This channel seeks to understand the issues that face our civilisation in the 21st Century and focusses on the potential solutions that will save as many lives as possible and hopefully bring about a greater level of equality in the world. The channel is not a debating forum about whether Human Induced Climate Change is a real phenomenon or not. If that’s what you’re after then I can highly recommend chat forums on Social Media, where people on both sides of the argument go round and round in circles achieving precisely nothing at all.
That is a mug’s game. And it’s not my game.
Anyway, outside of those caveats, I do try to keep it light and humorous wherever possible, so I hope you enjoy the content.
Oh..and me… Dave Borlace. Born 1969. BSc in Technology from the Open University in the UK. After a 30 year career in People and Project Management, I now work full time on the channel thanks to the amazing folks who support me on Patreon http://www.patreon.com/justhaveathink
From Just Have a Think. Pylons are ugly and nobody likes them! Filling up our countryside with thousands more of them to facilitate a massive electricity grid expansion is proving to be a very tricky challenge with lots of local opposition. But what if you could build your electricity grid out at sea and just…
From Just Have a Think. Average surface temperatures across Europe soared to 3.3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in February 2024. The global average was almost 1.8 degrees above pre-industrial. Some say this marks the start of Abrupt Global Warming. So, is that true? Help support this channels independence at Patreon http://www.patreon.com/justhaveathink Or with a…
From Just Have a Think. Europe is now the fastest warming continent on the planet. The European Environment Agency has just published it’s first ever Climate Risk Assessment, which finds that EU policies are nothing like robust enough to cope with what’s coming our way. So, what’s the plan?? Help support this channels independence at…
From Just Have a Think. As renewable energy developers struggle with the almost impenetrable complexity of regulatory and permitting bureaucracy that can add more than a decade to the timeline of a new installation, clever boffins have been quietly revolutionising the materials used to make the wires that run between the pylons that take electrons…
From Just Have a Think. Lithium-ion batteries often get a bad rap in the media these days, blamed for high cost, unwanted fires and poor working conditions in the supply chain. But the fact remains that this chemistry provides the power for billions of devices around the world, from the tiniest pacemakers to the largest…
From Just Have a Think. Cryogenic Air Energy Storage sounds a bit sci-fi doesn’t it? But it’s real and in operation today. The question is can it be scaled to become a globally significant long duration energy storage solution that can fit seamlessly in with other storage technologies on national grid networks? Well, that’s the…
From Just Have a Think. Decarbonising industry, improving energy storage duration on electricity grid systems, and finding more environmentally friendly ways to make everyday commodities. Three things that most people agree are good goals to strive for. What if a single technology was able to contribute to all of them? Well, here’s one that could…
From Just Have a Think. Small Modular Nuclear Reactors are yet another apparently promising ‘silver bullet’ style solution to the Net Zero challenge. All the reliable, safe, baseload power of large centralised nuclear power stations but without the huge cost overspends and crippling project delays. What’s not to like, eh? Great on paper…but do Small…
From Just Have a Think. Global steel production is responsible for more than 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions every single year. That needs to change quickly, and the folks in the steel industry know it. Huge efforts are being made to decarbonise their processes, and the most promising method is to use…
From Just Have a Think. Perovskite is not a material most of us will have come across in normal daily life, but it has the potential to take solar photovoltaics to levels of efficiency that were previously thought to be impossible. The question of course, is the same one we ask about all new ‘energy…
From Just Have a Think. Battery energy storage is already shaking up the automotive industry. But developers are constantly looking for ways to increase energy density, decrease battery pack weight, and add range to their vehicles. It’s not just car makers though. The aviation industry is watching progress on battery technology very closely indeed. Now…
From Just Have a Think. "Solid State Batteries are nearly here!" How many times have you heard that phrase in the last 5 years or so?? Myriad developers have tried and failed, but some have persevered, and one or two have succeeded AND got investment AND got production under way. So is 2024 finally, FINALLY…
From Just Have a Think. Sodium-Ion battery technology promised a lot when it first hit our headlines more than two years ago. But has it delivered? Well, let’s find out… Help support this channels independence at http://www.patreon.com/justhaveathink Or with a donation via Paypal by clicking here https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=GWR73EHXGJMAE&source=url You can also help keep my brain ticking…
From Just Have a Think. So, Carbon Capture and Storage then. Climate change cure-all or delusional diversion by our friends over at Fossil Fuel HQ? Well, some people much smarter than me have been investigating, so I thought we should take at look at their findings Help support this channels independence at http://www.patreon.com/justhaveathink Or with…
From Just Have a Think. Global leaders recently agreed to triple renewables capacity by 2030 while doubling energy efficiency. That’ll solve all our problems, they tell us. And it will ensure the world gets to the apparent Holy Grail of ‘Net Zero’ by 2050. But is any of what they say really achievable? Help support…
From Just Have a Think. Improvements in energy efficiency could give us as much as 50% of the carbon reductions we need by 2050, according to the International Energy agency. But the ‘Jevons Paradox’ says the more efficient and cheaper we make things, the more we use them. So are we in a no-win situation…
From Just Have a Think. What a super Christmas gift! Our global leaders all gathered in one of the biggest oil producing nations on the planet to discuss with more than two thousand oil industry lobbyists exactly how they should legislate to protect our children and grandchildren from the worst effects of global warming in…
From Just Have a Think. The International Energy Agency just released a new paper analysing how oil and gas will dwindle in the next three decades to a small fraction of their current size, basically making non-combustible products. But that means many fossil fuel producers will fall by the wayside. If they do, will they…
From Just Have a Think. Everyone’s got a ‘Net-Zero’ plan these days, haven’t they? No self-respecting company would be without one. But are these claims a genuine marker of real decarbonisation within a business or just an exercise in corporate box-ticking? Now a new report has analysed 300 of the world’s largest corporations to find…
From Just Have a Think. Petroleum-based products like pharmaceuticals, electronics, fertilizers, plastics and a host of other crucial modern world commodities are all impossible to make without first producing hundreds of millions of tonnes of gasoline, kerosene, and diesel. It’s just the way the process works. At least that’s what the fossil fuel industry would…
From Just Have a Think. 50% of global energy generation is heat, much of which is used for industrial processes. As much as 50% of that industrial heat is simply lost to the atmosphere each year. Industry is often too far from cities to be connected by pipework. So, how about a well insulated shipping…
From Just Have a Think. The Global Energy Transition is the most profound change to human civilisation since the end of the last glacial period about 11,000 years ago. There will be winners and losers, and as a result some are trying to slow or even stop the disruption of their established markets. We all…
From Just Have a Think. Scientists have identified nine so-called ‘Earth System boundaries’ beyond which life on our planet will become extremely difficult for many species, not least us humans. That analysis has often been met with scepticism, but risk managers at the world’s largest financial institutions have been watching the rapid ‘real-world’ changes in…
From Just Have a Think. Rondo Energy just secured $60 million of funding from some of the world’s shrewdest investors. So, can they now achieve their goal of a 90GWh per annum production facility for their simple heat battery technology, reducing global industrial CO2 emissions by 12 MILLION tonnes per year? Time will tell! Help…
From Just Have a Think. Global ocean surface temperatures are so high that climate scientists are describing them as "off the charts". September 2023 global average surface temperatures obliterated the previous record high, causing those same scientists to declare the result ‘shocking’ and ‘out of control’. The consequences for the world’s largest ice sheet are…