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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 25m

Anyway, whether it's e-fuels or not, $8/MWh over a large portion of the world's surface makes many problems go away.

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 38m

Ugh, ignore these numbers, I'm going to stop doing calculations at 11pm when I have already done them somewhere else but can't be bothered to dig them out. But the energy use for the DAC is the big problem, it uses more than the actual synthesis.

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 58m

The gas will have gone away long before 5 GW of extra nukes come online! Agreed it gets complicated when you get to 95% low carbon especially when you try to predict extra demand (how much AC is there going to be in the UK?) and incorporating DSR with electrified industry.

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 1h

There is much playing around with numbers you can do to get low prices. Fundamentally a 50% efficiency for the electrosynthesis gives you ~$1.40 per litre wholesale just for the electricity at $0.08/kWh. Probably you would be lucky to get that unless you get free heat for the DAC.

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 1h

Yes but we still get cheaper electricity from burning less gas in summer. While we still have gas to displace in summer it will make electricity cheaper.

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 1h

I think $8/MWh is still not cheap enough for e-petrol. You can definitely do a lot of commodity chemicals for that price though with feasible carbon pricing. The tech is not ready yet but if the electricity is there then the tech won't be too far behind.

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 1h

It helps in the short and medium term because solar is still the cheapest form of electricity that we have. Longer term we may lose some energy intensive industry (lol) if it migrated to sunnier climes because offshore wind doesn't get any cheaper.

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 1h

They don't even have to be that close - the price for solar in the auction last year was over 50% more expensive than this.

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 1h

The UK government will be *extremely* happy if these kinds of prices are replicated in the UK auction in the next couple of months.

Christian Breyer @christianonre.bsky.social · 2h

Germany wraps up solar-plus-storage tender with average price of €0.0531/kWh www.pv-magazine.com/2025/10/08/g...

Germany wraps up solar-plus-storage tender with average price of €0.0531/kWh

Germany has concluded a new renewables tender for innovative projects, securing 485 MW of capacity at final prices ranging from €0.0479 ($0.0557)/kWh to €0.0559/kWh

www.pv-magazine.com

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 3h

At least there's genuine progress being made on renewables and one global superpower seems onboard. The EU needs to link up with China to make sure there's no benefits to backsliding.

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 3h

Wasn't the main problem that she spent weeks ignoring experts saying "uh, these gas price increases are really going to be quite big" by saying that tax cuts were the free market solution, only to do a last minute badly planned bail out AND still do the tax cuts?

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Reposted by Paul Boldrin

Warren Oates @warrenoates1.bsky.social · 1d

An important (global) public service announcement from Ed Miliband on the day that renewables have over taken coal as the largest source of electricity.

"Clean energy, it's happening and it's the future."

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 4h

Graph from here:

Anthony Painter @anthonypainter.bsky.social · Dec 4

So the Biden administration wants you to think that this is driving a green growth "miracle". Rather than.... (1/3).

Graph showing the weak relationship between green investment and state growth ranking

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 4h

This paper fits very well with the graph below in explaining why Biden lost the election. The economic improvements during his tenure were mostly due to increased oil and gas production, and most of that money went to rich people.

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 8h

The prices are crazy - it's just under £100 for me and my two kids if I wanted to go to the Copenhagen game which coupled with the nightmare of getting home (an hour on a bus to Ally Pally) makes it not very appealing as a midweek proposition.

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 11h

Can't believe they've given a Nobel prize for MOFs and overlooked my contribution of <checks notes> one paper on MOFs. Suspect it might be the closest I get to a Nobel prize!

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 15h

Fun fact - you can actually just look election results up on the Internet. The Tories have *never* got lower than 10% in Scottish elections before or after devolution. They got 19.4% in 1988 under Thatcher!

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 16h

The Tories got 20% in the 2022 elections and 25% in 2017.

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 1d

Every teenage boy needs to learn this lesson.

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 1d

This is a very interesting article and interview, keep fighting the good fight, I think you're doing a great job.

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Reposted by Paul Boldrin

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 1d

I have had a very positive message from the in-laws in Billericay about this Guardian interview today: "you managed to give a view from every angle" says Kathy. (There may be some pro-me bias there in its potential to bridge!)

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Sunder Katwala on race, patriotism and flag-waving: ‘The far right is vocal and angry because it is shrinking’

The director of British Future has spent his career trying to find common ground when it comes to race and immigration. He describes his own experience of racism – and why he’s still hopeful for the U...

www.theguardian.com

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 1d

He said "in the long run" not "in the latest opinion poll".

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 1d

Maybe read the article?!

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 1d

Scumbags break into their <Vauxhall Senator> and steal their <car phone>.

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 2d

Awesome clouds tonight in London.

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