David MacKay -Before his untimely death in 2016, David John Cameron MacKay, FRS FInstP FICE, was the Regius Professor of Engineering in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge and former chief scientific adviser to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change.

by David MacKay

I’m concerned about cutting UK emissions of twaddle – twaddle about sustainable energy. Everyone says getting off fossil fuels is important, and we’re all encouraged to “make a difference,” but many of the things that allegedly make a difference don’t add up.

Twaddle emissions are high at the moment because people get emotional (for example about wind farms or nuclear power) and no-one talks about numbers. Or if they do mention numbers, they select them to sound big, to make an impression, and to score points in arguments, rather than to aid thoughtful discussion.

This is a straight-talking book about the numbers. The aim is to guide the reader around the claptrap to actions that really make a difference and to policies that add up.

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