Engineering

The story of oil

Fossil fuels are still essential for the world. And oil is still a core ingredient in international politics. And hence the recent history of Oil is still important to understand…

Here’s to the risk takers

“There is a minimum level of risk that must be taken across society. Reducing risk will always, eventually create risk.” Here’s to the risk-takers.

Hydrogen!

Hydrogen has become very topical recently. There are valid concerns about whether it will really take an important role in the energy sector. Those concerns may not be what you think…

The fall of the machines

Japanese car-makers and, more recently, Elon Musk, both found that automation is not as good as everyone assumes. “Humans are under-rated”. There’s an important lesson in that for policy-makers.

Are renewables more or less expensive? Er…

It is often claimed that renewables are less expensive. But its a deceptive claim, because it ignores some of the costs and the unusual ways that renewables interact with the rest of the system.