Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar

Jonathan Atkinson

@lowwintersun.bsky.social

136 followers 330 following 163 posts

I work in Manchester on citizen led approaches to the energy transition, mostly, but not only, on home retrofit. In the past I came from an environmental science background but ended up as an artist. I'm from Middlesbrough.

Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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At Centre for Alternative Technology

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Amy Westervelt's avatar Amy Westervelt @amywestervelt.bsky.social
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I have been working on a story about carbon capture for like three months because I keep thinking "it cannot possibly be THIS much of an absolute shit show" and figuring I must be missing something or misunderstanding something and then every new expert I talk to tells me it's even worse

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Doug Parr's avatar Doug Parr @dougparr.bsky.social
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Chair of Energy Transitions Commission, former head of
Climate Change Committee says UK may well not need new nuclear as other zero carbon options like hydrogen are better and cheaper

“I think the challenge for new nuclear is that it is just expensive"

www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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Totally, but that's been the story for a while. On balance I'd advocate for PR, I think it supports the long term policy making needed for things like climate change, but as Reform show, it would necessarily favour progressive parties all the time.

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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Some of Trump's anti green power incentives were pointless and not used because they were predicated on an outdated understanding of the energy market

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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Yeah, totally, it's pretty worrying to see the transition politicised but as you say, the reality is that if you try and row backwards against it it's actually an act of self harm.

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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Yes! I'm aiming to do a study visit to the states to look at the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act in the context of Energy Justice, the US may be a case study in this dependant on the result in Nov!

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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I do remember! I was reflecting on that with friends saying: in 1997 I was dancing on a table on election night, by 2001 I was part of running a protest on the death of politics! 😂 Where will I be in 2029!??

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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Will take a while to work through it but it's super entertaining/thought provoking!

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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So glad you did this, sad I didn't clock it on the night!

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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And no, 2024 didn't see a huge upswing in Labour votes but a collapse in Tory support. That has lots of implications, but it doesn't delegitimise the result. If the left wants to rebuild people need to move on from Corbyn era Labour - that strategy objectively failed. Think of another!

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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The fact that Labour scored fewer votes in 2024 than in 2017 or 2019 isn't a pointer to failure in this election, the failure was in the last two in which votes were accumulated under FPTP in areas they weren't needed.

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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What even is it?? Spotted in Manchester near Coop Live

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Simon Evans's avatar Simon Evans @drsimevans.bsky.social
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Hugely important findings for heat electrification: Hourly gas data proves peak heat demand is far lower than previously thought

"domestic peak heat demand in GB can be up to 149GW, which is up to 53% less than previously widely cited values"

www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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Curiosity Club #4 at the George Street Community Bookshop with Andrew Carnegie of Moors for the Future talking all thing peat and blanket bog!

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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I'm never letting my niece take my picture again

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Iain Soutar 's avatar Iain Soutar @isoutar.bsky.social
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Decarbonising buildings is a massive challenge, not least because people live in a lot of them. The sooner we get better at engaging households, the quicker we can all benefit from low carbon homes.

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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Models around energy and the home: retrofit, renewables, demand side response etc etc.Thanks, this looks super useful!

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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Setting expectations low! The article concludes by saying Labour will win due to it's advantage on more boring, less charismatic leaders 😬

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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Has anyone got articles, thinking or links to share on approaches to scaling low carbon innovations and models? I'm interested in thinking more about how we use social/economic approaches of scaling and replication to meet decarbonisation targets. #climatesky #energysky

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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The product of Carbon Co-op's collaborative work with Energy Systems Catapult, Electricity North West and ep group. Hear about our approach to quantifying Metered Energy Savings brought about as a result of energy efficiency interventions. 👍🏼 #energysky

carbon.coop/2024/03/join...

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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A great These Times pod and Helen Thompson highlights the pivotal year of 2004 when UK became a net energy importer. Blair's 2006 switch from renewables to nuclear sticks in the memory as a lost opportunity. Hinkley of course remains unfinished to this day! #energysky unherd.com/these-times-...

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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...and to have the paperwork proving government statements were either disingenuous or ignorant!

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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As the train doors open on the Glossop commuter service....

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Pyramead Head's avatar Pyramead Head @pyrameadhead.wifeguy.online
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You can put googly eyes on anything. No one can stop you.

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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Cool! Well, I'm planning a study trip to the states at some point, who should I come see in NYC?

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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Running a 'Home Energy Party' in Saltaire yesterday with People Powered Retrofit

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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The point well made here is that it's not about tower blocks = good or evil; but about how new housing is integrated into the social, economic and environmental fabric of the city. In all these ways, in Manchester, it simply isn't...

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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So Houchen's response to a damning govt report highlighting governance, transparency and oversight issues is to..... reduce governance, transparency and oversight. Paired with the idea that have 'nothing substantial to discuss' after that report. Takes the piss.

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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Esther McVey, 'Minister for Commonsense' tells you everything you need to know about the state of the UK in early 2024 😱

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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NB the study looks to model the breakdown of the Atlantic current to see whether it's gradual or via a tipping point. This study shows a tipping point, others a gradual weakening. The study isn't a prediction of reality, but a modelling of a single element of the system.

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Jonathan Atkinson 's avatar Jonathan Atkinson @lowwintersun.bsky.social
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Climate change is real, serious and the consequences extreme, but the reporting of the study on the Atlantic Ocean current shutdown has been truly awful. Great breakdown of the study on this week's Inside Science.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

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