy Conference on 24 Sept to find out. Register here: www.biee.org #BIEE2026 101
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 08/09/2026The thing I most object to with the Tories new energy policy (as set out by Onward) is the absurd claim that scrapping all climate policies and letting the market rip* is somehow consistent with good environmental stewardship * except for nuclear, which naturally gets massive subsidies 000
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Good to see the government so laser-focused on the most important thing about the fascist gang descending on Dover on Saturday - the minor disruption experienced by freight traffic and holidaymakers www.bbc.com/news/article... 031
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Labour MP for Dover: if only the aspiring fascist militia had been in possession of the correct facts and figures! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 021
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Convincing argument against shutting out Chinese competition - you pay, but you don't know how "The benefits (...) are concentrated, immediate and attributable, while costs are dispersed across consumers, deferred over time and scattered across policy domains" eastasiaforum.org/2026/08/14/t...eastasiaforum.orgThe strategic price of selective exclusionWhile strategic exclusion measures like the EU ban on Chinese inverters can be justified against specific policy criteria, their aggregated costs can be significant. 010
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 01/09/2026The UK has a new shadow energy secretary, Andrew Bowie MP Great to see his enthusiasm for ending the UK's contribution to climate change (aka net zero), in this 2019 statement: www.andrewbowie.org.uk/climate-chan... Presume this is still valid? Climate change has only gotten worse, after allandrewbowie.org.ukClimate Change Concerns 011
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 01/09/2026China may be the largest GHG emitter but it takes climate change extremely seriously @kyleichan.bsky.social shows how and why this happened, drawing an interesting parallel with the current US-China scramble for AI supremacy substack.com/home/post/p-...substack.comHow China became climate-pilled—and what that means for AIAI safety needs to be seen as a domestic priority for Chinese policymakers, not a foreign demand. Climate change offers a useful parallel. 020
Reposted by Chris AylettGeorge Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 31/08/2026It's not often you can pinpoint real, positive change a journalist has caused. But as Turkmeni sources state, @dpcarrington.bsky.social's persistent and probing coverage of this issue has been critical to a change of policy, with massive implications. Big congrats www.theguardian.com/environment/...theguardian.com‘Breakthrough’ as Turkmenistan starts fixing ‘mindboggling’ methane mega-leaksSecretive state begins repairs on ageing facilities after being revealed as worst country for leaks of potent greenhouse gas 261995575
Reposted by Chris AylettChatham House @chathamhouse.org · 29/08/2026"This is a hugely risky and a long term endeavor. It is not in the interest of the Venezuelan people, and it's not even in the interests of the US." Christopher Sabatini on the deal announced by the Trump administration to control 65 billion barrels of oil from Venezuela's reserves, via @cnn.com. 24724
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 27/08/2026"Why would the AI labs want to release research showing that their products make work less meaningful or more intense?" AI companies will, in the end, only publish research that supports their commercial objectives. Same for any company with a damaging product - fossil fuels, tobacco etc 020
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 26/08/2026I don't *think* Trump bombed Iran to increase the profits of the US LNG industry, and to seize market share from Qatar, but it would be a pretty coherent explanation www.reuters.com/business/ene... 010
Reposted by Chris AylettRav BOO!dram 🎃👻 @rvbdrm.com · 26/08/2026In the future, humanity’s primary function will be cleaning up after our robot overlords spasm into a pile of debris. 1801496272
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 14/08/2026'Marsh names beach to succeed herring' is like a badly translated Norse proverb www.theinsurer.com/ti/news/mars... 030
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 13/08/2026It's somewhat unwise of the Canadian PM to commit large sums of taxpayer money to oil and gas export infrastructure directed at an Asian market that is souring on imports and deploying alternatives at pace Me and Phesheya Nxumalo for @chathamhouse.org www.chathamhouse.org/2026/08/why-...chathamhouse.orgWhy Carney’s pipeline gamble is a bad bet for Canadian taxpayersTensions with the US and Alberta are leading Prime Minister Carney to back new oil and gas infrastructure. Smoothing the path to electrification would be a better use of public funds. 110
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 10/08/2026Hard agree with all of these proposals but a levy on corporate social media (which lord knows we need less of) to fund local and independent media (which we desperately need more of) is 👌 petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...petition.parliament.ukPetition: Ban foreign media ownership, enact a social media levy & new regulatory reformPass law to ban foreign & offshore ownership of UK media, enact a social-media levy to distribute media ownership across society & fund independent, local & cooperative-owned media. We believe democra... 000
Reposted by Chris AylettDani Rodrik @drodrik.bsky.social · 10/08/2026My latest www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/c...project-syndicate.orgIs China Really a Beggar-thy-Neighbor Power?Dani Rodrik shows why the most common criticism of the country's surpluses and broader economic model falls flat. 0114
Reposted by Chris AylettMayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 08/08/2026Climate denial is getting louder. Reality is getting harder to ignore. When parks are brown, rivers are shrinking and firefighters are battling blazes across the globe, governments must accelerate climate action, not slow it down.theguardian.comThis burning summer is the proof: the voices of climate denial aren’t just delusional, they’re deadly | Sadiq KhanLook at our blazing forests and parched cities. Green policies aren’t a ‘luxury’, and we can’t burn more oil and gas. People need the truth, says London mayor Sadiq Khan 702189790
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 07/08/2026All over the world, Chinese EVs are structurally reducing the need to burn oil to get from A to B Put this in your Current Policies Scenario pipe and smoke it @iea.org @gavinjmaguire.bsky.social www.reuters.com/commentary/r... 030
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Good reality check from @noahjgordon.bsky.social However appealing, the idea that cheap clean tech and self-interest alone will save us from climate change is a fantasy Some necessary emissions-reducing actions simply don't have clear economic co-benefits www.ft.com/content/1aec...ft.comThe global green transition won’t be driven by self-interest aloneStates must actively tilt the playing field on renewable energy too 2329
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 04/08/2026I think there's every chance Trump will move to restrict US oil exports, if pump prices carry on rising. What sort of America First populist wouldn't? (the answer: one that has also received bucketloads of cash from the oil industry) 001
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 03/08/2026"Measures to increase water efficiency (...) include a credit scheme where developers pay to offset the water increases their housing developments will cause" I encounter a lot of bad ideas in my line of work but this one is a belter www.theguardian.com/environment/...theguardian.com‘We cannot magic up more water’: the supply problems putting housing targets in England at riskCouncil leaders say crumbling infrastructure and lack of water are jeopardising government’s plans for new homes 021
Reposted by Chris AylettPalma Polyak @palmapolyak.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Hungary's new government is tested very early. Paks nuclear plant is about to go offline for the first time in 44 years because the Danube is drying up. That's nearly half the country's electricity. Collapsed supply & gas prices spiking throughout the region. Just brutal. apnews.com/article/hung...apnews.comHungary braces for a full shutdown of the Paks nuclear plant as the Danube River hits record lowsHungary's only nuclear power plant is shutting down for the first time due to record-low water levels on the Danube River. 2206110
Reposted by Chris AylettCharlotte Weatherill @ckweatherill.bsky.social · 29/07/2026The point isn't to produce essays, it's to teach students how to think for fuck's sake. The minute you automate that, it's over. You might as well close the course. Which they're also doing. This is an attack on learning, and everyone is just shrugging. 221576447
Reposted by Chris AylettCharlotte Weatherill @ckweatherill.bsky.social · 29/07/2026Full of despair today. Massive lay offs in social sciences and humanities across the country, Burnham puts out a video saying 'AI can write an essay', and my university is busy integrating co-pilot into all staff and student computers. We are being told we're defunct and there's no resistance. 351745459
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 27/07/2026The diminishing returns from North Sea oil and gas will flow to a shrinking subset of firms and workers By contrast, the future of the clean energy system can be one of growth and the distribution of benefits across the country Manchesterism for energy www.chathamhouse.org/2026/07/why-...chathamhouse.orgWhy Burnham should back Britain's new clean energy system, not more North Sea drillingRenewables and electrification could help the new prime minister deliver on his promise to distribute economic benefits across the UK. 23414
Reposted by Chris AylettAdam Bell @adambell.bsky.social · 25/07/2026If I can, let me explain today's Times story. This is less to do with renewables and much more to do with where generation is located and how it shows up at a system level. /1 511363
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 18/07/2026A "dynamic" charge towards the 1970s, before we extracted over 90% of the oil and gas on the UK Continental Shelf And before we had viable alternatives which don't cook the planet 001
Reposted by Chris AylettAkshat Rathi @akshatrathi.bsky.social · 18/07/2026"Andy Burnham will announce plans for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea when he becomes prime minister on Monday, the BBC has been told." He intends to make a "dynamic" start, apparently. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukBurnham to announce plans for new North Sea oil and gas drillingDrilling has become a controversial topic for the Labour party after the 2024 manifesto pledged to not issue new licences. 654
Reposted by Chris AylettJack Hanly @snakespan.bsky.social · 16/07/2026And all because of a byelection in Uxbridge 1233
Reposted by Chris AylettPolitics Theory Other @poltheoryother.bsky.social · 16/07/2026The England fans are to blame. They were given a perfectly serviceable New Order song with some nice Italo piano and John Barnes rapping over the top. What do the estate agents dressed as crusaders choose to sing? Wonderwall and Three Lions. 1379
Reposted by Chris AylettSeb Kennedy @sebkennedy.bsky.social · 16/07/2026How high can it go? EU gas prices surge above €50 as markets finally reflect the reality that Hormuz won’t ever return to pre-war free passage. What’s amazing is it took so many months to get to this place. 041
Reposted by Chris AylettAlice Hancock @alicemhancock.bsky.social · 13/07/2026NEW: Dubai plans new port to bypass Strait of Hormuz in the latest sign of this crisis having much longer term impacts for trade and shipping: www.ft.com/content/1f97... Story with Middle East colleagues @financialtimes.comft.comDubai plans new port to bypass Strait of HormuzProject to build capacity on UAE’s east coast represents a major shift after US-Iran war 021
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 13/07/2026Trump reinstates the Carter Doctrine, with added extortion 011
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 13/07/2026'Open' and 'closed' have long since ceased to have any meaning in the context of Hormuz It's entirely a question of the risk appetite of vessel owners - which is surely diminishing by the day, as Iran launches missiles and the US spreads disinformation www.dw.com/en/iran-anno...dw.comIran war: US claims Strait of Hormuz is 'open' amid strikesUS President Trump and the US military's Central Command insisted on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz is open despite the Iranian navy declaring it closed. Both sides continue to exchange strikes. 000
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 12/07/2026Such a good piece Software 'creators' and 'contributors' that use generative AI externalize costs onto the reviewers and maintainers heroically trying to keep critical digital infra from collapsing "AI slop as a tragedy of the commons" Love the Atlas animation too www.ft.com/content/cec8...ft.comWho cleans up after the vibe-coding party?Our obsession with AI code-writing tools is overwhelming the web’s unsung human caretakers 011
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 03/07/2026Incredible scenes in Russia - surge in demand for EVs A presumably unintended consequence of the illegal invasion of Ukraine 020
Reposted by Chris AylettProf Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · 03/07/2026250 years of burning fossil fuels fuelled a record shattering humid heatwave in Eastern North America for the 250th anniversary celebrations on 4th of July. Turning any outdoor activities into a dangerous health risk. - @wwattribution.bsky.social www.worldweatherattribution.org/fossil-fuels... 2264125
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 03/07/2026Here's a brutal chart which illustrates why Canada might not want to bank on the sunlit uplands of fossil fuel demand growth in Asia h/t @katemac.bsky.social 041
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 03/07/2026Canada's new oil pipeline and five new LNG export terminals are a gamble on future growth in Asian oil and gas demand Given the trauma of the Hormuz shock, and the increasing penetration of demand-destroying EVs, solar and batteries, I'm not sure it'll pay off www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026...aljazeera.comCanada’s Carney secures deal for pipeline to expand oil exports beyond USOttawa says future pipeline will reduce economic dependence on the US amid Donald Trump's trade war. 000
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 02/07/20261. Russia starts an illegal war in Ukraine 2. Ukraine strikes Russian oil infrastructure 3. Fuel shortages in Russia, prices surge 4. Russians start buying electric cars (only a handful, but notable in a country resolutely opposed to the energy transition) www.reuters.com/business/ene...reuters.comRussian fuel crisis prompts rush for electric carsA Moscow car dealership is struggling to keep up with demand for new electric vehicles as drivers look to sidestep a fuel crisis that has led to long queues and soaring prices across much of Russia. 021
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 01/07/2026According to @thesun.co.uk if the North Sea had been prioritised the UK “might just have the cheapest electricity in the world”. How many people have been misled by this utterly bogus and grotesquely irresponsible claim? Presumably @ipso.co.uk are investigating? 040
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 30/06/2026According to the Statistical Review, coal generation in the US increased 13% in 2025 So US carbon emissions grew 4 times faster (!) than those of China in 2025 and the US accounted for no less than 40% of growth in carbon emissions last year 010
Chris Aylett @chrisaylett.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Happy Statistical Review of World Energy day, to all those who celebrate it www.energyinst.org/statistical-...energyinst.orgHomeThe Energy Institute is, as of 2023, the home of the Statistical Review of World Energy, published previously for more than 70 years by bp. The Statistical Review analyses data on world energy markets... 020
Reposted by Chris AylettMark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 28/06/2026Europe, the last few days: 🇫🇷 France: Hottest day ever — 43.8°C 🇪🇸 Spain: Hottest June day — 42.7°C 🇩🇪 Germany: Hottest day ever — 41.5°C 🇨🇿 Czechia: Hottest day ever — 40.9°C 🇨🇭 Switzerland: Hottest June day — 38.8°C 🇩🇰 Denmark: Hottest day ever — 37°C 🇬🇧 UK: Hottest June day — 36.7°C #climatecrisis 18460216