Phil Waddell
@phil-waddell.bsky.social
International Relations, the politics of social media, climate, data, environment. Mostly in NZ.
Heard a new phrase this morning on RNZ:
"When the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow...and it doesn't rain" - that's when they'll take more water.
Feels like incumbent energy is still trying to do anything other than promote the obvious solution of rooftop solar + home battery solutions.
"When the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow...and it doesn't rain" - that's when they'll take more water.
Feels like incumbent energy is still trying to do anything other than promote the obvious solution of rooftop solar + home battery solutions.
Move by 'rapacious gentailer' to dip further into Lake Hāwea outrages residents
But the power company is asking people to think of its proposal as an "insurance policy".
www.rnz.co.nz
September 18, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Heard a new phrase this morning on RNZ:
"When the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow...and it doesn't rain" - that's when they'll take more water.
Feels like incumbent energy is still trying to do anything other than promote the obvious solution of rooftop solar + home battery solutions.
"When the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow...and it doesn't rain" - that's when they'll take more water.
Feels like incumbent energy is still trying to do anything other than promote the obvious solution of rooftop solar + home battery solutions.
Reposted by Phil Waddell
NEW – Analysis: India’s power-sector CO2 falls for only second time in half a century
✍️ Anubha Aggarwal @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social Nandikesh Sivalingam
Read here: buff.ly/2OHaLGM
✍️ Anubha Aggarwal @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social Nandikesh Sivalingam
Read here: buff.ly/2OHaLGM
September 17, 2025 at 11:02 PM
NEW – Analysis: India’s power-sector CO2 falls for only second time in half a century
✍️ Anubha Aggarwal @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social Nandikesh Sivalingam
Read here: buff.ly/2OHaLGM
✍️ Anubha Aggarwal @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social Nandikesh Sivalingam
Read here: buff.ly/2OHaLGM
Preliminary data from @electricitymaps.com showing Aotearoa New Zealand running at 99% renewable as at 9am. Proving that when hydro output is strong, coal and gas aren't needed for firming. Wind and solar will only increase hydro storage by reducing its need, so lets get more of it in place.
September 17, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Preliminary data from @electricitymaps.com showing Aotearoa New Zealand running at 99% renewable as at 9am. Proving that when hydro output is strong, coal and gas aren't needed for firming. Wind and solar will only increase hydro storage by reducing its need, so lets get more of it in place.
I'm going to do a deep dive on @ember-energy.org electrotech revolution report, there's so much brilliant info in there. Do yourself a favour and have a read:
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
The Electrotech Revolution | Ember
The annual slidedeck from Kingsmill Bond and the Ember Futures team unpacks how electrotech is rewriting the economics and geopolitics of energy.
ember-energy.org
September 16, 2025 at 11:06 PM
I'm going to do a deep dive on @ember-energy.org electrotech revolution report, there's so much brilliant info in there. Do yourself a favour and have a read:
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
🌞 Australian households and small businesses are powering ahead with rooftop solar! In H1 2025:
🔹 Rooftop solar generated 12.8% of all electricity
🔹 Battery sales hit 85,000 units, up 191% YoY thanks to rebate schemes
🔹 Queensland leads NSW in new rooftop solar installations
Full report below
🔹 Rooftop solar generated 12.8% of all electricity
🔹 Battery sales hit 85,000 units, up 191% YoY thanks to rebate schemes
🔹 Queensland leads NSW in new rooftop solar installations
Full report below
Clean Energy Council Rooftop solar and storage report - January to June 2025 | Clean Energy Council
Rooftop solar and batteries continue to power the clean energy transition, now to focus on the next wave of participants.
cleanenergycouncil.org.au
September 14, 2025 at 10:41 PM
🌞 Australian households and small businesses are powering ahead with rooftop solar! In H1 2025:
🔹 Rooftop solar generated 12.8% of all electricity
🔹 Battery sales hit 85,000 units, up 191% YoY thanks to rebate schemes
🔹 Queensland leads NSW in new rooftop solar installations
Full report below
🔹 Rooftop solar generated 12.8% of all electricity
🔹 Battery sales hit 85,000 units, up 191% YoY thanks to rebate schemes
🔹 Queensland leads NSW in new rooftop solar installations
Full report below
Encouraged to hear that Labour NZ will likely be heading into the next election with a capital gains tax proposal on second homes and residential land. Should go further but it overcomes that first barrier around CGT in NZ.
Via @bernardchickey.bsky.social and his great thekaka.substack.com
Via @bernardchickey.bsky.social and his great thekaka.substack.com
The Kākā by Bernard Hickey | Substack
Public interest journalism about NZ’s housing, climate and poverty crises. Click to read The Kākā by Bernard Hickey, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
thekaka.substack.com
September 14, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Encouraged to hear that Labour NZ will likely be heading into the next election with a capital gains tax proposal on second homes and residential land. Should go further but it overcomes that first barrier around CGT in NZ.
Via @bernardchickey.bsky.social and his great thekaka.substack.com
Via @bernardchickey.bsky.social and his great thekaka.substack.com
Brazil and Australia have for a long time been on my list of countries to watch re Energy transition. Both doing it very well. ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
Wind and solar generate over a third of Brazil’s electricity for the first month on record | Ember
ember-energy.org
September 12, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Brazil and Australia have for a long time been on my list of countries to watch re Energy transition. Both doing it very well. ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
Reposted by Phil Waddell
NEW – Analysis: UK foreign aid for nature hits £800m record due to cash for carbon credits | @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social
Read here: buff.ly/Ug7Znf9
Read here: buff.ly/Ug7Znf9
September 11, 2025 at 11:02 PM
NEW – Analysis: UK foreign aid for nature hits £800m record due to cash for carbon credits | @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social
Read here: buff.ly/Ug7Znf9
Read here: buff.ly/Ug7Znf9
Reposted by Phil Waddell
📉 Russian revenues from the sale of fossil fuels have fallen almost by half compared to the 2022 level.
The main buyers of Russian energy resources remain China, India, Turkey, the EU and South Korea.
Hungary and Slovakia are far ahead among the EU countries.
The main buyers of Russian energy resources remain China, India, Turkey, the EU and South Korea.
Hungary and Slovakia are far ahead among the EU countries.
September 10, 2025 at 6:27 PM
📉 Russian revenues from the sale of fossil fuels have fallen almost by half compared to the 2022 level.
The main buyers of Russian energy resources remain China, India, Turkey, the EU and South Korea.
Hungary and Slovakia are far ahead among the EU countries.
The main buyers of Russian energy resources remain China, India, Turkey, the EU and South Korea.
Hungary and Slovakia are far ahead among the EU countries.
Reposted by Phil Waddell
FACTCHECK: No, North Sea gas is not "four times cleaner" than LNG imports
After Kemi Badenoch pledged to extract every last drop from the North Sea, we've been engulfed by waves of long-dead zombie factoids.
"Four times cleaner" is one of the silliest.
www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-no...
After Kemi Badenoch pledged to extract every last drop from the North Sea, we've been engulfed by waves of long-dead zombie factoids.
"Four times cleaner" is one of the silliest.
www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-no...
September 5, 2025 at 9:48 AM
FACTCHECK: No, North Sea gas is not "four times cleaner" than LNG imports
After Kemi Badenoch pledged to extract every last drop from the North Sea, we've been engulfed by waves of long-dead zombie factoids.
"Four times cleaner" is one of the silliest.
www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-no...
After Kemi Badenoch pledged to extract every last drop from the North Sea, we've been engulfed by waves of long-dead zombie factoids.
"Four times cleaner" is one of the silliest.
www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-no...
@ember-energy.org Just released their China Electricity review 2025 - showing positive signs that China's fossil fuel use in electricity production is plateauing.
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
China Energy Transition Review 2025 | Ember
China’s surge in renewables and whole-economy electrification is rapidly reshaping energy choices for the rest of the world, creating the conditions for a decline in global fossil fuel use.
ember-energy.org
September 9, 2025 at 8:56 AM
@ember-energy.org Just released their China Electricity review 2025 - showing positive signs that China's fossil fuel use in electricity production is plateauing.
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
The cost of living crisis is as much a mental state as it is an economic one. We've stopped buying eggs (too expensive) and we dilute our milk with water to make it last longer. But we're happy, healthy, and hey, at least we don't have polio! Still never a better time to be alive.
September 7, 2025 at 8:44 PM
The cost of living crisis is as much a mental state as it is an economic one. We've stopped buying eggs (too expensive) and we dilute our milk with water to make it last longer. But we're happy, healthy, and hey, at least we don't have polio! Still never a better time to be alive.
I've just discovered @transitionzero.org and their open data for mapping countries solar assets. It's an amazing free tool to track how the solar transition is going in your country. Here's NZ:
solar.transitionzero.org/explore#5.11...
solar.transitionzero.org/explore#5.11...
TZ-SAM | Solar Asset Mapper
TransitionZero's Solar Asset Mapper (TZ-SAM) is an open-access, global dataset of commercial- and utility-scale solar photovoltaic facilities covering ~19,100 km² of solar farms. Analysts can download...
solar.transitionzero.org
August 27, 2025 at 5:27 AM
I've just discovered @transitionzero.org and their open data for mapping countries solar assets. It's an amazing free tool to track how the solar transition is going in your country. Here's NZ:
solar.transitionzero.org/explore#5.11...
solar.transitionzero.org/explore#5.11...
I stand by my consistent prediction that Australia is going to be the renewable energy super-power of the second half of this and next century. Making strong moves to unlock renewables and feels like the first country where the penny has fully dropped re:societal and environmental gains.
Home battery installs near 30,000 as rebate delivers six-months of uptake in six weeks - One Step Off The Grid
Australian households have installed nearly 30,000 home batteries in six weeks since the launch of the federal rebate – around the same amount as was installed in the entire first six months of 2024.
onestepoffthegrid.com.au
August 13, 2025 at 8:18 AM
I stand by my consistent prediction that Australia is going to be the renewable energy super-power of the second half of this and next century. Making strong moves to unlock renewables and feels like the first country where the penny has fully dropped re:societal and environmental gains.
Loved this graph from the latest Ember report on electrification showing where countries sit on the "renewables/electrostate" scale. China a dominant electrostate, Mexico not far off (cool) but many western countries pushing their electricity sector hard but final demand sector not enough.
June 25, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Loved this graph from the latest Ember report on electrification showing where countries sit on the "renewables/electrostate" scale. China a dominant electrostate, Mexico not far off (cool) but many western countries pushing their electricity sector hard but final demand sector not enough.
Reposted by Phil Waddell
The car’s out of the bag 🤯 Live at the #EnergyTechSummit, @gjuk.bsky.social launches Britain’s first EV vehicle-to-grid bundle with BYD.
Power Pack Bundle gives a car lease, two-way charger, and a smart tariff for £299/m with 100% FREE smart charging - saving £1,000/yr on fuel vs petrol.
Power Pack Bundle gives a car lease, two-way charger, and a smart tariff for £299/m with 100% FREE smart charging - saving £1,000/yr on fuel vs petrol.
June 23, 2025 at 12:50 PM
The car’s out of the bag 🤯 Live at the #EnergyTechSummit, @gjuk.bsky.social launches Britain’s first EV vehicle-to-grid bundle with BYD.
Power Pack Bundle gives a car lease, two-way charger, and a smart tariff for £299/m with 100% FREE smart charging - saving £1,000/yr on fuel vs petrol.
Power Pack Bundle gives a car lease, two-way charger, and a smart tariff for £299/m with 100% FREE smart charging - saving £1,000/yr on fuel vs petrol.
Always enjoy starting my day by checking in on the Peregrine chicks on @stalbanscathedral.bsky.social - glad to see they seem to be coping with the heat so far, the parents are doing great with feeding and keeping them cool.
Webcam: www.stalbanscathedral.org/peregrine-li...
Webcam: www.stalbanscathedral.org/peregrine-li...
June 20, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Always enjoy starting my day by checking in on the Peregrine chicks on @stalbanscathedral.bsky.social - glad to see they seem to be coping with the heat so far, the parents are doing great with feeding and keeping them cool.
Webcam: www.stalbanscathedral.org/peregrine-li...
Webcam: www.stalbanscathedral.org/peregrine-li...
This is *potentially* huge news. If NZ is indeed sequestering more carbon than expected AND that increase in sequestration is due to native forest regeneration after invasive mammal control, then this is a story all NZ can get behind.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Scientists may have found a big, mysterious carbon sink in the South Island
But scientists caution more work is needed before New Zealand could claim the discovery as a climate win.
www.rnz.co.nz
June 17, 2025 at 8:33 AM
This is *potentially* huge news. If NZ is indeed sequestering more carbon than expected AND that increase in sequestration is due to native forest regeneration after invasive mammal control, then this is a story all NZ can get behind.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Reposted by Phil Waddell
🚨 Oversized SUV fronts = danger on our streets.
Thanks to the insights of a @transenv.bsky.social and @cleancitiescampaign.org report we have signed a joint letter to the @ec.europa.eu demanding action to cap bonnet heights and protect pedestrians.
#BonnetHeight #PedestrianSafety
Thanks to the insights of a @transenv.bsky.social and @cleancitiescampaign.org report we have signed a joint letter to the @ec.europa.eu demanding action to cap bonnet heights and protect pedestrians.
#BonnetHeight #PedestrianSafety
June 12, 2025 at 10:10 AM
🚨 Oversized SUV fronts = danger on our streets.
Thanks to the insights of a @transenv.bsky.social and @cleancitiescampaign.org report we have signed a joint letter to the @ec.europa.eu demanding action to cap bonnet heights and protect pedestrians.
#BonnetHeight #PedestrianSafety
Thanks to the insights of a @transenv.bsky.social and @cleancitiescampaign.org report we have signed a joint letter to the @ec.europa.eu demanding action to cap bonnet heights and protect pedestrians.
#BonnetHeight #PedestrianSafety
Reposted by Phil Waddell
Britain's energy intensive businesses are being battered by energy prices.
Our factories and data centres have 50% higher prices than French and German factories, and 3-4x higher than Norway and Sweden.
But it doesn't have to be this way 👇
Our factories and data centres have 50% higher prices than French and German factories, and 3-4x higher than Norway and Sweden.
But it doesn't have to be this way 👇
June 10, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Britain's energy intensive businesses are being battered by energy prices.
Our factories and data centres have 50% higher prices than French and German factories, and 3-4x higher than Norway and Sweden.
But it doesn't have to be this way 👇
Our factories and data centres have 50% higher prices than French and German factories, and 3-4x higher than Norway and Sweden.
But it doesn't have to be this way 👇
The Labour gov spending review promises lots of long term infrastructure dev, but it's no secret that Labour need some quick wins this parliament with the electorate. Zonal pricing could be one of those. If implemented quickly it could be a political win in many of the northern regions Lab needs.
June 13, 2025 at 7:44 AM
The Labour gov spending review promises lots of long term infrastructure dev, but it's no secret that Labour need some quick wins this parliament with the electorate. Zonal pricing could be one of those. If implemented quickly it could be a political win in many of the northern regions Lab needs.
I'm seeing more and more evidence (anecdotal in YouTube comments) of people who lean politically right advocating solar as a way to go "off-grid". Comments like "screw the gov, get solar and go off grid". I think this is the start of the end of mainstream weaponising solar as a lefty tech.
June 10, 2025 at 7:37 AM
I'm seeing more and more evidence (anecdotal in YouTube comments) of people who lean politically right advocating solar as a way to go "off-grid". Comments like "screw the gov, get solar and go off grid". I think this is the start of the end of mainstream weaponising solar as a lefty tech.
Reposted by Phil Waddell
So British DOGE's search for wasteful spending discovered that... councils need more money to update their IT systems? www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
June 7, 2025 at 6:36 AM
So British DOGE's search for wasteful spending discovered that... councils need more money to update their IT systems? www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Reposted by Phil Waddell
Before the 1970s, a child diagnosed with leukemia had a 90% chance of dying within 5 years.
Today, those odds are flipped: they have an almost 90% chance of survival.
My colleague @scientificdiscovery.dev's article on progress against childhood cancer.
ourworldindata.org/childhood-le...
Today, those odds are flipped: they have an almost 90% chance of survival.
My colleague @scientificdiscovery.dev's article on progress against childhood cancer.
ourworldindata.org/childhood-le...
Childhood leukemia: how a deadly cancer became treatable
Before the 1970s, most children affected by leukemia would quickly die from it. Now, most children in rich countries are cured.
ourworldindata.org
June 9, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Before the 1970s, a child diagnosed with leukemia had a 90% chance of dying within 5 years.
Today, those odds are flipped: they have an almost 90% chance of survival.
My colleague @scientificdiscovery.dev's article on progress against childhood cancer.
ourworldindata.org/childhood-le...
Today, those odds are flipped: they have an almost 90% chance of survival.
My colleague @scientificdiscovery.dev's article on progress against childhood cancer.
ourworldindata.org/childhood-le...