Lightbucket
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lightbucket.bsky.social
Lightbucket
@lightbucket.bsky.social
20 years in academic physics, then 20 years running a physics-based tech company, now drifting towards semi-retirement.

Looking at:
decarbonisation; energy;
Russia's war in Ukraine.

Blog on Wordpress: https://lightbucket.wordpress.com/
1/2

Germany's electricity mix in 2025 vs. 2024:

Lignite down 3.9 TWh
but
hard coal & gas up 11.7 TWh.

Wind down 4.3 TWh
but solar PV up 10.8 TWh.

(for grid feed-in generation)


Ref: www.energy-charts.info/charts/energ...
February 1, 2026 at 4:41 PM
1/2

A few months ago Dale Vince was calling for oil and gas subsidies in the North Sea:

 ❝ Vince said the government should scrap the windfall tax and instead offer subsidies to oil companies that guarantee a minimum price for the barrels of oil and gas they produce.❞
Green energy entrepreneur calls on UK to subsidise North Sea oil and gas firms
Dale Vince urges ministers to ‘optimise’ resources in fossil fuel basin to help smooth transition to renewables
www.theguardian.com
February 1, 2026 at 3:25 PM
Russia sanctions update:

The European Union's price cap on Russian oil has dropped from $47.60 to $44.10 per barrel as of today, 1st February.

An automatic mechanism sets the price cap to always be 15% lower than the average market price for Urals crude in the previous six months.
February 1, 2026 at 1:04 PM
1/5

At last, a *complete* #pricescrapbook entry for the price of electricity for all French nuclear plants:

The prices come in three separate groups:

 ❶ The existing nuclear fleet (incl. Flamanville 3);

 ❷ Flamanville 3 alone;

 ❸ The new build of 6× EPR2 reactors.

🧵
January 30, 2026 at 3:44 PM
 ❝ Discussing why the French state had stopped the deal, [French Finance Minister] Lescure told French television channel TF1 that the company’s antennas are strategic assets because they are used for both civilian and military purposes.❞

("antennas" seems to refer to ground-segment infrastructure)
January 30, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by Lightbucket
Elon tacitly admitting that car sales will never match the expectations required to support Tesla's stock valuation.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that the automaker is ending production of its Model S and X vehicles, and will use the factory in Fremont, California, to build Optimus humanoid robots. cnb.cx/4rp70Xq
January 29, 2026 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Lightbucket
With the FSB set to secure broad powers to cut communications, one Russian paper criticises the idea: “It's impossible to imagine the functioning of a modern economy without a functioning Internet.” Another paper on prices in 2026: “Vodka up 17%, cucumbers 21.3%.” #ReadingRussia
Russian paper concerned about "Off-switch for the Internet"
YouTube video by Steve Rosenberg
youtu.be
January 29, 2026 at 7:55 AM
#pricescrapbook entry for Poland's first nuclear power plant.

The European Commission approves a 40-yr Contract for Difference for the 3750 MW (3 × AP1000) plant in Pomerania:

 ❝ The financial model verified by the EC assumes a strike price of less than PLN 500 per MWh.❞

PLN 500/MWh = £103/MWh
Green light from the European Commission for nuclear power in Poland. Brussels agrees to state aid for the nuclear power plant in Pomerania – Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe
The European Commission approved state aid for Poland’s first nuclear power plant. The decision was made in record time and, importantly, in accordance with the expectations of the Polish side. The gr...
pej.pl
January 28, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by Lightbucket
What if you could visualise how electricity flows from a wind farm in Scotland to your home in London?

Ok it's not quite that simple, but it got me thinking that there must be a way of visualising the complexity of the electricity transmission grid in Great Britain.

This is my first attempt…
January 28, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Germany looks set to miss its offshore wind target of 30 GW by 2030.

Germany's wind output also fell by 6 TWh in 2025,
while the UK's rose.


Ref: Ember ember-energy.org/data/electri...
January 28, 2026 at 12:04 PM
Reposted by Lightbucket
NEW – Analysis: EVs just outsold petrol cars in EU for first time ever | @mollylempriere.carbonbrief.org

Read here: buff.ly/5g3BVAp
January 27, 2026 at 2:45 PM
1/2

Hamburg Declaration:

Nine North Seas countries sign a major offshore wind and interconnector agreement:

 • Belgium;
 • Denmark;
 • France;
 • Germany;
 • Ireland;
 • Luxembourg;
 • Netherlands;
 • Norway;
 • UK.
North Sea Summit ‘Investment Pact’ to mobilise €1tn in offshore wind investments for Europe
Seven Heads of State and Government and the Energy Ministers of the 9 North Seas countries gathered in Hamburg today to boost the expansion of offshore wind. Together with industry and transmission sy...
windeurope.org
January 26, 2026 at 1:12 PM
Zero coal by 2025:

Many European countries started the 2010s with over 10% of electricity generation from coal,
and got to ~zero (or well under 1%) by 2025,
notably:

 • Ireland;
 • Spain;
 • Finland;
 • UK;
 • Portugal.

Germany's still at a 21% coal share.


Ref: ember-energy.org/data/electri...
January 26, 2026 at 11:41 AM
1/3

Finland has decarbonised its electricity at extraordinary speed.

Its emissions intensity in 2025 was 56.8 gCO₂e/kWh,
down by a factor of two since 2022 (from 130 gCO₂e/kWh),
and down by a factor of three since 2019 (from 172 gCO₂e/kWh).

How?
🧵


Ref: Ember ember-energy.org/data/electri...
January 25, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Carbon emissions intensity of electricity generation,
now to 2025,
for the largest five EU economies and the UK.

Germany still has the highest emissions, 332 gCO₂e/kWh,
France still has the lowest, 42 gCO₂e/kWh.

The UK has the strongest downward trend over the last 15 years.

👇
January 24, 2026 at 4:12 PM
1/3

Electricity generation from coal in the EU,
now with data for 2025:

The six countries with the highest coal-fired generation.

Germany still has the highest amount of coal-fired generation in the EU, closely followed by Poland.

👇

Ref: Ember ember-energy.org/data/electri...
January 24, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Lightbucket
We can all get things wrong, but if I had been this consistently and catastrophically wrong about such important issues I don't think I could carry on publishing my opinions every week.

I'd want to go away and think about how I'd so badly misunderstood the things I write about.
January 24, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Planned life extensions for AGR nuclear power plants,
from EDF's UK Nuclear Fleet Stakeholder Update,
January 2026:

 • Hartlepool and Heysham 1 planned to operate till 2028;
 • Heysham 2 and Torness planned to operate till 2030.


Ref: EDF, January 2026
www.edfenergy.com/sites/defaul...
January 23, 2026 at 3:29 PM
1/2

The coal share of electricity generation of the six largest European economies up to 2025:

Coal share in 2025:

Germany: 20.7%
Russia: 18.4%
Italy: 1.4%
Spain: 0.3%
France: 0.3%
United Kingdom: 0.1%


Ref: Ember ember-energy.org/data/electri...
January 23, 2026 at 10:50 AM
1/4

Household electricity bills will influence the political acceptability of electricity decarbonisation.

Low GHG emissions at low household prices give the win-win outcome.

Household electricity prices, and grid emissions, for all 27 EU member states, and the EU average, are plotted here.

👇
January 22, 2026 at 4:32 PM
A decade of solar growth in Europe:
The 6 European nations with highest per capita solar in 2025:

Netherlands: 1553 kWh/capita
Spain: 1313
Greece: 1300
Hungary: 1166
Austria: 1157
Germany: 1066

Netherlands surges ahead.
Germany drops from 1st to 6th.


Ref: Ember ember-energy.org/data/electri...
January 22, 2026 at 1:45 PM
❝ The wind is always blowing somewhere.❞

Today it's the UK, where wind is at 67% capacity, the highest in Europe.

Wind capacity is lowest today in the Baltic states and Finland.

Percentage of wind capacity across Europe today at 4:00 pm GMT:
👇

Data ref: app.electricitymaps.com/map/live/fif...
January 21, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Lightbucket
#GraphicOfTheWeek: The North Sea is home to 101 operational offshore wind farms, with around 30 GW of installed capacity.

It is the largest wind hub in the world, supplying #renewable #wind energy to six European countries.

See last week's top graphic: https://loom.ly/AWSeFdE
January 21, 2026 at 10:01 AM
1/2

UK BESS:

 ❝ The UK grid-scale battery storage market grew 45% by operational capacity in 2025, with 4 GWh coming online during the year, bringing total operational capacity to 12.9 GWh.❞


Ref: Energy Storage News www.energy-storage.news/another-reco...
January 21, 2026 at 11:29 AM
Reposted by Lightbucket
Danish pension fund to dump US treasuries
"The US is basically not a good credit and long-term the US government finances are not sustainable," says chief investment officer

www.investing.com/news/stock-m...
Danish pension fund AkademikerPension to exit US Treasuries By Investing.com
Danish pension fund AkademikerPension to exit US Treasuries
www.investing.com
January 20, 2026 at 2:46 PM