The report made to the UK Parliament following the conclusion of COP 26 referenced Aristotle and reminded us that Aristotle taught that virtue comes not from reasoning and instruction but from habit and practice. The success of COP26 will lie not just in the making of promises but in adopting the programme of work to…
Low Carbon Innovation Fund portfolio company Sustainable Marine Energy merges with Schottel Hydro Sustainable Marine Energy (SME), a portfolio company of the Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF) managed by Turquoise, has merged with the tidal energy operations of Germany-based Schottel Group, a manufacturer of propulsion and steering systems for ships. The decision follows the two…
Business What has been the most significant technological development of recent years? The most recent one. Humankind’s ability to develop technology is core to our very existence. All technology is significant and limiting ourselves to one perspective on any single technology is meaningless. Penicillin applied right now in many areas of the world would be…
Gatwick has become the first UK airport to announce that it will be Carbon Neutral: http://www.mediacentre.gatwickairport.com/press-releases/2017/gatwick-becomes-first-uk-airport-to-join-global-renewable-electricity-alliance.aspx. I have never been a fan of the concept of Carbon Neutrality. The level of certification required to substantiate such a claim makes the Brexit negotiations look like a tea party. All we really want is to reduce emissions,…
On February 5th, I had the pleasure of presenting at TEDxOxford outlining my belief that there is no such thing as ‘Cleantech’, arguing that technology which operates efficiently is by its very nature environmentally friendly. My talk, titled ‘Cleantech Changes Everything’, discussed how there is no such thing as ‘cleantech’, just technology. To be efficient,…
The CEO’s of major British energy challengers have called for an end to ministerial meddling in the UK energy market. I am acutely aware of the downsides handing back my licence for Open4Energy out of disgust at the Labour ‘Price Freeze’ proposed by Ed Milliband, a Herculean effort in meddling of the worst kind. I…
I work for Turquoise investing in and raising funds for Energy, Environment and Efficiency companies that in the main are in competition with Nuclear Power. In my previous career, I have never worked on nuclear projects. So why am I making a case for Hinkley? Let’s start at the beginning. The UK has now adopted…
Having dispatched Trilemma1 to Room 101 let me now try and place a finger in the dyke of Trilemma2 recently proposed by Mr Marchant before it is taken seriously by anyone and a dam wall breaks flooding regulators with confusion and obfuscation that is not required. Trilemma2 has raised three related but simple issues; Flexibility…
Ian Marchant, ex CEO of SSE and ex IE President, has suggested we need a second Trilemma (see below). However, as the first Trilemma achieved nothing, the second is surely a step in the wrong direction. The first trilemma was a brain teaser that the power industry created where it was befuddled into doing very…
Apart from being one of Gloria Gaynor’s better known hits, it also signifies that, as of today (Friday 15 October), the heat in our home will be on. Many of you will have had your heat on since the cold snap in September or so National Grid tells us from daily demand for gas. This…