Dylan McConnell
@dylanjmcconnell.bsky.social
Renewable Energy & Energy Systems Researcher at University of NSW (..but also I live in Melbourne)
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
dw about it I'm sure it's fine
November 17, 2025 at 7:16 AM
dw about it I'm sure it's fine
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
Some people are replying here with things already addressed in this thread and paper, so please click through bsky.app/profile/oliv...
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
November 14, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Some people are replying here with things already addressed in this thread and paper, so please click through bsky.app/profile/oliv...
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
Chinese and EU emissions were more or less flat in 2025 (Chinese emissions may have actually declined slightly, but its too early to know for sure: www.carbonbrief.org/...).
US emissions increases drove much of the increase in global emissions in 2025.
US emissions increases drove much of the increase in global emissions in 2025.
November 13, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Chinese and EU emissions were more or less flat in 2025 (Chinese emissions may have actually declined slightly, but its too early to know for sure: www.carbonbrief.org/...).
US emissions increases drove much of the increase in global emissions in 2025.
US emissions increases drove much of the increase in global emissions in 2025.
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
I feel like I'm going crazy. "Drop the target but stay in Paris" is black and white legal nonsense but it's being repeated nonstop by press gallery journalists
You 👏 can't 👏 go 👏 backwards 👏 and 👏 comply 👏 with 👏 Paris
Literally cannot.
It's literally in the treaty and pretty much the whole point of it.
Literally cannot.
It's literally in the treaty and pretty much the whole point of it.
November 13, 2025 at 5:13 AM
I feel like I'm going crazy. "Drop the target but stay in Paris" is black and white legal nonsense but it's being repeated nonstop by press gallery journalists
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
CCS magick! Subsidised coal! Private mini nukes!
It's all just made up and will never even have to try and survive contact with the reality of an actual political or investment decision. But let's keep talking about it for weeks like it matters!
It's all just made up and will never even have to try and survive contact with the reality of an actual political or investment decision. But let's keep talking about it for weeks like it matters!
November 13, 2025 at 7:49 AM
CCS magick! Subsidised coal! Private mini nukes!
It's all just made up and will never even have to try and survive contact with the reality of an actual political or investment decision. But let's keep talking about it for weeks like it matters!
It's all just made up and will never even have to try and survive contact with the reality of an actual political or investment decision. But let's keep talking about it for weeks like it matters!
NEM review ToR to be updated: "Review of Market Settings in the National Electricity Market to Follow the Capacity Investment Scheme, but also maybe work with an expanded Capacity Investment Scheme"
November 13, 2025 at 7:56 AM
NEM review ToR to be updated: "Review of Market Settings in the National Electricity Market to Follow the Capacity Investment Scheme, but also maybe work with an expanded Capacity Investment Scheme"
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
Sorry but you can’t dump carbon neutrality and stay in the Paris Agreement. The Libs need to be pushed on this every day until the next election.
November 13, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Sorry but you can’t dump carbon neutrality and stay in the Paris Agreement. The Libs need to be pushed on this every day until the next election.
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
This great thread raises some questions worth thinking over:
1. Is all electricity demand equivalent, or should grid policy distinguish between demand that provides essential services (e.g. hospitals) and demand that doesn't (e.g. computers mining crypto in air conditioned warehouses)?
1. Is all electricity demand equivalent, or should grid policy distinguish between demand that provides essential services (e.g. hospitals) and demand that doesn't (e.g. computers mining crypto in air conditioned warehouses)?
I reckon the most interesting subset of discourse here is when presumed [good] factors are actually either actually bad, or there to downplay or dismiss the bad even if the amount of good is way smaller than the bad.
A short thread to explain: on "training for electrification" + "demand response"
A short thread to explain: on "training for electrification" + "demand response"
I would love it if public discourse on data centers could be just a skosh more sophisticated than "data centers good vs. data centers bad."
November 7, 2025 at 12:58 PM
This great thread raises some questions worth thinking over:
1. Is all electricity demand equivalent, or should grid policy distinguish between demand that provides essential services (e.g. hospitals) and demand that doesn't (e.g. computers mining crypto in air conditioned warehouses)?
1. Is all electricity demand equivalent, or should grid policy distinguish between demand that provides essential services (e.g. hospitals) and demand that doesn't (e.g. computers mining crypto in air conditioned warehouses)?
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
Wondering why no one likes your posts anymore, even among your friends? It's because @jay.bsky.team and team have decided to hide a huge amount of content from all of our feeds by default.
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
November 6, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Wondering why no one likes your posts anymore, even among your friends? It's because @jay.bsky.team and team have decided to hide a huge amount of content from all of our feeds by default.
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
“World’s first trillionaire” is a caricature of capitalism that even Engels would have struggled to credit
Musk gets his $1 trillion compensation package approved by Tesla shareholders.
Shareholders in the room chant "Elon, Elon, Elon!"
Shareholders in the room chant "Elon, Elon, Elon!"
November 6, 2025 at 11:10 PM
“World’s first trillionaire” is a caricature of capitalism that even Engels would have struggled to credit
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
PANIC!!
My @smh @theage cartoon
My @smh @theage cartoon
November 6, 2025 at 9:20 PM
PANIC!!
My @smh @theage cartoon
My @smh @theage cartoon
Amazing to see how well deregulation and liberalisation of the retail sector is working out
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Australians to get at least three hours a day of free solar power - even if they don’t have solar panels
Labor announces ‘solar sharer’ program for households in NSW, south-east Queensland and South Australia
www.theguardian.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Amazing to see how well deregulation and liberalisation of the retail sector is working out
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
It's Halloween, and to celebrate (?) I made a big scary decision...
I love climate research and polar science, but academia broke me. And more importantly, I feel like climate comms is where I can have more impact.
... So I've left academia. Wish me luck 🎃
More here: youtu.be/mw6miP-v1Ds
I love climate research and polar science, but academia broke me. And more importantly, I feel like climate comms is where I can have more impact.
... So I've left academia. Wish me luck 🎃
More here: youtu.be/mw6miP-v1Ds
I'm leaving academia (for now)
YouTube video by Dr Gilbz
youtu.be
October 31, 2025 at 10:09 AM
It's Halloween, and to celebrate (?) I made a big scary decision...
I love climate research and polar science, but academia broke me. And more importantly, I feel like climate comms is where I can have more impact.
... So I've left academia. Wish me luck 🎃
More here: youtu.be/mw6miP-v1Ds
I love climate research and polar science, but academia broke me. And more importantly, I feel like climate comms is where I can have more impact.
... So I've left academia. Wish me luck 🎃
More here: youtu.be/mw6miP-v1Ds
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
1/ How is Germany's #Energiewende going, and how should it proceed? In our brand-new piece in Communications Earth & Environment, we show that the expansion of variable renewables has progressed substantially in recent years, but electrification and flexibility have not kept pace. A short 🧵
Germany should accelerate its renewable energy transition - Communications Earth & Environment
Germany’s energy transition relies on variable renewables and electricity use across sectors, and it needs to accelerate. This Comment argues that consistent policy commitments to proven technologies,...
www.nature.com
October 29, 2025 at 9:31 PM
1/ How is Germany's #Energiewende going, and how should it proceed? In our brand-new piece in Communications Earth & Environment, we show that the expansion of variable renewables has progressed substantially in recent years, but electrification and flexibility have not kept pace. A short 🧵
Incredible crop of quandongs this year
November 2, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Incredible crop of quandongs this year
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
I quite enjoyed a lot of the takedowns of Bill Gates' EA brain snap on climate. It is really deadassed in a number of ways.
But no-one mentioned the most important thing. He isn't *just* full of shit. He knows he is full of shit.
I can prove it: timinclimate.medium.com/even-bill-ga...
But no-one mentioned the most important thing. He isn't *just* full of shit. He knows he is full of shit.
I can prove it: timinclimate.medium.com/even-bill-ga...
Even Bill Gates knows he is full of shit
Did you hear about that “one low-income country set out to cut emissions by banning synthetic fertilizers”?
timinclimate.medium.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:06 PM
I quite enjoyed a lot of the takedowns of Bill Gates' EA brain snap on climate. It is really deadassed in a number of ways.
But no-one mentioned the most important thing. He isn't *just* full of shit. He knows he is full of shit.
I can prove it: timinclimate.medium.com/even-bill-ga...
But no-one mentioned the most important thing. He isn't *just* full of shit. He knows he is full of shit.
I can prove it: timinclimate.medium.com/even-bill-ga...
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
here's a new one: a tribunal was holding a hearing over Microsoft Teams when they noticed ... an AI bot had joined the call
October 30, 2025 at 9:11 PM
here's a new one: a tribunal was holding a hearing over Microsoft Teams when they noticed ... an AI bot had joined the call
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
Weird how his change of view has come at the same time his company is investing in huge greenhouse gas emitting data centres for AI…
He is tech billionaire and major landowner... not a vaccines expert or a climate scientist
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Bill Gates says climate crisis won’t cause ‘humanity’s demise’ in call to shift focus to ‘improving lives’
Billionaire’s statement comes a day after UN said humanity missed 1.5C climate target and warned of devastation
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Weird how his change of view has come at the same time his company is investing in huge greenhouse gas emitting data centres for AI…
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
Carbon offsetting does not work. Not because of implementation details but because there are fundamental issues with the very idea of 'offsetting'. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Carbon credits are failing to help with climate change — here’s why | Nature
The idea that emissions can be offset through projects that claim to avoid releases or to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is fatally flawed. The idea that emissions can be offset through projects that claim to avoid releases or to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is fatally flawed.
www.nature.com
October 27, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Carbon offsetting does not work. Not because of implementation details but because there are fundamental issues with the very idea of 'offsetting'. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
"Australia is also the first nation to surpass 1 GWh of utility battery capacity per million people, launching it into a league of its own, far ahead of China and the United States, each with less than 400 MWh per 1 million people."
Australia becomes world’s third-largest utility battery market
Australia has overtaken the United Kingdom to rank behind China and the United States in utility-scale battery capacity, with 14 GW/37 GWh of projects at or nearing financial close.
www.pv-magazine.com
October 26, 2025 at 7:08 AM
"Australia is also the first nation to surpass 1 GWh of utility battery capacity per million people, launching it into a league of its own, far ahead of China and the United States, each with less than 400 MWh per 1 million people."
Not news to anyone that's paying attention, but pretty amazing figure of what is going on with residential batteries from CSIRO 🔌💡
October 24, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Not news to anyone that's paying attention, but pretty amazing figure of what is going on with residential batteries from CSIRO 🔌💡
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
“Much of legacy media relies on the ‘debate’ itself. It’s not the substance of the debate or even the tangible damage the debate causes in the real world that matters — it is the debate itself that counts.”
www.deepcutnews.com/p/australian...
www.deepcutnews.com/p/australian...
Australian journalism prizes 'objectivity' over truth
The dispute between Chris Hedges and David Marr reveals much about the state of our press
www.deepcutnews.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:31 PM
“Much of legacy media relies on the ‘debate’ itself. It’s not the substance of the debate or even the tangible damage the debate causes in the real world that matters — it is the debate itself that counts.”
www.deepcutnews.com/p/australian...
www.deepcutnews.com/p/australian...
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
Yet again, we can't afford to let LLMs become a source of epistemic grounding for society.
Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory
An intensive international study was coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and led by the BBC
www.bbc.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 5:21 AM
Yet again, we can't afford to let LLMs become a source of epistemic grounding for society.
Reposted by Dylan McConnell
I am presenting a summary of my upcoming book, based on my DECRA research, at the Care Lab UNSW next month. Come along if you can, in person or online:
www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-care-l...
www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-care-l...
The Care Lab Seminar Series: Dr Hannah McCann
The Care Lab at UNSW presents Dr Hannah McCann on Caring Beyond Skin Deep: Emotions, Bodies, and Identities in the Hair and Beauty Salon
www.eventbrite.com.au
October 22, 2025 at 12:00 AM
I am presenting a summary of my upcoming book, based on my DECRA research, at the Care Lab UNSW next month. Come along if you can, in person or online:
www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-care-l...
www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-care-l...