Paul Boldrin
@paulboldrin.bsky.social
Everything that can be electrified will be electrified. Electrochemist at Ironic Metals Ltd - developing low carbon iron production. Post about science, climate, London, cycling, kids, Spurs and politics.
Pinned
Paul Boldrin
@paulboldrin.bsky.social
· Dec 8
Ironic
www.ironicmetals.com
Got a new job! Finally escaped from the ivory towers to work in a startup on low carbon metals production - specifically low temperature alkaline electrolysis of oxides. So I've escaped from hydrogen as well! Still based at Imperial for the time being - they can't get rid of me that easily.
Review of the first half:
February 1, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Review of the first half:
Never forget that Labour are the government accelerating wind power deployment and electrified heating while the Tories and Reform want to increase our vulnerability to increasingly volatile natural gas prices.
UK Wind Power Output at Four-Year High in January Curbs Prices
UK wind farms are expected to provide the most power in almost four years this month as more turbines and blustery conditions help the country pivot away from fossil fuels.
www.bloomberg.com
February 1, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Never forget that Labour are the government accelerating wind power deployment and electrified heating while the Tories and Reform want to increase our vulnerability to increasingly volatile natural gas prices.
From my timeline it seems like the far right were correct that the cyclists are their enemies.
The group bike ride for Alex Pretti is about to depart in Minneapolis, stopping at his memorial, then Renee Good’s, and finishing at the VFW. If you can join, hop on anywhere. It’s a warm 17° & sunny!
I’ve never seen this many cyclists for a group ride. ⚡️✊🏽⚡️🚲⚡️✊🏽⚡️ #RIPPretti
I’ve never seen this many cyclists for a group ride. ⚡️✊🏽⚡️🚲⚡️✊🏽⚡️ #RIPPretti
January 31, 2026 at 11:35 PM
From my timeline it seems like the far right were correct that the cyclists are their enemies.
Reposted by Paul Boldrin
It's not only wealth & power that attract a certain kind of academic, politician or journalist to the wealthy. It's a shared belief in irrepressible individual genius being the key driver for human progress. It's a boringly common irrationality over millennia, and a key driver for human suffering
January 31, 2026 at 8:37 PM
It's not only wealth & power that attract a certain kind of academic, politician or journalist to the wealthy. It's a shared belief in irrepressible individual genius being the key driver for human progress. It's a boringly common irrationality over millennia, and a key driver for human suffering
"Every day on the streets of London there are people edging past pensioners being mugged on the pavement". What an absolute menace this man is. We need to protect pensioners from the torrent of brainrot propaganda constantly being pumped into their brains, not imaginary muggings.
Who is going to tell Boris Johnson that if he didn't like the "band of reasonable responses" test (which gives great latitude to managerial prerogative for employers) in unfair dismissal case law, he could've passed an amendment to Section 98(4) Employment Rights Act 1996 while Prime Minister?
January 31, 2026 at 6:54 PM
"Every day on the streets of London there are people edging past pensioners being mugged on the pavement". What an absolute menace this man is. We need to protect pensioners from the torrent of brainrot propaganda constantly being pumped into their brains, not imaginary muggings.
Interesting paper on steel decarbonisation. Obviously I was most interested in this bit and definitely agree that this is what will happen 😉
January 31, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Interesting paper on steel decarbonisation. Obviously I was most interested in this bit and definitely agree that this is what will happen 😉
As a scientist who has fairly often got down a line of reasoning where you're adding more facts that are bending your hypothesis way beyond what it can stand, at some point you have to step back and say "are my facts wrong, or my hypothesis, because none of this makes any sense?"
Chris Rufo is so upset about the Minneapolis protests that he is resorting to anti-Nordic racism christopherrufo.com/p/the-curse-...
January 30, 2026 at 10:52 PM
As a scientist who has fairly often got down a line of reasoning where you're adding more facts that are bending your hypothesis way beyond what it can stand, at some point you have to step back and say "are my facts wrong, or my hypothesis, because none of this makes any sense?"
I think this kind of thing is great, working with everyone to work out what's blocking things and getting it sorted, not just bulldozing things through. Ideally this would be done at a lower level than national government but hopefully the government's devolution agenda will help with that.
A second amazing announcement about housing today.
Labour has launched Phase 2 of the New Homes Aceelerator, after previously unlocking sites for 125,000 new homes.
The scheme aims to cut through delays to development and get homes built faster.
Help has seen planning experts brought in...
1/2
Labour has launched Phase 2 of the New Homes Aceelerator, after previously unlocking sites for 125,000 new homes.
The scheme aims to cut through delays to development and get homes built faster.
Help has seen planning experts brought in...
1/2
January 29, 2026 at 8:55 PM
I think this kind of thing is great, working with everyone to work out what's blocking things and getting it sorted, not just bulldozing things through. Ideally this would be done at a lower level than national government but hopefully the government's devolution agenda will help with that.
Beautiful chart.
Wake up babe, new @ember-energy.org chartistry just dropped
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
#energysky
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
#energysky
January 29, 2026 at 8:49 AM
Beautiful chart.
Some people are saying we're the 4th best team in Europe.
January 28, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Some people are saying we're the 4th best team in Europe.
Solanke hasn't lost any pace then.
January 28, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Solanke hasn't lost any pace then.
It must be strange being a tourist in London, watching these mysterious creatures called Londoners cross the road on a red light without looking, because they have an encyclopedic knowledge of every traffic light phasing in the entire city.
January 28, 2026 at 9:57 AM
It must be strange being a tourist in London, watching these mysterious creatures called Londoners cross the road on a red light without looking, because they have an encyclopedic knowledge of every traffic light phasing in the entire city.
To weigh in on this, there's a bit of a sampling issue here. "First person in your family to go to university" may be the most common thing in the population as a whole, but not necessarily among people who went to university, and definitely not when you get into postgrad and beyond...
I also think there's an additional coda to this which is that "I was the first person in my family to go to university" isn't even that unusual, it's very much the norm until the 1980s, surely? Even today only about 40 percent of school leavers go on to do a degree.
Matt Goodwin makes a living out of railing against university educated elites & his whole schtick is "he was the first person in his family to go to university", which is a bit weird given that his Dad, now being heavily invoked for his Manchester connection, appears to have a string of degrees.
January 27, 2026 at 9:04 PM
To weigh in on this, there's a bit of a sampling issue here. "First person in your family to go to university" may be the most common thing in the population as a whole, but not necessarily among people who went to university, and definitely not when you get into postgrad and beyond...
Lots of people laughing at this, but this is an idiot in the middle of nowhere in China *who has a drone that is powerful enough to carry a pig down a mountain*. "Legal experts stated agricultural drones have load and operating environment restrictions." Have we even started thinking about this?
January 27, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Lots of people laughing at this, but this is an idiot in the middle of nowhere in China *who has a drone that is powerful enough to carry a pig down a mountain*. "Legal experts stated agricultural drones have load and operating environment restrictions." Have we even started thinking about this?
Reposted by Paul Boldrin
Hi everyone - it seems there’s been a targeted campaign against this plan for protected cycle lanes on Bayswater Road. If you look back through the consultation it had 400 negative responses in 24 hours 😨
Londoners on bikes, we’d love to hear from you in this. Please take a moment … 1/2
Londoners on bikes, we’d love to hear from you in this. Please take a moment … 1/2
⏰⚠️⏰⚠️ ALERT! The Bayswater road consultation is under heavy threat despite the obvious benefits. The weekend saw 400+ responses and it's IMPERITIVE we show strong support ahead of the WEDS 28th DEADLINE. Please take a moment to add your voice here: cmsbayswaterroad.commonplace.is/en-GB/
💪🚴💪
More ⬇️
💪🚴💪
More ⬇️
Cycle Movement Strategy Phase 3: Bayswater Road
The Bayswater Road Cycle Movement Strategy Phase 3 scheme looks to enhance cycling and pedestrian facilities in both directions along Bayswater Road, from Palace Court to Lancaster Terrace.
cmsbayswaterroad.commonplace.is
January 27, 2026 at 10:50 AM
Hi everyone - it seems there’s been a targeted campaign against this plan for protected cycle lanes on Bayswater Road. If you look back through the consultation it had 400 negative responses in 24 hours 😨
Londoners on bikes, we’d love to hear from you in this. Please take a moment … 1/2
Londoners on bikes, we’d love to hear from you in this. Please take a moment … 1/2
"What if Starmer and Reeves are right?" is quite underpriced in the commentariat.
So I think there is a small but growing chance now that the Uk economy bails Labour out for reasons of its own. I think it’s easy to forget just how strange the macro situation has been for the Uk: Brexit; then Covid, then Ukraine then tariffs. Just a hint of stability might be all it needs.
I think this is right. In general the thing that *all* the replacements to Starmer haven't reckoned with (other than Miliband, who doesn't count because IMV he genuinely does not want it), is that Reeves' budgets have placed neither public services nor the public finances on the road to recovery.
January 25, 2026 at 10:29 PM
"What if Starmer and Reeves are right?" is quite underpriced in the commentariat.
Reposted by Paul Boldrin
RIP Alex Pretti
November 9, 1988 - January 24, 2026
A nurse who exhibited bravery and kindness. Murdered by U.S. government thugs.
November 9, 1988 - January 24, 2026
A nurse who exhibited bravery and kindness. Murdered by U.S. government thugs.
January 25, 2026 at 6:43 PM
RIP Alex Pretti
November 9, 1988 - January 24, 2026
A nurse who exhibited bravery and kindness. Murdered by U.S. government thugs.
November 9, 1988 - January 24, 2026
A nurse who exhibited bravery and kindness. Murdered by U.S. government thugs.
Obviously my entire timeline is a massive downer right now but I just watched Happy Gilmore and Dodgeball with my kids for the first time and haven't laughed so much in a long while. Can definitely recommend any film featuring idiots knowingly being idiots for laughs right now.
January 24, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Obviously my entire timeline is a massive downer right now but I just watched Happy Gilmore and Dodgeball with my kids for the first time and haven't laughed so much in a long while. Can definitely recommend any film featuring idiots knowingly being idiots for laughs right now.
People are down about trains in the UK but I just booked 4 tickets from London to Glasgow (during half term!) for £167 which seems like incredibly good value. It's not even that far in advance.
January 23, 2026 at 8:17 PM
People are down about trains in the UK but I just booked 4 tickets from London to Glasgow (during half term!) for £167 which seems like incredibly good value. It's not even that far in advance.
Surprised it hasn't been talked about more but the issue with ICE and tariffs aren't just that they're disgusting it's also that they're obviously illegal and show that the rule of law in the US is non-existent. As a democracy you can deal with countries like that but you can't be allied to them.
January 23, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Surprised it hasn't been talked about more but the issue with ICE and tariffs aren't just that they're disgusting it's also that they're obviously illegal and show that the rule of law in the US is non-existent. As a democracy you can deal with countries like that but you can't be allied to them.
Reposted by Paul Boldrin
#FridayFive Literature.
1. Scentless Apprentice. Nirvana.
2. Wuthering Heights. Kate Bush.
3. Dignity. Deacon Blue.
4. Romeo and Juliet. Dire Straights (The Killers version is gorgeous too).
5. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Elton John.
1. Scentless Apprentice. Nirvana.
2. Wuthering Heights. Kate Bush.
3. Dignity. Deacon Blue.
4. Romeo and Juliet. Dire Straights (The Killers version is gorgeous too).
5. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Elton John.
January 23, 2026 at 4:23 PM
#FridayFive Literature.
1. Scentless Apprentice. Nirvana.
2. Wuthering Heights. Kate Bush.
3. Dignity. Deacon Blue.
4. Romeo and Juliet. Dire Straights (The Killers version is gorgeous too).
5. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Elton John.
1. Scentless Apprentice. Nirvana.
2. Wuthering Heights. Kate Bush.
3. Dignity. Deacon Blue.
4. Romeo and Juliet. Dire Straights (The Killers version is gorgeous too).
5. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Elton John.
Reposted by Paul Boldrin
Hello @solveschoolrun.bsky.social If Islington bans Lime e-bikes it’ll blow a hole in active travel across north / central London. Please spread the word among active parents & call on councillors for pan-London cycle hire access. www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/lime...
Lime e-bikes: is it the end of the road?
Town Hall chiefs are ‘minded’ not to renew operator’s contract
www.islingtontribune.co.uk
January 21, 2026 at 8:32 AM
Hello @solveschoolrun.bsky.social If Islington bans Lime e-bikes it’ll blow a hole in active travel across north / central London. Please spread the word among active parents & call on councillors for pan-London cycle hire access. www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/lime...
Not much focus on India and other Asian countries that aren't China but increasing evidence that they're fossil fuel-driven development and going straight for renewables and electrification.
🥁 India Is Electrifying Faster Than China 🥁
Read our story on @ember-energy.org's analysis. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Read our story on @ember-energy.org's analysis. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
January 22, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Not much focus on India and other Asian countries that aren't China but increasing evidence that they're fossil fuel-driven development and going straight for renewables and electrification.
This just popped up on my job alerts, it's not for me but thought it might be of interest to some of the people who follow me here given jobs in this field come along relatively infrequently:
Senior/ Research Fellow in Energy Transitions and Justice (5213)
We welcome applications from passionate, skilled, and committed social scientists to maximising the potential of hydrogen transition to undo past injustices and enable transition to net zero.
jobs.cranfield.ac.uk
January 22, 2026 at 11:20 AM
This just popped up on my job alerts, it's not for me but thought it might be of interest to some of the people who follow me here given jobs in this field come along relatively infrequently: