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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay
@benbarclay.bsky.social
3.9K followers 1.2K following 8.6K posts
Translator and textbook writer. Post on climate, energy, health, Spain, Brexit and other stuff. Produce VoiceMap audio tours of Andalucía: https://voicemap.me/publisher/ben-barclay#tours Substack: https://thegreentransition.substack.com/
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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · Dec 31
It’s been a year of ups and too many downs for the world, but on a personal level it’s been fantastic criss-crossing Andalucia to research and test 7 new audio tours.

Here’s a quick reminder why you should visit these 7 fantastic places even if you have no interest in doing one of my tours.

🧵
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Reposted by Ben Barclay
kentparkskeet.bsky.social
Kent Parkstreet, Laird of Doofus @kentparkskeet.bsky.social · 15h
Good news everyone.
Green turtle bounces back from brink in conservation 'win'
Once endangered due to hunting, it is making a strong recovery thanks to global conservation efforts.
www.bbc.com
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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 13h
Sure, it’s not much in the grand scheme of things. A bigger element that possibly also needs to be added for a fair comparison with the wind power CfD price is the power station’s profit margin.

In any case, thanks for a great thread.
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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 13h
Is non-fuel OPEX included somewhere in that?
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drsimevans.carbonbrief.org
Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 2d
FACTCHECK: Claire Coutinho claims UK gas power only costs £55/MWh…

…but she is ignoring a few small details:

🤫 Gas prices always rise in winter
🤫 Gas plants cost money to build
🤫 CO2 causes economic damages

THREAD with receipts

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helenebismarck.bsky.social
Helene von Bismarck @helenebismarck.bsky.social · 17h
I think this is hugely important. I have done a lot of research on religion and politics for my book (about 🇬🇧) and I cannot overstate the difference between the pundits and politicians who talk aggressively
about "cultural Christianity“ and the people you meet when you actually go to church.
timbale.bsky.social
Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 17h
"People who attend church or identify with a Christian tradition are not systematically more (or less) nativist, authoritarian or populist than their secular counterparts. Conversely, people who hold nativist and authoritarian views are often also Islamophobes, and vice versa." 👏 @kai-arzheimer.com
Islamophobia in Western Europe is not driven by religiosity
Are Christians more likely to be Islamophobic than other citizens in Europe? New research finds European Islamophobia has no link to a person’s religiosity.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
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electionmaps.uk
Election Maps UK @electionmaps.uk · 1d
Kenn Valley (Teignbridge) Council By-Election Result:

🔶 LDM: 50.4% (+11.0)
➡️ RFM: 23.1% (New)
🌳 CON: 9.6% (-19.0)
🙋 Ind: 8.2% (New)
🌍 GRN: 5.5% (-13.9)
🌹 LAB: 2.7% (-9.9)
🙋 Ind: 0.5% (New)

Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative.
Changes w/ 2023.
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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 19h
Not just rich countries - many middle-income ones too, across continents.

And these data only go to 2023, but in many cases birth rates have fallen further since then.
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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 19h
Japanese politicians may not be screaming that the country needs more immigrants, but policy has changed.
Japan's foreign population hits record 3.95 mln
english.news.cn
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sorenhave.dk
Søren Have @sorenhave.dk · 20h
"... over two thirds of all [US] nitrogen fertilizer applications are for corn" 😵

And around 40% of the corn is for biofuel.

Crop-based biofuel is just the worst idea ever, climate-wise.
globalecoguy.bsky.social
Dr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · 2d
We need to talk much more about corn. And with it, excessive fertilizer use.

www.ewg.org/research/fer...
Fertilizing ‘continuous corn’ drives major source of farm greenhouse gases, but conservation can help
Millions of acres in four major Corn Belt states are used to grow "continuous corn” on the same fields year after year, requiring significant use of
www.ewg.org
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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 21h
Thanks. Do you know anything about this book and, if so, have any opinion on it?
Compulsory Property Acquisition for Urban Densification
Densification has been a central method of achieving smart, sustainable cities across the world. This book explores international examples of the property rights tensions involved in attempting to dev...
www.routledge.com
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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 21h
Totally agree, and that would be really interesting to see, if the data exists. I suppose the overall density still gives a sense of how much scope there is - at least theoretically - for further increasing density, even if it can't realistically be done in the short term.
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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 21h
makes it better for people. I think the biggest single quality-of-life benefit of living in densely populated Granada vs probably any UK city of a similar size is having access to a phenomenal range of services within easy walking distance. A true 15-minute city. And makes it easier to run PT.
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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 21h
We can't turn back the clock, but cities are constantly being rebuilt and reinvented to a greater or lesser extent. As and when that happens, you can choose to maintain what is there, or to transform it into something that enhances the economic benefits as per the report, but also...

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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 21h
One of the things I found interesting was precisely that we are making cities denser in spite of those constraints, but at very different rates in different places. Obviously local issues vary, but many UK cities would almost certainly benefit from being more densely populated.

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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 21h
I found this interesting, which plays into the debate about where to "find" more housing.
What’s happening to big city density in England in five charts - Centre for Cities
Apart from London, big cities have barely densified outside their centres over the past decade
www.centreforcities.org
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invalid-handle.com
🎃It was a Hotblack night🦇 @invalid-handle.com · 22h
Latest news from the circular economy ♻️
techpriest.bsky.social
Techpriest @techpriest.bsky.social · 22h
"So SoftBank is going to borrow billions of dollars on margin using ARM shares as collateral to invest in the unprofitable and unlisted OpenAI, whilst Nvidia is going to lend OpenAI billions to buy Nvidia's own chips, whilst AMD will sell OpenAI billions worth of chips in exchange for AMD shares..."
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jael.bsky.social
jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 1d
SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news
Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says
It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.
heatmap.news
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kevinjkircher.com
Kevin J. CREATURE @kevinjkircher.com · 1d
Climate science pals, if anyone's bored, would you mind looking over the very simple (maybe stupid-simple) climate model I wrote up in slides 17-22 here? Not so much the dynamical system frame or linearization/discretization, just the basic model - what's wrong, missing, oversimplified, etc?
kevinjkircher.com
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adsquires.bsky.social
Adam Squires @adsquires.bsky.social · 1d
We've seen how a Trump administration has taken over scientific bodies, so independent research is suppressed if its findings aren't what he wants, and outputs just become govt propaganda. Could the same thing happen here, if a future PM wanted to do the same? Important analysis ⬇️
chrischirp.bsky.social
Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 1d
🧵🚨

The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news.

Today our report is published!
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

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UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation
Seven in ten Britons say it is important for top scientific institutions to be independent in exclusive new polling.
www.ucl.ac.uk
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junoryleejournalism.com
Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 2d
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems... SIMON: What? SHAPIRO: ...Or saying... SIMON: You imagine that? SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over. SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level. SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this. SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.
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timbale.bsky.social
Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 1d
🤦Please tell me he hasn't only just realised this....
PM Admits He Must 'Make The Case' For Benefits Of Digital ID
Keir Starmer said the government needs to emphasise the benefits of digital ID following criticism of how the policy has been sold to the public.
www.politicshome.com
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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 1d
What if you have the super healthy meal but accompanied by a glass or three of wine? Asking for a friend.
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ketanjoshi.co
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 1d
Hasn't put a dent in Javier Blas' vibrating excitement at the possibility of another "green blackout" as he'd call it
Meredith Angwin reposted Javier Blas @JavierBlas For months, the Spanish grid operator (and the government) had been procrastinating about the country’s electricity problems. It was the fault of everyone else but them. Now, urgent measures are needed in 5 days — or else. Will someone assume their responsibility now? Quote Javier Blas @JavierBlas · 21h Spanish grid asks for urgent measures (to be implemented in 5 days) to stabilise the electricity network as voltage swings again sharply (the situation is similar in early autumn to spring during the blackout). It warns the grid’s safety is at risk. https://cnmc.es/sites/default/files/editor_contenidos/Energia/Consulta%20Publica/1_DCOOR_DE_008_25_Resolucion%20.pdf
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slowbikeiain.bsky.social
Iain Roberts @slowbikeiain.bsky.social · 1d
Famously, periods of mass employment see really low prices, allowing the unemployed to enjoy luxuries they could previously only dream of.
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 2d
ANDREESSEN: Even if AI ends up destroying all the jobs, “the result would be hyper-deflation of prices, which is the thing that people miss. .. Things that today cost a lot of money will all of a sudden be cheap or free.”

@fortune.com
fortune.com/2025/10/08/b...
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benbarclay.bsky.social
Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 1d
“Independent” certainly doing a lot of work in independent energy analyst.
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