A Low Carbon Economy – absorbing the shock

'Economy does not lie in sparing money, but in spending it wisely.' - Thomas Huxley 

In many countries, including the UK, there is a very fortunate synergy between climate change policy and economic stability.

The UK is a net importer of fossil fuels, particularly oil and gas, making it vulnerable to price shocks caused by events which may be completely out of the control of UK policy. This is precisely why we hear so much talk about energy security.

A volatile world

In addition to the pressing climate change issues, reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels is vital in achieving economic stability in a volatile world. Policies which encourage energy efficiency and increase capacity of ‘home grown’ energy such as solar, wind and to some extent nuclear, can thus be seen to be beneficial on more than one level.

DECC recently commissioned a study by Oxford Economics on this very subject. The report ‘Fossil fuel price shocks and a low carbon economy’ can be accessed here.

The focus of the study was the effect on the UK economy of an oil and gas price shock (i.e. a sudden and unexpected rise in the import cost of these commodities). A quick look at a graph of oil prices over the last few decades demonstrates that there is a clear historical precedent for such shocks.

Wind Energy in Rural Peru: a volunteer experience with WindAid

A great wind is blowing, and that gives you either imagination or a headache. - Catherine the Great 

It was a dark and rainy afternoon in February when I left Yorkshire in the North of England and set off for London to catch a flight southwards. My destination was Trujillo on the North West coast of Peru where I was to spend the next five weeks working as a volunteer with an organisation called WindAid.

Clean Energy

WindAid is an environmental development organisation that brings electricity to isolated communities in Peru through the manufacture and installation of wind turbines. Many rural communities in Peru have no access to electricity for basic needs such as education and healthcare. 

Others have a limited and costly supply through diesel generators which pollute the environment. Using simple technology, local labour and materials and a passion for sustainable energy, WindAid, along with an army of volunteers, are working to electrify isolated communities in Peru and provide access to the modern facilities we take for granted.

Is Climate Change the Real Black Swan?

‘If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.’ - George Bernard Shaw 

It is with some apprehension that I comment on the work of Nassim Taleb and the idea of the Black Swan. The concept was rigorously discussed in Taleb’s book of the same name published in 2007. 

Taleb is a formidable and precise thinker and since at present I only have a basic understanding of the nuances of the Black Swan, I hope he will forgive me for any errors in my presentation of it.

The concept goes something like this: