On 7 November 2015, the average price of a megawatt hour of electricity in the UK was £38.10.  On 7 November 2016, that same megawatt hour of electricity rose to more than £1,000 for supply companies not tied into forward contracts and to around £150 for those who were. The …

Back in the days when Tony Blair had relegated the Tories to an unelectable rump, the key to determining policy was to steal the opposition’s ideas.  Anything sensible that the Tories might propose would be incorporated into the New Labour programme.  All else would be dismissed as lunacy. On the …

It was Bill Clinton who observed that elections turn on the economy – “It’s the economy, stupid!”  But mass media has left us largely in the dark as to what economic policy a Trump administration might pursue.  Will Americans find themselves on the receiving end of round after round of …

The US fracking bubble that was going to power America for a century is fast receding into the history books.  But unlike previous oil booms and busts, this one looks like being the last.  And now that it is over, we can begin counting the costs to communities across the …

The British public is being deceived by greenwash stories designed to gloss over the government’s failure to deliver a coherent energy policy.  For example, Adam Vaughan in the Guardian uncritically repeats the story that: “More power came from solar panels than from Britain’s ageing coal stations from April to September …

People in secure full-time employment tend to be seen as the winners in any economy.  However, as more firms look to freelancers to avoid the cost of directly employing people, it is this group that are most at risk. According to Diane Mulcahy at Havard Business Review: “Work is being …

Tuesday’s decision to support a third runway at Heathrow airport is just the latest in a string of decisions since the Tories were elected in May 2015 that should finally demonstrate that Britain has no intention of meeting its climate obligations.  Immediately on taking office, the Tories embarked on a …

The Institute of Directors in Scotland has called on the Scottish Government to lift its ban on fracking or face severe energy disruption in the near future.  According to the Institute, which represents 1,800 businesses in Scotland: “We are severely concerned that there will be a power shortage by the …

The latest University of Nottingham survey of public attitudes to shale gas extraction in the UK has found that for the first time a majority of people in the UK are opposed to fracking.  Since the survey began in March 2012, fracking had always had a positive approval rating, although …

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have accidentally discovered a potentially profitable means of converting carbon dioxide into ethanol.  The team used a catalyst made of carbon, copper and nitrogen and applied voltage to trigger a complicated chemical reaction that essentially reverses the combustion process. …