Adam Bell
@adambell.bsky.social
"Former energy czar" - the Guardian. "Energy big brain" - Politico.
Reposted by Adam Bell
crazy how there are 156 billionaires in britain and not ONE of them is whimsical enough to fund a decades-long undersea excavation around the Thanet coastline to find archaeological evidence of Phoenician trading posts and thus corroborate the Bronze Age origins of the Margate Shell Grotto??
November 26, 2025 at 2:21 PM
crazy how there are 156 billionaires in britain and not ONE of them is whimsical enough to fund a decades-long undersea excavation around the Thanet coastline to find archaeological evidence of Phoenician trading posts and thus corroborate the Bronze Age origins of the Margate Shell Grotto??
A DESNZ CLEAN SWEEP
A package that saved at least £150 off the average household bill was the minimum this Budget needed to achieve to give Labour at least a fighting chance of getting to their £300 target, given the price rises next year. /1
A package that saved at least £150 off the average household bill was the minimum this Budget needed to achieve to give Labour at least a fighting chance of getting to their £300 target, given the price rises next year. /1
November 26, 2025 at 1:50 PM
A DESNZ CLEAN SWEEP
A package that saved at least £150 off the average household bill was the minimum this Budget needed to achieve to give Labour at least a fighting chance of getting to their £300 target, given the price rises next year. /1
A package that saved at least £150 off the average household bill was the minimum this Budget needed to achieve to give Labour at least a fighting chance of getting to their £300 target, given the price rises next year. /1
If true, this makes a substantive saving (£150+) harder but not impossible. It simply means more than tinkering with green levies; you're looking at taking older support schemes off the bill entirely and ending the current energy efficiency scheme in favour of a new one.
www.ft.com/content/82f0...
www.ft.com/content/82f0...
Rachel Reeves decides against cutting VAT on energy bills in Budget
Chancellor expected to continue with support package for households, including easing of electricity costs
www.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:38 PM
If true, this makes a substantive saving (£150+) harder but not impossible. It simply means more than tinkering with green levies; you're looking at taking older support schemes off the bill entirely and ending the current energy efficiency scheme in favour of a new one.
www.ft.com/content/82f0...
www.ft.com/content/82f0...
Finally, justification for my assumption that anyone under 30 is essentially a child.
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Brain has five ‘eras’, scientists say – with adult mode not starting until early 30s
Study suggests brain development has four pivotal ‘turning points’ at around the ages of nine, 32, 66 and 83
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Finally, justification for my assumption that anyone under 30 is essentially a child.
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Reposted by Adam Bell
Twenty years since I had to sit and listen to David Miliband pretending that postponing council tax revaluation was a brave political decision, rather than a cowardly mistake.
These reports the Government could revalue council tax bands F, G and H don't make sense to me. Here's what could actually be going on:
November 25, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Twenty years since I had to sit and listen to David Miliband pretending that postponing council tax revaluation was a brave political decision, rather than a cowardly mistake.
Noted in this morning's @charliecooper8.bsky.social newsletter that Whitehall has successfully banished the Mission Boards into governance oblivion and thus ended this dangerous experiment in trying to get Government to actually do things. My congratulations to all involved.
November 25, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Noted in this morning's @charliecooper8.bsky.social newsletter that Whitehall has successfully banished the Mission Boards into governance oblivion and thus ended this dangerous experiment in trying to get Government to actually do things. My congratulations to all involved.
Michael's superb piece here highlights a key challenge for any modern government: getting all the bits of it to point in the same direction. Most bits of the State will keep trundling on with their work programme until they are told, "No" by Ministers, and frankly several will keep going even then.
This week the government announced that it wanted to ensure development next to train stations gets an automatic yes.
There’s one area near London where that won’t be happening.
And it’s home to a motorway that will soon be – by law – beautiful.
There’s one area near London where that won’t be happening.
And it’s home to a motorway that will soon be – by law – beautiful.
November 23, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Michael's superb piece here highlights a key challenge for any modern government: getting all the bits of it to point in the same direction. Most bits of the State will keep trundling on with their work programme until they are told, "No" by Ministers, and frankly several will keep going even then.
Reposted by Adam Bell
Most content currently going up at Substack, as the new public square of the internet. Cross-posting here when time allows - which isn't always.
Subscribe to michaeldnes1.substack.com to catch everything
Subscribe to michaeldnes1.substack.com to catch everything
Michael Dnes | Substack
Click to read Michael Dnes, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
michaeldnes1.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Most content currently going up at Substack, as the new public square of the internet. Cross-posting here when time allows - which isn't always.
Subscribe to michaeldnes1.substack.com to catch everything
Subscribe to michaeldnes1.substack.com to catch everything
Reposted by Adam Bell
This is a challenging essay by Simon Baron-Cohen, one of the leading academics on autism.
His core proposal is to split the autistic “spectrum” between Type 1 (“profound”) and Type 2 (fka Asperger’s).
This is partly to ensure all autistic people get the right support, and partly because of politics
His core proposal is to split the autistic “spectrum” between Type 1 (“profound”) and Type 2 (fka Asperger’s).
This is partly to ensure all autistic people get the right support, and partly because of politics
The new politics of autism
As contentious claims over rising diagnoses get a presidential platform, Simon Baron-Cohen explains where talk of an ‘epidemic’ goes wrong — and why we need more recognition that autism comes in diffe...
on.ft.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:33 PM
This is a challenging essay by Simon Baron-Cohen, one of the leading academics on autism.
His core proposal is to split the autistic “spectrum” between Type 1 (“profound”) and Type 2 (fka Asperger’s).
This is partly to ensure all autistic people get the right support, and partly because of politics
His core proposal is to split the autistic “spectrum” between Type 1 (“profound”) and Type 2 (fka Asperger’s).
This is partly to ensure all autistic people get the right support, and partly because of politics
Reposted by Adam Bell
There’s some very bad news hidden in the Ofgem price cap for January announced yesterday: the electricity to gas price ratio has jumped to 4.67, its highest level since before the energy crisis.
This is a big barrier to households adopting heat pumps in Britain, and threatens our climate goals
This is a big barrier to households adopting heat pumps in Britain, and threatens our climate goals
November 22, 2025 at 7:51 AM
There’s some very bad news hidden in the Ofgem price cap for January announced yesterday: the electricity to gas price ratio has jumped to 4.67, its highest level since before the energy crisis.
This is a big barrier to households adopting heat pumps in Britain, and threatens our climate goals
This is a big barrier to households adopting heat pumps in Britain, and threatens our climate goals
Reposted by Adam Bell
this week's newsletter is titled "aren't you tired of feeling insane all the time?" and I think it speaks for itself
it is also free to read
youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/arent-you-...
it is also free to read
youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/arent-you-...
November 21, 2025 at 10:18 AM
this week's newsletter is titled "aren't you tired of feeling insane all the time?" and I think it speaks for itself
it is also free to read
youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/arent-you-...
it is also free to read
youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/arent-you-...
I'm sorry, but the Achilles' Heel of AI turning out to be poetry has absolutely convinced me we live in a simulation.
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 21, 2025 at 9:00 AM
I'm sorry, but the Achilles' Heel of AI turning out to be poetry has absolutely convinced me we live in a simulation.
Reposted by Adam Bell
Aha, so this CO2 capture ship stuff is really just ocean-liming tech in a new guise. But using "free" spare heat and already-pumped seawater. Since ocean liming is already quite cheap, this looks like it might be really quite affordable.
www.ship-technology.com/news/calcare...
www.ship-technology.com/news/calcare...
Calcarea, Aurelia partner on ocean-based carbon capture for bulk carriers
Calcarea and Aurelia Design have agreed to develop ocean-based carbon capture technology for use in commercial shipping.
www.ship-technology.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Aha, so this CO2 capture ship stuff is really just ocean-liming tech in a new guise. But using "free" spare heat and already-pumped seawater. Since ocean liming is already quite cheap, this looks like it might be really quite affordable.
www.ship-technology.com/news/calcare...
www.ship-technology.com/news/calcare...
These are amazing men and women.
PHOTO ESSAY: Energy workers risk their lives to keep Ukraine's lights on as Russia attacks
PHOTO ESSAY: Energy workers risk their lives to keep Ukraine's lights on as Russia attacks
PHOTO ESSAY: Energy workers risk their lives to keep Ukraine's lights on as Russia attacks
www.independent.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 9:34 AM
These are amazing men and women.
Alas, you can only take advantage of this if you can get an ATA to supply hot water (best of luck) or install an electric boiler alongside your ATA device. This means you can't get a grant for retrofitting an ATA HP to a household that uses gas for hot water.
Heat pumps news! DESNZ is expanding the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to cover air to air heat pumps and heat batteries.
Both will be eligible for a £2,500 grant if it fully replaces a gas or oil boiler…
www.businessgreen.com/news/4521952...
Both will be eligible for a £2,500 grant if it fully replaces a gas or oil boiler…
www.businessgreen.com/news/4521952...
Boiler Upgrade Scheme: Government set to expand scheme to include air conditioning heat pumps
Government expands heat pump scheme to include heat batteries and 'air-to-air devices' that can cool homes in summer, despite speculation over budget cuts
www.businessgreen.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Alas, you can only take advantage of this if you can get an ATA to supply hot water (best of luck) or install an electric boiler alongside your ATA device. This means you can't get a grant for retrofitting an ATA HP to a household that uses gas for hot water.
NEW REPORT: Three Provocations for the Future of the Power Market. How do we reduce constraints on our power network? /1
Really interesting report from @adambell.bsky.social et al at Stonehaven on how government might bring rising constraint payments under control. www.businessgreen.com/news/4521919...
Study: Renewables rollout could trigger 'perfect political storm' without constraint cost shake-up
Success of Clean Power 2030 mission depends on using renewables ‘intelligently’, not just building more capacity, report warns
www.businessgreen.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:52 PM
NEW REPORT: Three Provocations for the Future of the Power Market. How do we reduce constraints on our power network? /1
If academics want to have an impact on policy, they can't publish in places where it'll cost a journo or MP's researcher £30 to read a single article.
I now work in the sector that ought in theory to be reading the articles in the likes of Housing Studies, where I was previously encouraged to publish. And can confirm that nobody ever reads an article in an academic journal.
November 17, 2025 at 12:27 PM
If academics want to have an impact on policy, they can't publish in places where it'll cost a journo or MP's researcher £30 to read a single article.
Really great work, my congratulations to both.
New essay out today by me and @acjsissons.bsky.social - ‘Getting Britain out of the hole: a plan for the economy’. You can read the whole thing here getting-out-of-the-hole.uk
A chart mega-thread follows 🧵
A chart mega-thread follows 🧵
Getting Britain out of the hole
A plan for the UK economy
getting-out-of-the-hole.uk
November 17, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Really great work, my congratulations to both.
Technology agnostic heat decarbonisation is the way to go, because then you get people doing things like this!
Incredible story!
And before anyone comments... N.b. the mini data centre in question is *not* running AI.
"they swapped their gas boiler for a HeatHub – a small data centre containing more than 500 computers."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
And before anyone comments... N.b. the mini data centre in question is *not* running AI.
"they swapped their gas boiler for a HeatHub – a small data centre containing more than 500 computers."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
'I heat my Essex home with a data centre in the shed'
www.bbc.co.uk
November 16, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Technology agnostic heat decarbonisation is the way to go, because then you get people doing things like this!
how are they so bad at this. how. how.
November 14, 2025 at 8:41 AM
how are they so bad at this. how. how.
NEW PAPER: ACTUALLY DOING FUSION
I am intensely cynical about most things, but I've seen enough innovation now to believe that we are actually not that far off from making fusion happen. Our paper today lays out how. /1
www.stonehavenglobal.com/future_for_f...
I am intensely cynical about most things, but I've seen enough innovation now to believe that we are actually not that far off from making fusion happen. Our paper today lays out how. /1
www.stonehavenglobal.com/future_for_f...
Future for Fusion Roadmap Commercial Fusion with FLARE
www.stonehavenglobal.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:02 PM
NEW PAPER: ACTUALLY DOING FUSION
I am intensely cynical about most things, but I've seen enough innovation now to believe that we are actually not that far off from making fusion happen. Our paper today lays out how. /1
www.stonehavenglobal.com/future_for_f...
I am intensely cynical about most things, but I've seen enough innovation now to believe that we are actually not that far off from making fusion happen. Our paper today lays out how. /1
www.stonehavenglobal.com/future_for_f...
So true. My ancestral voices are telling me to steal sheep from the English and race back over the border. As a result I am always doing that.
November 13, 2025 at 1:05 PM
So true. My ancestral voices are telling me to steal sheep from the English and race back over the border. As a result I am always doing that.
The implication of this, of course, is that a liberal society requires pro-cognitive mores and means of imparting or enforcing them. I don't know any politician who would be willing to say, "People participating in public discourse should be obliged to think about it."
"The populist thrives in an environment where people act on their intuitions; so does the scammer. This doesn’t mean every populist is a con artist, but it does mean that they are likely to package their message in a similar way" on.ft.com/49j3ND2
By @timharford.ft.com
Vindicates a 2015 tweet! 1/
By @timharford.ft.com
Vindicates a 2015 tweet! 1/
How populism became popular
It appeals more to a way of thinking than to a set of ideas — but is it just wrong?
on.ft.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:26 AM
The implication of this, of course, is that a liberal society requires pro-cognitive mores and means of imparting or enforcing them. I don't know any politician who would be willing to say, "People participating in public discourse should be obliged to think about it."
It is unclear whether many on the right understand why we have institutions. It is actually rather rare that the positive case for liberal institutionalism is put forward, and much more frequent that institutions are condemned for being out of touch with the public in some way. /1
The impossible dream some people on the British right are chasing is that you can have a BBC News operation that retreats from detail and expertise, that takes dictation from the government, but this will only create incompetence and failure when it suits you:
To fix the BBC, focus on competence and cash
Corporation fails to learn from criticism, while politicians have consciously reduced its scope for quality journalism
www.ft.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:44 PM
It is unclear whether many on the right understand why we have institutions. It is actually rather rare that the positive case for liberal institutionalism is put forward, and much more frequent that institutions are condemned for being out of touch with the public in some way. /1