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Chris Goodall

@chrisgoodall2.bsky.social
440 followers 59 following 66 posts

Writer on the energy transition. Angel investor in climatetech.

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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I try to dissect 10 types of climate misinformation in 3 articles published in mainstream media in September. And by mainstream media I include the Financial Times in this case! carboncommentary.substack.com/p/three-of-t...
carboncommentary.substack.com
Three of the UK’s leading journalists offer ten justifications for inaction on climate
A creeping scepticism about the future impact of climate change has encouraged newspapers and magazines to publish opinions from journalists opposed to resolute action - or indeed any action at all - ...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Press regulator IPSO hasn't published its judgment on my complaint about 15 errors in Andrew Neil's article on wind energy in the D Mail over 55 weeks ago. But I saw the draft decision (sent to me 60 days ago) and wrote a blog. Now on the Hacked Off web site: www.hackedoff.org/blog-posts/c...
hackedoff.org
Climate misinformation and press regulation
Guest blog: Chris Goodall took a complaint to IPSO over fifteen factual errors in a Daily Mail article on wind power. Almost a year later, the regulator ordered a single sentence to be amended.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
'What about China?', a question faced by anyone giving a talk on why UK should act faster on climate. My response from now on? China petrol use -8%, diesel -12% H1 '26. Whereas UK transport fuels +0.8% in Q1 on year earlier. Reasons include: sales of pure battery cars in China 44% of total, UK 30%.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Plug-in solar will be allowed in the UK in ten days. But the kits have to be compliant with regulations. As of today, not a single inverter has gained compliance approval (source Connect Direct, ENA web site). So someone installing plug-in panels will be breaking current regulations.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Plug-in solar will be legal in the UK in 10 days. But the kit used has to be compliant with regulations. As of today, there isn't a single inverter that has passed compliance tests. (Source:ENA). This means that anybody installing plug-in solar will not be complying with the new rules.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
AI has some uses. I asked it to list errors in a D.Mail Aug. '25 energy article. It found 12. But the new IPSO judgment on the piece requires only one correction. Climate misinformation is hard to contradict. My response to the IPSO decision: www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2026/8/...
carboncommentary.com
Climate misinformation and press regulation. | Carbon Commentary
I’ve found a new use for AI. It can list all the inaccuracies in Daily Mail articles quickly and comprehensively. To test it out, I gave Claude a copy of an Andrew Neil article on onshore wind from la...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Commentary on Ofgem news on Long Duration Energy Storage didn't notice that the proposed sites would more than triple GB capacity. My note estimates that the projects will have a major impact on curtailment costs but at a price of more than £7bn. www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2026/7/...
carboncommentary.com
The new longer duration storage sites in Great Britain | Carbon Commentary
As of June 2026, Great Britain has about 10 gigawatts of grid battery capacity, capable of delivering about 18 gigawatt hours of power. [1] In addition, four pumped hydro sites offer storage around 2...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Important result from big forestry experiment in Wales. Adding ground up basalt to new woodland strongly enhances tree growth, as well as sequestering CO2 in run-off water. We knew that 'enhanced rock weathering' captures carbon on croplands. Now true for woodlands. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
nature.com
Microbiome manipulation and enhanced weathering influence tree growth in reforestation - Communications Sustainability
Enhanced rock weathering increased tree growth and aboveground carbon stocks while microbiome enrichment showed variable and transient effects, according to a replicated four-year field experiment in ...
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Reposted by Chris Goodall
tiuksueloi @tiuksueloi.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Great detail, thank you. Sounds tragically similar to Northvolt etc, where a lack of focus from the top doomed the project irrespective of whether it ever could have been viable. And so, also doomed any opportunity for the rest of the world to learn from where/how viability fell short.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Heidelberg Materials at Brevik in Norway is perhaps the worlds' most important CCS site. Heidelberg promised 400,000t. of capture but only achieved a quarter in the first year. Implications are serious for all the world's (heavily subsidised) CCS projects. www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2026/6/...
carboncommentary.com
The hidden failure of the world's most important carbon capture site | Carbon Commentary
Several European news outlets carried an article last week by a Belgian journalist about the poor performance of the world’s most important carbon capture site at Brevik in Norway, where Heidelberg Ma...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Background on today's news that the average price of EVs advertised on Autotrader is less than petrol cars. (Prices do not reflect the volumes of cars sold at each price point. Since more cheap cars are sold than expensive versions, the underlying mean price of EVs and petrol will be different).
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Unsurprisingly, Sebastian Müller's offers to the UK government to provide assistance on the development of plug-in solar here have been ignored.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKB_...
youtube.com
Plug In Solar some Advice for Brits
YouTube video by Balkon Solar
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Extremely useful video (in English) from the head of the German plug-in solar institute. The UK can learn an enormous amount from the lessons learnt there with its 4 million or so installations.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
PS Don't tell anybody but my plug in solar is currently delivering a useful 360 watts into our house, covering all baseload needs
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Miliband says the UK will allow plug in solar, aka 'balcony solar', putting the UK in line with all EU countries bar Sweden and Hungary. Reasons why plug in solar is safe: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na4L... and why in certain circumstances it might not be: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
linkedin.com
Government to go "further and faster" in becoming energy secure | Mark Coles | 24 comments
The UK government’s intentions for plug-in solar PV: https://lnkd.in/eZ57pK2G It is a great idea but, having been in the thick of it for quite a few years, I still have many questions from a UK pe...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2025/12.... Why have UK electricity bills risen? What about the next 5 years? I use data from electricitybills.uk to show that 1/3 of the rise from 2019 is due to higher wholesale costs and 1/3 due to net zero moves. To 2030/31, the rise is 100% from net zero. Painful.
electricitybills.uk
Electricity Bill Breakdown | 2024-2025 Average, historical data
UK electricity bill split between wholesale generation, network charges, subsidies and policy costs. Includes historical data on BSUoS, DUoS, TNUoS, CfDs, FiTs, Renewables Obligation and more.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
The unrivalled David Roberts' team has used 4 of the stories in my latest newsletter for posts on Bluesky in the last two hours. Why wait for David's posts when you can subscribe at Substack for free and get the best unpublicised energy stories earlier in the day? carboncommentary.substack.com
carboncommentary.substack.com
Carbon Commentary newsletter | Chris Goodall | Substack
An analysis of ten news stories from the past week on the energy transition. Click to read Carbon Commentary newsletter, by Chris Goodall, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
High winds and good sun in the four weeks from late August meant that the GB would have needed 8 TWh of storage (c.10 days national power use) with its target 2030 renewables capacity. Current battery capacity would meet just 0.1% of this. www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2025/10...
carboncommentary.com
How much electricity storage capacity does the UK need? | Carbon Commentary
The first winter storm of 2025 has just passed over the UK, providing huge amounts of wind-generated electricity. This wasn’t the first time in recent weeks. From late July to late August 2025 we saw ...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
More renewable electricity supply lowers wholesale prices. I looked at the first 220 days of 2025 and showed that a day in which UK wind and solar supply 50% of total generation typically has a 'day-ahead' price 40% less than a day with 20% wind and solar. www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2025/8/...
carboncommentary.com
Renewables do unambiguously reduce wholesale power prices | Carbon Commentary
We still hear assertions that adding renewables to the grid has increased the UK’s electricity costs. I looked at two sources of data and plotted one against the other to test whether there’s any trut...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Andrew Neil wrote a wildly inaccurate article on offshore wind the Daily Mail last week. In the article below, I specified the 15 most obvious errors. Sad to see such an experienced journalist publishing work without carrying out even basic research. www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2025/9/...
carboncommentary.com
Andrew Neil errors on offshore wind developers | Carbon Commentary
The journalist Andrew Neil published an article on 27th August about offshore wind in the Daily Mail, a UK newspaper. The article contains a large number of factual inaccuracies. I have commented on t...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Really think that Tim Parrique's book on degrowth (Slow Down or Die) is worth reading, even if you disagree with it. Growth is no longer improving rich societies, he says. Short FT review commends its though-provoking content while expressing strong reservations. www.ft.com/content/e7d6...
ft.com
‘America First’ and other financial follies — the best new books on economics
A gripping chronicle of the west’s interest in emerging markets; a reminder of the importance of human capital; a degrowth polemic; and a debunking of Trump’s economic agenda
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Will UK will meet its 2030 clean power targets? The topic is well covered but I tried a different approach, using 1/2hr generation data from last year to model the impact of more solar+wind in 2030. The exercise showed the targets are very unlikely to be met. www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2025/5/...
carboncommentary.com
Will the UK meet its 2030 targets for zero carbon electricity? | Carbon Commentary
If the government achieves its targets for renewable electricity capacity for 2030, will it meet its objective for virtually decarbonising the GB grid by that date? Several analysts have given optimis...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
FT article on the large sums now flowing into Enhanced Rock Weathering as possibly a cheap carbon capture route. www.ft.com/content/ffc2... Surprisingly, no mention at all of the likely benefits in the form of better agricultural yields and reduced fertiliser use. www.ncl.ac.uk/business-and...
ncl.ac.uk
Joint study shows benefits of enhanced rock weathering for agriculture
Working with UNDO, new research shows spreading finely crushed silicate rock on agricultural land enhances yields as well as sequestering carbon dioxide.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
The implications of last week's announcement from Canada about the first new SMRs to be ordered. Summary: on the basis of this deal not clear that SMRs are going to be any cheaper than full size nuclear reactors. www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2025/5/...
carboncommentary.com
The first test for new Small Modular Reactors (SMR) | Carbon Commentary
Abstract This article takes data surrounding last week’s announcement of the first SMR farm in Ontario, Canada to assess whether this new approach to nuclear shows any signs of reducing costs below ...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
My daughter Ursula is studying in Barcelona. A photograph from her yesterday of a large circle of people around a battery-powered radio listening to news about the power cut.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
The human brain consumes about 20 watts of power. Today's numbers from the IEA suggest that AI in data centres will consume about 240 terawatt hours by 2030. That means at the end of this decade artificial intelligence will use more energy than human intelligence.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Actually, I was wrong. There is one visible number. It suggests BP is expecting a 95% capture rate. (Percentage of CO2 emitted actually stored). If I am right may be worth pointing out that no power station carbon capture project has ever achieved a capture rate as high as this.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
£22bn planned to be spent on UK carbon capture. First deals were signed 2 months ago. Just sent copy of 750 page contract. All vital numbers redacted. No way to work out how much BP is paid, or the cost per tonne of CO2. But most of the payment will go directly on elec. bills. How can this be right?
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Does anybody have a rough estimate of how much cooling would result today from a 27GT reduction in CO2 in atmosphere? (I'm working on the value of cutting contrails and this is the approximate warming equivalent of the typical global coverage of contrails today).
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
Development of Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) as a carbon removal fix has been held up by difficulties measuring CO2 captured. German leader InPlanet has just announced a verified amount for its project in Brazil. A first. Personal view, but ERW has huge potential. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com
Press Release - World's First ERW Certified Carbon Removal Credits Issued
January 7th 2025 Inplanet.earth Press Release - For Immediate Release World’s First Certified Enhanced Rock Weathering Carbon Removal Credits Issued InPlanet and Isometric announces the first-eve...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Better Energy, builder of 50% of all new renewables in Denmark since 2020 entered 'reconstruction' today. (Similar to Chap. 11 in the US, which protects insolvent cos). It blamed falling electricity use. I wrote a post on how similar forces affect the UK. www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2024/12...
carboncommentary.com
Why solar and wind are losing momentum in many countries | Carbon Commentary
The energy transition is being held up by the slow rate of growth in electricity demand. Two examples illustrated this problem today (December 19th 2024).  ·      Aurora...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
The future of transport. Solar-powered lie-flat 3 wheel cycle. The friend who took the photo estimated maximum speed of 60 km per hour. Seen here in a supermarket car park (though seems a trifle unclear where the shopping bags will be stored...)
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 10/10/2024
I wrote a piece on the striking global increase in climate scepticism in recent years, using survey data from Ipsos and YouGov. www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2024/10...
carboncommentary.com
The surprising rise in climate scepticism | Carbon Commentary
A yearly opinion survey carried out in many countries around the world looks at attitudes to climate change and to emissions reductions.[1] Paid for by the French utility EdF, the data collection is c...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 07/10/2024
UK promises £22bn to CCS operators. But across the Atlantic, latest well for CO2 drilled by ADM in Illinois is leaking. Has been closed because of risk of pollution of drinking water. Second failure there. No successes. Perhaps trial projects in UK would have been better than huge commitment now.
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 21/08/2024
Another sign that decarbonisation is actually happening. The port of Hamburg, the 2nd largest in Germany, saw a c.4% fall in volumes shipped in H1 2024 saying 'the impact of the energy transition is becoming increasingly evident in bulk cargo handling, particularly with the decline in coal volumes.'
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 04/04/2024
In a previous life I worked on competition economics, including trying to stop early attempts to drain cash from water companies. Interviewed yesterday by Utility Week about Thames Water, I said that public ownership was inevitable. My reasoning is here: www.carboncommentary.com/blog/2024/4/...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 28/03/2024
Hannah Ritchie wrote an extremely useful summary of my chapter on steel decarbonisation here: www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/green-stee...
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 08/03/2024
Major study of effect of better insulation in Paris social housing shows 28% cut in energy use. Much bigger cut than typical. Perhaps we're getting better at insulating older flats. www.apur.org/fr/nos-trava.... Another impressive result: top floor heatwave temps up to 15degrees lower
apur.org
Consommations réelles d’énergie des logements parisiensVolet 1 : parc
À partir d’une analyse inédite, l’Apur présente le bilan des consommations énergétiques réelles 2022 de plus de 76 000 logements sociaux parisiens et montre l’évolution des consommations avant et
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Chris Goodall @chrisgoodall2.bsky.social · 14/01/2024
Implausible claims about CO2 capture, industrial heat pumps, cost reductions for electrolysers, hydrogen tenders, advances in grid batteries and six other stories on my free newsletter at carboncommentary.substack.com
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