David Dye

That is one piece of statistic. Testament to the focus placed on safety.

Dr Jess Wade is awarded the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture for her achievements in functional materials and her outstanding project which will support early career women scientists to pursue academic careers in materials sciences. #RSMedals royalsociety.org/medals-and-pri…

@SteveDavies365 Why is meaningful growth not possible? This was thought in the 70s, but that was false. The US, Ireland, much of the EU have grown over the last decade; why not the UK? Having a government that’s interested in growth is at least a start…

anti-systemic and plebeian when it does burst out. 5. What none of our political class and very few voters are prepared to even consider is the prospect that meaningful growth will be near impossible to achieve in the near to medium future. As I have said, the likely result will

🧵 I have the increasing reeling that UK politics is in a holding mode with lots of people desperately trying to keep the circling plane flying. 1. The Starmer government is best understood as representing the technocratic consensus that emerged after 1990 and consolidated under

@Adam_Grant_Bell They’re populists; coherence and policy aren’t their thing. It’s all about the adulation of the crowd, always has been. Governing isn’t actually the point.

My big practical problem with this component of the Tory Race Revanchist agenda is that I have no idea how it possibly all hangs together into a coherent policy agenda. /1

Some great news! 1) Felicity will be joining the Centre for Nuclear Engineering at Imperial, as a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow, to start her own research group on materials degradation / characterization for nuclear power! Congrats Dr. Worsnop!

@plumbers_urban I called octopus, someone came by 2 days later and removed it for free. Great stuff!

Hey guys. What’s the trick to have your gas meter removed without paying £1400? Southern Network want that much for disconnection. EDF or Octopus can’t help.

@RobinWGrimes @TamFinkelstein The depth of analysis in Treasury (from economists) is invariably, extremely strong in my experience. On climate and energy policy, DESNZ people are also, almost without exception, exceptional. No doubt at all. And those are just the people I meet.

@RobinWGrimes @TamFinkelstein Of course, many, many civil servants are fantastic, and develop huge expertise also in their fields, and port them across ministries to the great benefit of HMG. And yet…

Really interested in views on my assertion that we are not well served any more by the idea of the civil service generalist, that it gets in the way of raising our professional capability and commitment to continuous professional development - so we deliver better for citizens

If you're in the mood for a serious think about the roots of modern British fascism, and how we create a movement that can defeat it, start here... youtu.be/Z55AEOPYlYc?si…

UK's elite hardware talent is being wasted. ‘Imperial, Oxford, and Cambridge produce world-class engineers. Yet post-graduation, their trajectory is an economic tragedy - and a hidden arbitrage opportunity.’ josef.cn/blog/uk-talent

@Adam_Grant_Bell I do agree that at the local loop level, which I’ve read is based on a 2kW per property assumption (?), then things might get tricky, but as you say, that’s much less cable, it’s mostly in conduit and nondisruptive to upgrade. Again, I’d monitor and plan before panicking.

@Adam_Grant_Bell Yeah, DNOs are accepting requests for free unlooping and 100A fuses where they should probably push back, do some monitoring and then only upgrade if the requirement is real. With smart meters there’s no need to guess!

I've learned a great deal from contributors to this thread, particularly @ljmitrasevic and @Airija, many thanks. I stand by my original contention that we won't need to dig up every street... /1

@Adam_Grant_Bell That is, 60A/15kW is probably enough capacity for >95% of homes? Heat pumps are probably an irrelevance to this; even an 11kW heat ASHP is only going to be <4kW electrical draw. And the solar is export…

@Adam_Grant_Bell I’ve just been round this; if you put a CT clamp on your 7kW EV charger to sort out contention for the once-in-a-blue moon when your induction hob and oven are at their max, it’s really hard to see a scenario where you really are going to need more than 60A and need unlooping?

@landlord_secret @SusieD_LON @hannahfearn Often the 60s and 70s systems were properly designed by well trained heating engineers, also, so if they’re in good nick they can be really effective.

@DavidDye9 @SusieD_LON @hannahfearn Thanks for that. Not intending to change (unless breaks) for another couple of years. Just sharing surprised by the speed, heat and lack of expense (so far) of an older system (unexpected win!)

I just got a 'C' on my EPC for a Victorian terraced house. Got to admit I'm delighted. Have to also confess a little confused. I haven't done any additional insulation (beyond attic), gas boiler <5 years old, got DG and low energy lighting, but was thinking I'd need to do more?

@landlord_secret @hannahfearn @SusieD_LON Exactly

@DavidDye9 @hannahfearn @SusieD_LON I think you mean to DM @hannahfearn ?

@landlord_secret @SusieD_LON @hannahfearn An 80s gravity fed system boiler that’s well maintained can work well, of course - they always did. Combis were a revolution in the 90s, in turn - magic little boxes. But better is possible now… happy to chat.

@SusieD_LON @hannahfearn @DavidDye9 I've been impressed by how good the 35+ year old Potterton boiler is (& checking bills not expensive to run) using an immersion tank has also been new experience, but again, not as difficult or expensive as expected. Can't help wondering what I'm missing...

@MoatazAttallah @DrKChristofidou @x_ackers_x 👀