Ben Barclay
@benbarclay.bsky.social
Translator and textbook writer. Post on climate, energy, health, Spain, Brexit and other stuff.
Produce VoiceMap audio tours of Andalucía: https://voicemap.me/publisher/ben-barclay#tours
Substack: https://thegreentransition.substack.com/
Produce VoiceMap audio tours of Andalucía: https://voicemap.me/publisher/ben-barclay#tours
Substack: https://thegreentransition.substack.com/
Pinned
Ben Barclay
@benbarclay.bsky.social
· Dec 31
It’s been a year of ups and too many downs for the world, but on a personal level it’s been fantastic criss-crossing Andalucia to research and test 7 new audio tours.
Here’s a quick reminder why you should visit these 7 fantastic places even if you have no interest in doing one of my tours.
🧵
Here’s a quick reminder why you should visit these 7 fantastic places even if you have no interest in doing one of my tours.
🧵
Reposted by Ben Barclay
Duff-looking UK labour market data this morning.
Payrolls on a declining trend, unemployment rate hits 5%.
(usual caveats to both - former v prone to revisions, often upwards, and latter is drawn from the wonky Labour Force Survey)
Payrolls on a declining trend, unemployment rate hits 5%.
(usual caveats to both - former v prone to revisions, often upwards, and latter is drawn from the wonky Labour Force Survey)
November 11, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Duff-looking UK labour market data this morning.
Payrolls on a declining trend, unemployment rate hits 5%.
(usual caveats to both - former v prone to revisions, often upwards, and latter is drawn from the wonky Labour Force Survey)
Payrolls on a declining trend, unemployment rate hits 5%.
(usual caveats to both - former v prone to revisions, often upwards, and latter is drawn from the wonky Labour Force Survey)
Reposted by Ben Barclay
China’s CO₂ emissions fell by 3% in September, after three months of increases. That brings emissions for the first nine months of 2025 very close to zero growth - with a slight rise or fall for the full year still in the balance.
November 11, 2025 at 6:35 AM
China’s CO₂ emissions fell by 3% in September, after three months of increases. That brings emissions for the first nine months of 2025 very close to zero growth - with a slight rise or fall for the full year still in the balance.
Reposted by Ben Barclay
🇩🇪 Germany - October 25 - BEV Trajectory
21.0% BEV
12.4% PHEV
66.7% ICE (of which 28.2%p were HEV)
Trailing 12 months are:
17.8% BEV
10.2% PHEV
72.0% ICE (of which 28.9%p were HEV)
Graphs are available in the Gallery: leraffl.github.io/LeRaffl-Gall...
21.0% BEV
12.4% PHEV
66.7% ICE (of which 28.2%p were HEV)
Trailing 12 months are:
17.8% BEV
10.2% PHEV
72.0% ICE (of which 28.9%p were HEV)
Graphs are available in the Gallery: leraffl.github.io/LeRaffl-Gall...
November 10, 2025 at 7:36 PM
🇩🇪 Germany - October 25 - BEV Trajectory
21.0% BEV
12.4% PHEV
66.7% ICE (of which 28.2%p were HEV)
Trailing 12 months are:
17.8% BEV
10.2% PHEV
72.0% ICE (of which 28.9%p were HEV)
Graphs are available in the Gallery: leraffl.github.io/LeRaffl-Gall...
21.0% BEV
12.4% PHEV
66.7% ICE (of which 28.2%p were HEV)
Trailing 12 months are:
17.8% BEV
10.2% PHEV
72.0% ICE (of which 28.9%p were HEV)
Graphs are available in the Gallery: leraffl.github.io/LeRaffl-Gall...
Reposted by Ben Barclay
I often read on social media that Germany just replaced nuclear with coal.
That is evidently not the case.
Coal generation is down by more than 60% over last decade with nuclear now gone.
However, Germany could have phased out coal by now if it had kept nuclear generation going at 2011 levels.
That is evidently not the case.
Coal generation is down by more than 60% over last decade with nuclear now gone.
However, Germany could have phased out coal by now if it had kept nuclear generation going at 2011 levels.
November 10, 2025 at 3:52 PM
I often read on social media that Germany just replaced nuclear with coal.
That is evidently not the case.
Coal generation is down by more than 60% over last decade with nuclear now gone.
However, Germany could have phased out coal by now if it had kept nuclear generation going at 2011 levels.
That is evidently not the case.
Coal generation is down by more than 60% over last decade with nuclear now gone.
However, Germany could have phased out coal by now if it had kept nuclear generation going at 2011 levels.
Reposted by Ben Barclay
Sky News just had Kelvin Mackenzie on, former editor of The Sun, one of the people at the centre of probably the most disgraceful front page in newspaper history, complaining about BBC journalists not being objective and 'fake news'. Astonishing. ~AA
November 10, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Sky News just had Kelvin Mackenzie on, former editor of The Sun, one of the people at the centre of probably the most disgraceful front page in newspaper history, complaining about BBC journalists not being objective and 'fake news'. Astonishing. ~AA
Reposted by Ben Barclay
This morning we went to Fuente Alamo, the last of the three great Roman villas in Andalucia.
The mosaics aren’t as brilliant as the ones at Villa Salar (and light was awkward), but still pretty cool. And the excavations are much more complete.
Triumph of Bacchus and 3 Graces are most famous.
1/
The mosaics aren’t as brilliant as the ones at Villa Salar (and light was awkward), but still pretty cool. And the excavations are much more complete.
Triumph of Bacchus and 3 Graces are most famous.
1/
November 8, 2025 at 5:12 PM
This morning we went to Fuente Alamo, the last of the three great Roman villas in Andalucia.
The mosaics aren’t as brilliant as the ones at Villa Salar (and light was awkward), but still pretty cool. And the excavations are much more complete.
Triumph of Bacchus and 3 Graces are most famous.
1/
The mosaics aren’t as brilliant as the ones at Villa Salar (and light was awkward), but still pretty cool. And the excavations are much more complete.
Triumph of Bacchus and 3 Graces are most famous.
1/
Reposted by Ben Barclay
MANILA, Philippines — A weakening Typhoon Uwan (Fung-wong) departed the Philippines over the South China Sea on Monday morning, after its driving winds and heavy rain killed at least two people and forced more than a million to evacuate.
READ: tmt.news/2219741
READ: tmt.news/2219741
November 10, 2025 at 2:55 AM
MANILA, Philippines — A weakening Typhoon Uwan (Fung-wong) departed the Philippines over the South China Sea on Monday morning, after its driving winds and heavy rain killed at least two people and forced more than a million to evacuate.
READ: tmt.news/2219741
READ: tmt.news/2219741
Reposted by Ben Barclay
🚨 Last month observed the highest average temperature for the month of October across the #Antarctic Circle, with clearly 2025 well above any prior year in the satellite era.
Data from doi.org/10.24381/cds...
Data from doi.org/10.24381/cds...
November 7, 2025 at 5:40 PM
🚨 Last month observed the highest average temperature for the month of October across the #Antarctic Circle, with clearly 2025 well above any prior year in the satellite era.
Data from doi.org/10.24381/cds...
Data from doi.org/10.24381/cds...
Reposted by Ben Barclay
October 2025 was the 3rd warmest October on record for our planet, following 2023 (1st place) and 2024 (2nd place). This month was about 1.55°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average. The last 12-months have been about 1.50°C above it.
Summary of month: climate.copernicus.eu/surface-air-... 🛠️🧪🌊
Summary of month: climate.copernicus.eu/surface-air-... 🛠️🧪🌊
November 8, 2025 at 10:31 PM
October 2025 was the 3rd warmest October on record for our planet, following 2023 (1st place) and 2024 (2nd place). This month was about 1.55°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average. The last 12-months have been about 1.50°C above it.
Summary of month: climate.copernicus.eu/surface-air-... 🛠️🧪🌊
Summary of month: climate.copernicus.eu/surface-air-... 🛠️🧪🌊
Reposted by Ben Barclay
Exactly. The area used for on-street parking in Frederiksberg (a municipality within central Copenhagen) is about the same as the park Frederiksberg Have (0.3 km2) 🤯
November 9, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Exactly. The area used for on-street parking in Frederiksberg (a municipality within central Copenhagen) is about the same as the park Frederiksberg Have (0.3 km2) 🤯
For remembrance day:
The wheels lurched over sprawled dead
But pained them not, though their bones crunched,
Their shut mouths made no moan.
They lie there huddled, friend and foeman,
Man born of man, and born of woman,
And shells go crying over them
From night till night and now.
The wheels lurched over sprawled dead
But pained them not, though their bones crunched,
Their shut mouths made no moan.
They lie there huddled, friend and foeman,
Man born of man, and born of woman,
And shells go crying over them
From night till night and now.
November 9, 2025 at 10:01 PM
For remembrance day:
The wheels lurched over sprawled dead
But pained them not, though their bones crunched,
Their shut mouths made no moan.
They lie there huddled, friend and foeman,
Man born of man, and born of woman,
And shells go crying over them
From night till night and now.
The wheels lurched over sprawled dead
But pained them not, though their bones crunched,
Their shut mouths made no moan.
They lie there huddled, friend and foeman,
Man born of man, and born of woman,
And shells go crying over them
From night till night and now.
Yup. The people who keep normalising the abnormal.
And who lecture everyone on why it was wrong to be right too early, ie before they realised they were wrong.
And who lecture everyone on why it was wrong to be right too early, ie before they realised they were wrong.
There has been a dramatic rupture in geopolitics, and far too many people are pretending all is normal...
November 9, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Yup. The people who keep normalising the abnormal.
And who lecture everyone on why it was wrong to be right too early, ie before they realised they were wrong.
And who lecture everyone on why it was wrong to be right too early, ie before they realised they were wrong.
I very much like AI when it means machine learning, which (as in this case) is doing a great deal of good in many fields.
I even think LLMs have good uses.
I’m just not keen on subcontracting thought to LLMs.
I even think LLMs have good uses.
I’m just not keen on subcontracting thought to LLMs.
Holy shit. This company claims it has developed an air-source heat pump with a COP of *7* (3-5 is considered good). For you non-nerds, that basically means it produces 7 units of heat for every unit of electricity it consumes. How are they doing it? You're not gonna like this answer, but: it's AI.
Fairland COP7 R290 ATW HeatPump - The Future of AI HeatPump
/PRNewswire/ -- As gentle heat wraps around you, you walk barefoot to bathroom and enjoy an instant hot shower—no waiting, no cold shock. Every corner indoors...
www.prnewswire.co.uk
November 9, 2025 at 9:27 PM
I very much like AI when it means machine learning, which (as in this case) is doing a great deal of good in many fields.
I even think LLMs have good uses.
I’m just not keen on subcontracting thought to LLMs.
I even think LLMs have good uses.
I’m just not keen on subcontracting thought to LLMs.
To lose one senior director may be regarded as misfortune, to lose two looks like carelessness.
Losing both the director-general and the very obvious heir apparent as the result of such an orchestrated attack is truly existential stuff for the BBC.
It’s also a *massive* challenge for Lisa Nandy, who has so far failed to impress anyone as culture secretary.
It’s also a *massive* challenge for Lisa Nandy, who has so far failed to impress anyone as culture secretary.
November 9, 2025 at 8:32 PM
To lose one senior director may be regarded as misfortune, to lose two looks like carelessness.
Reposted by Ben Barclay
Last stop in Carmona was the amphitheatre and necropolis, which is the most important Roman necropolis in Spain, with 100s of tombs.
As well as the massive Servilia family tomb, once surrounded by ornately decorated builds, it has the tomb of the elephant, named after a statue found there.
9/
As well as the massive Servilia family tomb, once surrounded by ornately decorated builds, it has the tomb of the elephant, named after a statue found there.
9/
November 9, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Last stop in Carmona was the amphitheatre and necropolis, which is the most important Roman necropolis in Spain, with 100s of tombs.
As well as the massive Servilia family tomb, once surrounded by ornately decorated builds, it has the tomb of the elephant, named after a statue found there.
9/
As well as the massive Servilia family tomb, once surrounded by ornately decorated builds, it has the tomb of the elephant, named after a statue found there.
9/
Reposted by Ben Barclay
I had to look up what nurdles are: the mini building blocks of most plastic products.
www.mcsuk.org/news/what-ar...
www.mcsuk.org/news/what-ar...
November 9, 2025 at 7:18 AM
I had to look up what nurdles are: the mini building blocks of most plastic products.
www.mcsuk.org/news/what-ar...
www.mcsuk.org/news/what-ar...
Reposted by Ben Barclay
The “adult“ content is the 3 graces, ffs.
Anyway, there are older baths beneath the villa, with an unusually shaped mosaic featuring the River Nile personified riding a hippo, and pygmies fighting a crane.
They have ”speech bubbles”, so it’s a sort of ancient cartoon.
2/
Anyway, there are older baths beneath the villa, with an unusually shaped mosaic featuring the River Nile personified riding a hippo, and pygmies fighting a crane.
They have ”speech bubbles”, so it’s a sort of ancient cartoon.
2/
November 8, 2025 at 5:17 PM
The “adult“ content is the 3 graces, ffs.
Anyway, there are older baths beneath the villa, with an unusually shaped mosaic featuring the River Nile personified riding a hippo, and pygmies fighting a crane.
They have ”speech bubbles”, so it’s a sort of ancient cartoon.
2/
Anyway, there are older baths beneath the villa, with an unusually shaped mosaic featuring the River Nile personified riding a hippo, and pygmies fighting a crane.
They have ”speech bubbles”, so it’s a sort of ancient cartoon.
2/
Reposted by Ben Barclay
It’s one thing to have different environmental/health priorities for your foundation, it’s quite another to have been bankrolling one of the primary sources of bullshit on the topic.
Bill Gates Gave $3.5M to Think Tank Run by Climate Crisis Denier Bjorn Lomborg
By @rtakver.bsky.social @desmog.com
www.desmog.com/2025/11/05/b...
By @rtakver.bsky.social @desmog.com
www.desmog.com/2025/11/05/b...
Bill Gates Gave $3.5M to Think Tank Run by Climate Crisis Denier Bjorn Lomborg
Tax records reveal that the billionaire’s foundation has donated for years to Lomborg’s Copenhagen Consensus Center.
www.desmog.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:27 PM
It’s one thing to have different environmental/health priorities for your foundation, it’s quite another to have been bankrolling one of the primary sources of bullshit on the topic.
This morning we went to Fuente Alamo, the last of the three great Roman villas in Andalucia.
The mosaics aren’t as brilliant as the ones at Villa Salar (and light was awkward), but still pretty cool. And the excavations are much more complete.
Triumph of Bacchus and 3 Graces are most famous.
1/
The mosaics aren’t as brilliant as the ones at Villa Salar (and light was awkward), but still pretty cool. And the excavations are much more complete.
Triumph of Bacchus and 3 Graces are most famous.
1/
November 8, 2025 at 5:12 PM
This morning we went to Fuente Alamo, the last of the three great Roman villas in Andalucia.
The mosaics aren’t as brilliant as the ones at Villa Salar (and light was awkward), but still pretty cool. And the excavations are much more complete.
Triumph of Bacchus and 3 Graces are most famous.
1/
The mosaics aren’t as brilliant as the ones at Villa Salar (and light was awkward), but still pretty cool. And the excavations are much more complete.
Triumph of Bacchus and 3 Graces are most famous.
1/
This is another underreported story. Virtually no rain is forecast anywhere in Iran for the next two weeks, and this article is already 6 days old.
Drinking water in Tehran could run dry in two weeks, Iranian official says
A historic drought in the country has culminated in a '100 percent drop in precipitation' in the Tehran region.
www.aljazeera.com
November 8, 2025 at 6:36 AM
This is another underreported story. Virtually no rain is forecast anywhere in Iran for the next two weeks, and this article is already 6 days old.
Reposted by Ben Barclay
and yes, that includes you, universities...
November 8, 2025 at 6:00 AM
and yes, that includes you, universities...
This was a good report on a tragic event - the death toll is now approaching 200. The worst-hit island was Cebu.
Sadly, another typhoon (Uwan) is about to hit Luzon island north of Manila.
Sadly, another typhoon (Uwan) is about to hit Luzon island north of Manila.
November 8, 2025 at 5:59 AM
This was a good report on a tragic event - the death toll is now approaching 200. The worst-hit island was Cebu.
Sadly, another typhoon (Uwan) is about to hit Luzon island north of Manila.
Sadly, another typhoon (Uwan) is about to hit Luzon island north of Manila.
Reposted by Ben Barclay
The videos surfacing online from Sudan are horrifying, and I say this as a journalist who has sadly become an expert on violent videos and images uploaded to the internet over the last decade. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/w...
Executions and Mass Casualties: Videos Show Horror Unfolding in Sudan
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:29 AM
The videos surfacing online from Sudan are horrifying, and I say this as a journalist who has sadly become an expert on violent videos and images uploaded to the internet over the last decade. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/w...
Reposted by Ben Barclay
Read this excellent piece by virologist Angela Rasmussen, showing how "Maple MAGA" activists in Canada are denying the existence of H5N1 bird flu & are trying to stop the culling of farmed ostriches who have been exposed to it. The sickness of science denialism has spread from the USA to Canada.
Today the Supreme Court of Canada cleared the way for the H5N1 outbreak on the BC ostrich farm to finally be contained. Unfortunately, the deaths of the ostriches won't end the disease their followers have spread.
rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/release-th...
rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/release-th...
Release The Ostriches' Grippe
The Supreme Court of Canada has cleared the way for the ostrich cull, but fascist extremism isn't so easy to euthanize
rasmussenretorts.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Read this excellent piece by virologist Angela Rasmussen, showing how "Maple MAGA" activists in Canada are denying the existence of H5N1 bird flu & are trying to stop the culling of farmed ostriches who have been exposed to it. The sickness of science denialism has spread from the USA to Canada.
Reposted by Ben Barclay
I have spent my entire professional life understanding the British point of view on foreign policy. I get certain historic and cultural differences. But the wilder the world gets the more infuriated I become by the dismissive attitude many Brits have towards the EU as a peace project./
November 6, 2025 at 7:51 AM
I have spent my entire professional life understanding the British point of view on foreign policy. I get certain historic and cultural differences. But the wilder the world gets the more infuriated I become by the dismissive attitude many Brits have towards the EU as a peace project./