David J. C. MacKay
David J. C. MacKay
Sir David John Cameron MacKay, FRS, FInstP, FICE was a British physicist, mathematician, and academic. He was the Regius Professor of Engineering in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge and from 2009 to 2014 was Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change. MacKay was well known as author of the book Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPhilosopher
Date of Birth22 April 1967
options physicists physics
Most of physics is about energy, and physicists understand inefficiencies. I wanted to write a book about our energy options in a neutral, human-accessible form.
asked friend home
I was writing a book about sustainable energy, and a friend asked me, 'Well, how much energy do you use at home?' And I was embarrassed. I didn't actually know.
frequency internal modified power tend
Fridges can be modified to nudge their internal thermostats up and down just a little in response to the main's frequency in such a way that, without ever jeopardising the temperature of your butter, they tend to take power at times that help the grid.
needs
To have constructive conversations about the world's energy options, one needs to take a calm look at the numbers.
love per power unit
All renewables, much as I love them, are diffuse. They all have a small power per unit area, and we have to live with that fact.
bigger britain consumes countries industrial japan per power rate states though united
The United States consumes power per land-area at a rate three times the average. Even though they are more energy efficient, densely populated industrial countries like Germany, Britain and Japan have even bigger power consumption per area.
discussion intensely options public strongly tends
The discussion about energy options tends to be an intensely emotional, polarised, mistrustful, and destructive one. Every option is strongly opposed: the public seem to be anti-wind, anti-coal, anti-waste-to-energy, anti-tidal-barrages, anti-carbon-tax, and anti-nuclear.
burning carbon change climate coal complex crude people price single solving
Solving climate change is a complex topic, but in a single crude brush-stroke, here is the solution: the price of carbon dioxide must be such that people stop burning coal without capture.
assume estimate fusion power reckless
Fusion power is speculative and experimental. I think it is reckless to assume that the fusion problem will be cracked, but I'm happy to estimate how much power fusion could deliver, if the problems are cracked.
apart power scales
The only thing that really scales up apart from nuclear is solar power from other people's deserts.
cool electric great heat pumps
Electric cars are really very cool. Air-source heat pumps are great.
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I was distressed by the poor quality of the debate surrounding energy. I was also noticing so much green wash from politicians and big business. I was tired of the debate - the extremism, the nimbyism, the hair shirt. We need a constructive conversation about energy, not a Punch and Judy show. I just wanted to try to reboot the whole debate.