Eric Hittinger
@elephanteating.bsky.social
Public Policy Professor at RIT, WILL International Chair at Univ. of Lille & Past President of the US Association for Energy Economics. Batteries, renewables, electricity markets, and emissions. Sometimes I bike across the continent.
Pinned
Decarbonizing the economy is like eating an elephant - you just do it one bite at a time.
Reposted by Eric Hittinger
I'm posting this for no other reason than goats
Well, solar's a pretty good reason, too
And also, solar is the GOAT
Well, solar's a pretty good reason, too
And also, solar is the GOAT
January 6, 2026 at 4:02 AM
I'm posting this for no other reason than goats
Well, solar's a pretty good reason, too
And also, solar is the GOAT
Well, solar's a pretty good reason, too
And also, solar is the GOAT
Here is a funded PhD position with an awesome energy transition researcher at RIT.
I'm hiring PhD students to start in Fall 2026!
Current research interests include energy affordability, integrating hyperscale demand in our electricity grids, and advancing sustainable mobility
Apply by Jan 15, 2026: www.rit.edu/study/sustai...
More info at madalsa.org
Current research interests include energy affordability, integrating hyperscale demand in our electricity grids, and advancing sustainable mobility
Apply by Jan 15, 2026: www.rit.edu/study/sustai...
More info at madalsa.org
January 5, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Here is a funded PhD position with an awesome energy transition researcher at RIT.
We accidentally won two gingerbread houses from a charity auction. Whoops!
January 5, 2026 at 5:37 PM
We accidentally won two gingerbread houses from a charity auction. Whoops!
Reposted by Eric Hittinger
It’s a good thing Congress isn’t alive to see this
June 22, 2025 at 12:47 AM
It’s a good thing Congress isn’t alive to see this
Just got halfway through reviewing a research article to realize that it was an AI copy of a recent (legitimate) article.
Finding reviewers is hard these days, and I'll tell you that wasting an hour trying to carefully respond to AI slop is a huge disincentive.
Finding reviewers is hard these days, and I'll tell you that wasting an hour trying to carefully respond to AI slop is a huge disincentive.
December 28, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Just got halfway through reviewing a research article to realize that it was an AI copy of a recent (legitimate) article.
Finding reviewers is hard these days, and I'll tell you that wasting an hour trying to carefully respond to AI slop is a huge disincentive.
Finding reviewers is hard these days, and I'll tell you that wasting an hour trying to carefully respond to AI slop is a huge disincentive.
Reposted by Eric Hittinger
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a man accidentally kicking himself in the balls with a robot he is controlling—forever.
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
December 27, 2025 at 7:01 PM
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a man accidentally kicking himself in the balls with a robot he is controlling—forever.
Reposted by Eric Hittinger
Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.
December 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.
Not sure who needs to hear this, but: the plot of Zootopia 2 revolves around the inventor of the industry-scale heat pumps that make their society possible.
December 25, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Not sure who needs to hear this, but: the plot of Zootopia 2 revolves around the inventor of the industry-scale heat pumps that make their society possible.
Reposted by Eric Hittinger
Christmas came early for me, with delivery of my new @airspool.bsky.social heat pump. The driving force behind me getting this thing was that it promised to be easy to install, and boy was it ever! Read on to see how I got it on the night it was delivered without drilling a big hole through my wall.
December 24, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Christmas came early for me, with delivery of my new @airspool.bsky.social heat pump. The driving force behind me getting this thing was that it promised to be easy to install, and boy was it ever! Read on to see how I got it on the night it was delivered without drilling a big hole through my wall.
....and battery storage!
Science has named the seemingly unstoppable growth of renewable energy worldwide as the 2025 Breakthrough of the Year.
Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/493Tpgx
Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/493Tpgx
December 19, 2025 at 3:46 AM
....and battery storage!
Reposted by Eric Hittinger
Science has named the seemingly unstoppable growth of renewable energy worldwide as the 2025 Breakthrough of the Year.
Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/493Tpgx
Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/493Tpgx
December 19, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Reposted by Eric Hittinger
Automated Traffic Enforcement cameras managed by civil government. Put them on buses to enforce bike lane violations. Sped the money on bike/ped/transit infrastructure.
December 13, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Automated Traffic Enforcement cameras managed by civil government. Put them on buses to enforce bike lane violations. Sped the money on bike/ped/transit infrastructure.
I consider it a great victory when I can get ~80-90% of my Energy Policy students to say "energy" when they mean "energy" and "electricity" when they mean "electricity". The clarity is important!
This particular crime against meaning actually bothers me relatively little bc electricity people have been incorrectly referring to electricity as electrons in some contexts for a long time, and, worse, like 98% of climate people incorrectly say "energy" when they mean electricity.
December 12, 2025 at 1:22 AM
I consider it a great victory when I can get ~80-90% of my Energy Policy students to say "energy" when they mean "energy" and "electricity" when they mean "electricity". The clarity is important!
Reposted by Eric Hittinger
Snowy egrets nearly went extinct in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Slaughtered for the plume trade, feathers were worth more than gold by weight. Their recovery began after the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act finally gave them strong federal protection from hunters and the peak-plumage fashion craze.
December 8, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Snowy egrets nearly went extinct in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Slaughtered for the plume trade, feathers were worth more than gold by weight. Their recovery began after the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act finally gave them strong federal protection from hunters and the peak-plumage fashion craze.
Reposted by Eric Hittinger
Read this as an American woman and then go break something.
December 8, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Read this as an American woman and then go break something.
Reposted by Eric Hittinger
My friends Emeric and Chris are mad lads of the highest caliber.
Look at what they did to try to save a nuclear plant
Look at what they did to try to save a nuclear plant
December 4, 2025 at 3:29 AM
My friends Emeric and Chris are mad lads of the highest caliber.
Look at what they did to try to save a nuclear plant
Look at what they did to try to save a nuclear plant
Our town's philosophy in a nutshell (spotted at Brighton High School)
December 4, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Our town's philosophy in a nutshell (spotted at Brighton High School)
Reposted by Eric Hittinger
After becoming a congressional leader, a politician’s stock portfolio beats out those of peers by 47 (!!!) percentage points a year through trades timed around bills and firms that later get government contracts
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
December 3, 2025 at 1:42 AM
After becoming a congressional leader, a politician’s stock portfolio beats out those of peers by 47 (!!!) percentage points a year through trades timed around bills and firms that later get government contracts
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
www.nber.org/papers/w34524
via @florianederer.bsky.social
Reposted by Eric Hittinger
Online survey research is screwed. LLM-enabled agents can take surveys just like humans.
Here's a video I made where the Comet browser agent takes a simple survey and gets around nearly all my bot detection checks.
The crisis is here already...more in this 🧵
www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Je...
Here's a video I made where the Comet browser agent takes a simple survey and gets around nearly all my bot detection checks.
The crisis is here already...more in this 🧵
www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Je...
Comet browser fills out a survey with bot detection questions
YouTube video by John Helveston
www.youtube.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Online survey research is screwed. LLM-enabled agents can take surveys just like humans.
Here's a video I made where the Comet browser agent takes a simple survey and gets around nearly all my bot detection checks.
The crisis is here already...more in this 🧵
www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Je...
Here's a video I made where the Comet browser agent takes a simple survey and gets around nearly all my bot detection checks.
The crisis is here already...more in this 🧵
www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Je...
That isn't me any more - the two primary generations in our Thanksgiving crew was 12 people, then gen2 spouses brought it to around 20, then all of the gen3 kids made it collapse under its own weight like a black hole. We do try to all meet up, but without a meal - no table could hold us.
Shout out to those 30+ yr olds who are still awkwardly at the kids table, but it does mean that you are lucky enough to have most of the older generation still around, so who's to say what is a blessing and what is comedy.
November 27, 2025 at 3:57 AM
That isn't me any more - the two primary generations in our Thanksgiving crew was 12 people, then gen2 spouses brought it to around 20, then all of the gen3 kids made it collapse under its own weight like a black hole. We do try to all meet up, but without a meal - no table could hold us.
Shout out to those 30+ yr olds who are still awkwardly at the kids table, but it does mean that you are lucky enough to have most of the older generation still around, so who's to say what is a blessing and what is comedy.
November 27, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Shout out to those 30+ yr olds who are still awkwardly at the kids table, but it does mean that you are lucky enough to have most of the older generation still around, so who's to say what is a blessing and what is comedy.
High voltage = high bounces
November 23, 2025 at 9:57 PM
High voltage = high bounces
All of my life choices are validated in this moment
November 14, 2025 at 7:01 PM
All of my life choices are validated in this moment
My MS advisor was Swiss and told us that being in the lab nights and weekends was a sign that we were not good at managing time. Don't do it much - it makes both of us look bad.
Having down time and rest should be more of a badge of honour than being busy.
November 13, 2025 at 7:37 PM
My MS advisor was Swiss and told us that being in the lab nights and weekends was a sign that we were not good at managing time. Don't do it much - it makes both of us look bad.
Reposted by Eric Hittinger
What's from Chicago, hates Illinois Nazis, and is holy as fuck?
It's the Pope in 1982.
It's the Pope in 1982.
November 13, 2025 at 1:37 AM
What's from Chicago, hates Illinois Nazis, and is holy as fuck?
It's the Pope in 1982.
It's the Pope in 1982.