EssaysConcern
@richarderskine.bsky.social
1.1K followers 550 following 1.1K posts
Research fellow at The Schumacher Institute. Knowledge management specialist. Artist, Educator, Writer. www.trustedknowledge.org www.essaysconcerning.com www.richarderskineart.com
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This is a good corrective to the BS narrative flowing through the Pielke/AEI/NYP/EID/DOE nexus. Their argument is designed so that we can never ever attribute extreme events to emissions - even singular events that would have *never* [for some suitable finite approximation] have happened before.
@betatalk.bsky.social @chiefgeekad.bsky.social thoughts? Corrections? … I’m wanting to think/present in terms of householders not only engineers.
Reposted by EssaysConcern
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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...

1/11
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
So, in most respects 'complementary', and each in their own ways able to deliver huge value to the industry.
Q. "In the UK we have two brilliant grassroot initiatives to promote best practice in heat pump installation: 'heat geek' and more recently 'The Guild of Master Heat Engineers'. Are these to be viewed as complementary or competing initiatives?"

Here's how OpenAI tabulated a response ...

#HeatPump
Ooo, look what’s arrived!

#Energysky #Heatpumps
Heat pumps unlocked
Remember, climate action delay is the new climate science denial. The Conservative Party and GMB Union are both in denial.
Also, Elon Musk is completely opposed to institutions that champion evidence that holds those in power to account. His Grok AI gives undue weight to climate‑denial or fringe skeptical views under the guise of free speech. This is not his political views but his enabling of science disinformation.
Another slide that came to me, for an upcoming talk. Now I could show the refrigeration cycle or I could relate it everyday experiences!

We need to draw people in (mostly non geeks), not scare them off.

#Energysky
from presentation by Richard Erskine from presentation by Richard Erskine
Is the behaviour of the US crowd at the Ryder Cup and their team a metaphor for Trump’s America: loud, loutish, disrespectful … losers!
Ryder cup sky sports
My wife gave me good feedback - so here's an improved version …
Near the end of my talk on heat pumps I want to step write back. Looking back in fact from, say, 2500 CE with this graphic I just made ...
#Energysky #Climatesky
Catapult concluded:
"Despite the high level of variation overall, house
type and age did not have a statistically significant
impact upon the heat pump performance results."

Which my experience rather underlines. 2/2
Good to raise town gas. My understanding was that it was mainly used for cooking and water heating (not space heating) until the 1960s when it played a significant role (a quarter or so of homes), but as it was derived from coal I’m not sure I need to change figure, but will add commentary. Thanks.
I think it’s hard to argue that demand was not also strongly (majorly in my view) influenced by women wanting relief from the drudgery of washing.
And Ecotricity make their case using optimistic assumptions on the end to end efficiencies of biogas, and laughably pessimistic assumptions about heat pumps (not to mention silly ‘don’t rip out boilers’ scare tactics). Biogas is not judged as significant player in heating by CCC.
As David Mackay said 15 years ago, if you have any gas to pipe anywhere why would you pipe it to burn in a house when it can be burned in a generator and the electricity used to drive a heat pump and more than tripling the energy supply (by harvesting ambient heat)? 1/2
Wood pellet fuelled boilers represent well under 1% of uk domestic heating so not sure the graphic needs to show them. As to the future, I’m pretty convinced they are not it, except in niche settings.
Later in talk I will provide a different timeline on electrification and heat pumps from about 1800 including original heat pumps used in refridgeration; Lord Kelvin's suggestion of heating buildings with them (1852); VRV/VRF in 1982; etc.

Suggestions welcome on this timeline too.

2/2
I am working on a talk ('Everything you wanted to know about heat pumps but was afraid to ask') for a local climate group. I though I'd step back early in talk to give a perspective on heating in England since its birth. What do you think?

1/2

#Energysky #Heatpumps
Bravo, and thank you for your tenacity and dedication