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Iain Soutar

@isoutar.bsky.social
14K followers 2.3K following 3.2K posts

Senior Lecturer in Energy Policy at the University of Exeter, UK. Researching change, inertia and public engagement in energy transitions. experts.exeter.ac.uk/19656-iain-sou…

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Reposted by Iain Soutar
Anna Dent @annadent.bsky.social · 6h
New Made In Chelsea cast member just announced
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Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research @tyndallcentre.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Polling shows that high temperatures have made more than 50% of British people more fearful about the future. So how can experiences of extreme weather influence climate engagement and behaviour change? 🗒️ Read this by Bella Zanin & Tyndall Centre's @lwhitmarsh.bsky.social: 🔗 buff.ly/GF6IXW5
buff.ly
Did the hot summer make more people worry about climate change? Here’s what the latest indications show
Around 65% of the British public are now concerned about climate change.
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Chris Millard @chrismillard83.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
what is insane about university policy these days is how institutions make sweeping changes to all parts of their practice on the assumption or suspicion of what government policy might look like in the future - and the government is still not being clear or proactive or specific
Universities are revoking offers en masse made to international applicants from countries including Nigeria and Pakistan as they fear the UK government’s visa crackdown will result in a ban on their recruiting international students
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James Dyke @jamesgdyke.info · 09/10/2026
US continues its descent into barbarism. No idea what sort of legal challenges await to try to stop this. Perhaps that's the objective, froth up the outrage and attempt to own the libs.
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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
New blog: there are rumours swirling that the Warm Homes Plan and particularly the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (the heat pump subsidy) will be cut in the Budget. Scrapping it would be a disastrous decision, leaving UK climate and energy policy in disarray www.nesta.org.uk/blog/four-re...
nesta.org.uk
Four reasons why scrapping the Boiler Upgrade Scheme would leave the UK’s energy policy in disarray
Four reasons why scrapping the Boiler Upgrade Scheme would leave the UK’s energy policy in disarray
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Same report.
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Matt Binder @mattbinder.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
the tech industry is about to invent books
Andrew Yeung 
@andruyeung
X.com
We created gyms because modern day work no
longer required physical activity. Without exercise,
our muscles atrophy.
I predict we'll need gyms for our brains too, once Al
starts doing our knowledge work.
10:53 PM • 10/4/26 • 1.3M Views
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The pitch here seems to be, ‘we’ll build the houses and infrastructure we failed to build during the 14 years we were in government, but we’ll do it in the most damaging and lowest quality way possible’. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Tories to pledge to scrap Environment Agency and Natural England
Shadow chancellor will also promise to scrap affordable homes regulations as part of strategy to refocus on growth
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Centre for Sustainable Energy @cse.org.uk · 05/10/2026
How could you understand your local area's carbon footprint? Impact is a digital visualisation tool that helps you calculate your community’s carbon emissions. It works for parishes, wards and local authority areas. Explore the tool here 👉 impact-tool.org.uk
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Iain Soutar @isoutar.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Since the announcement of redundancies at the start of summer, we lost 10 staff from 20 from our Centre for Geography and Environmental Science. Let's hope things improve at Exeter...
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Iain Soutar @isoutar.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Summer in UK academia. A play in two acts.
A bbc article with the headline "University campus scraps geography admissions"A guardian article "UK universities rankedby subject area: earth and marine sciences". Exeter places third.
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James Dyke @jamesgdyke.info · 01/10/2026
Join us for a city/regional screening of the People's Emergency Broadcast followed by an audience discussion facilitated by Exeter Community Assembly: 6:30pm-8:30pm University of Exeter Alumni Forum. Free tickets here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/peoples-em...
eventbrite.co.uk
People's Emergency Briefing - Exeter
Community screening followed by a facilitated open discussion, hosted by the University of Exeter.
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Iain Soutar @isoutar.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Great to hear @coxypm.bsky.social with @worthingtonbry.bsky.social on @cleaninguppod.bsky.social on climate feedbacks, tipping points and geoengineering.
cleaningup.live
Is The Earth Warming Faster Than We Thought? | Ep276: Peter Cox
This week on Cleaning Up, Bryony Worthington is joined by Peter Cox, Professor of Climate System Dynamics at the University of Exeter and Director of the Global Sys…
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Clean energy is the cheapest way to add electricity to the grid. So is a clean grid realistic? I say yes. The real question is how fast we tear out our old one. That’s up to us. New op-ed for @livescience.com! Check it out here: www.livescience.com/planet-earth...
livescience.com
Trump can't stop America's shift to clean energy. And we can accelerate it.
The cost of clean energy just keeps falling as the price of coal ramps up. Politicians promising affordability will follow those savings no matter who is in the White House. And in the meantime, there...
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Rapist recognizes rapists
independent.co.uk
Trump says ‘I feel badly’ for accused Cornell gang rapists after Hochul announcement
Trump was prosecuted by New York AG Letitia James, who is taking over the Ivy League rape investigation, for business fraud after losing the 2020 election
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John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
This Dieter Helm essay doesn't engage with what's driving high UK energy prices in a serious way. Read @acjsissons.bsky.social instead. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
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Iain Soutar @isoutar.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Long live live music
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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The link between electricity and gas prices has already begun to break - and the government can take some credit for that... www.nesta.org.uk/blog/the-ene...
Chart showing gas bills rising by 88% and electricity bills by 68% between April and October 2022. And then gas rising by 33% and electricity by 9% between April and October 2026
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Marcus Shepheard @mashley.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Miatta Fahnbulleh announced that the Government plans to devolve the Warm Homes Plan funding earlier this week. We broadly think this is a good idea (although we look forwards to more detail). The only sticking point is BUS, as @acjsissons.bsky.social points out. www.nesta.org.uk/blog/devolvi...
nesta.org.uk
Devolving the Warm Homes Plan to local government makes sense - but the Boiler Upgrade Scheme should stay
Three implications of devolving the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
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Ellie Mae O'Hagan @elliemaeohagan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
OK now I'm back at work I want to talk about GB Grid. I think the govt did the best it could at communicating this announcement but it's quite technical and you need to understand the energy system to fully get it, so it's almost impossible to sum up in a soundbite. Let me explain as far as I can:
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
as a satire on so-called late stage capitalism how could one beat investors pouring a trillion into a company offering to wipe out humankind
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Beau @drbeaubeaumont.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
To be fair, you honestly can’t say that Enid Blyton isn’t prepared to move with the times.
BBC headline: Five arrested as counter-terror police investigate major incident near RAF Fairford
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Ryan @ryanwright.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is how I remember the order of Henry VIII’s wives.
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Wtaf is this question my university just asked me about my project?
Does the project involve any work that could be interpreted as promoting DEIA, climate change research, or non-compliant to any Presidential Executive Orders?
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Iain Soutar @isoutar.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
💯
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Iain Soutar @isoutar.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"The agent, which is an autonomous computer program [DESIGNED BY PEOPLE], accessed the statistics portal"
bbc.co.uk
Australia launches urgent review after OpenAI program hacks government health portal
Experts believe it's the world's first known AI breach of a government system.
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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Good to see @theifs.bsky.social call for more focus on time-of-use pricing for electricity today - this is one of the big opportunities for bringing down electricity bills. Also an interesting idea to move many fixed costs of electricity off unit rates, onto standing charges or taxation...
ifs.org.uk
Electricity prices | Institute for Fiscal Studies
We explore why UK electricity prices are so high and what reforms can be made to improve the efficiency of the market for and taxation of electricity.
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Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Meanwhile, in China.
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Mariana Mazzucato @mazzucatom.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
We’re hiring a Policy Fellow in Green Industrial Strategy & Green Finance at @iipp-ucl.bsky.social !
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Enormous drop in oil demand this year due to Trump's war in Iran. As predicted, he has accidentally accelerated the green transition (with, of course, a very heavy and deadly cost in how it's happened) www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-glo...
carbonbrief.org
Analysis: Global fossil-fuel emissions set to fall in 2026 amid Hormuz crisis - Carbon Brief
Global fossil-fuel emissions are set to fall by in 2026 amid the fallout from the Hormuz crisis, according to Carbon Brief analysis.
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Centre for Sustainable Energy @cse.org.uk · 17/09/2026
We welcome the launch of Great British Energy's Community Fund and Partnership Grants today 🎉 We're pleased to see an emphasis on partnership building, community ownership, engagement and long-term local benefit - principles we've long advocated for via our #CommunityEnergy work.
gov.uk
‘People’s Power’ projects to give more control over local energy
Communities across the country will be able to build and control their own clean energy supply.
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Athena Kugblenu @athenakugblenu.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The only way they would shut down AI is if it became self-aware but started to say things like 'net zero now' and 'stop destroying orangutan habitat'. Do you know how quickly they pull the plug if AI came out as woke 😂
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Justin Mikulka @justinmikulka.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
"Firm renewables are here - Some 75% of the planet can get firm solar + battery + backup supply for under $100/MWh" ember-energy.org/app/uploads/...
Firm renewables are here
Some 75% of the planet can get firm solar + battery + backup supply for under $100/MWh
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Dr Vanessa @hpsvanessa.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
My understanding is that the evidence shows LLM-based assessment gives better 'marks' to LLM-written things (essays, grants etc). So by choosing to use LLM-based assessment, UKRI will likely penalise every academic who actually writes their own grants unassisted. Grim.
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Elinor Taylor @elinormtaylor.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Apart from everything else, this is such a massive ‘fuck you’ to incoming students from management. ‘Hello, we’ve decided to spend the next year fighting our entire staff over basic employment issues. Enjoy your course!’
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 16/09/2026
ELECTRIFICATION: Really striking chart showing that three-quarters of final energy demand can now be electrified "economically" (ie at lower lifetime cost) – and 90% electrification is technically possible From the latest @ember-energy.org slidedeck by @kingsmillbond.bsky.social and colleagues
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Peter Whitewood @pwhitewood.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The real test is whether the AI makes a reference to a film from 1998 and is surprised nobody gets it.
thetimes.com
A lecturer replaced himself with AI. No one noticed — could you?
When Dr Luke Rowe from Australian Catholic University revealed his ruse, his students said they preferred the fake version
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
New post out: The battle over the Strait of Hormuz combined with the Houthis capturing the coast of Yemen, is putting severe strain on the global economy. We have an alarming guest post from a leading maritime expert on how bad things could get. (£/free trial) samf.substack.com/p/houthis-ho...
samf.substack.com
Houthis, Hormuz and the “chokepoint” threat to the global economy
Today and Thursday we have two posts addressing big risks facing the global economy.
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Ember @ember-energy.org · 15/09/2026
Reducing household dependence on fossil fuels is the best way to protect British families from international energy price shocks Join our webinar as we outline the local benefits of electrotech and how Britain can accelerate uptake over the next decade⚡ us02web.zoom.us/webi...
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Iain Soutar @isoutar.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
😲
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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
the things that Brighton university management has decided it simply… no longer recognises? it also no longer recognises UCU or Unison? again: how is this legal!!!!
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Adrian Hiel @adrianhiel.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Just recorded the final episode of this series on electrifying my house. It should be out in 2 weeks and it will have a wrap-up of all the costs akd whether I did, in fact, manage to electrify my house for free.
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Daniel C. Blight @danielcblight.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
***URGENT PLEASE SHARE*** University of Brighton management have announced today that they ‘give notice of termination of all collective agreements’. This is a fundamental erasure of workers' rights. Management have announced the termination of all contractual documents, which includes:
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Stephen Frost @sfrost.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Bravo Bristol. The ban covers advertising of petrol, diesel and hybrid-electric vehicles and SUV’s, flights, airports, cruise holidays and travel agents, firms and lobbying related to the fossil fuel industry, and marketing that encourages excessive consumption of fashion products or trends.
bristol247.com
Council bans advertising of fast fashion, flights and cars
Adverts for high carbon products will no longer appear on council-owned ad spaces
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Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch
Chart with headline “The Us has little incentive to ease the global gas squeeze”.
The charts show European (Dutch TTF) prices rising from $10 per MMBtu to nearly $30 now, while US prices have remained mostly flat below $5
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Iain Soutar @isoutar.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Is it too early in term for wine?
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Iain Soutar @isoutar.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Excellent explainer!
theguardian.com
Mapped: the £150bn megaproject that aims to protect Britain from energy shocks
Thousands of miles of new power lines are needed to deliver climate targets and energy security, but bills will rise in the short term and opponents are mobilising
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John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
It is a show of force. Or perhaps a test ...
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Melissa Terras @melissaterras.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I grieved for the Internet, I grieved for Social Media, now I grieve for universities, and their communities. This is all part of a mass-dismantling of social connection (and university leaders have been blithe to their part). What does that leave? We all become selfish? Not why I work at a uni…
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Iain Soutar @isoutar.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I have just dug up a haunted doll's head, so I guess we're going to be tormented by an evil force for the next few weeks.
A muddy and broken doll's head, which is also definitely haunted.
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