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  • Infrastructure in Wales

    Infrastructure is the Cinderella of modern society. Underpinning every activity we undertake, it is nonetheless largely taken for granted, except when it isn’t there. It’s the job of policy-makers and planners in the public sector, and their counterparts and engineering professionals in the private sector, to ensure that infrastructure is robust and accessible round the…

  • Swansea Tidal Lagoon; an unjust decision

    “ If we burn our bridges on tidal lagoons, our future will be a little colder and a little darker”. I wrote these prescient words in August 2016 as Charles Hendry was carrying out his research into the viability of tidal lagoons in the UK. Fast forward two years, and we now know that Wales’…

  • The Clubb Doctrine: presumed consent for community energy

    I’ve been working in the renewable energy sector since 2004. Of the thousands of people I’ve met during that time, I’ve never encountered anyone who opposed community energy. Even the anti-wind die-hards don’t generally object to community energy — as long as it’s not wind, natch. You’d think that with widespread public, civic and political…

  • Our digital strategy; it’s yours too

    Our digital strategy; it’s yours too (written as Head of Digital at RenewableUK) I’ve previously written about the process which we’ve undertaken to develop our digital strategy.  Since writing that article — and the previous ones about digital principles and our rules of engagement on social media — we have adopted the digital strategy and…

  • Who fact-checks the fact checkers?

    Earlier this year Alison Hood was made redundant from Airvolution as a result of the UK Government’s policy shambles. Her communication skills and dedication to the cause are impressive, underlined by her winning the RenewableUK award for excellence at the Gala Dinner last week. Far from lamenting her position, Alison took the fight to the UK Government by…

  • An energy policy for future generations?

    The general election of 7th May produced a result which was equally unexpected and unwelcomed by most in the UK. The surprise of the night was not that an unwelcome party was to form a new government – only once since 1931 has a government won more than 50% of the popular vote – but…

  • We owe each other a renewable future

    The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has today announced its draft budget for 2015/16. The sum will be £3.31bn, of which £2.1bn comes from the public sector. That’s public money being used to subsidise electricity which has already been used. The cost for subsidising electricity via the Renewable Obligation, is around £2bn, with another 1/2 billion for…

  • Powys — where’s your £50 million?

    Evidence I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use and by some other means to give us knowledge — Galileo Galilei I’m a scientist. To be more precise, I’m a physicist. I’ve had a strong interest…