Tom Ackers

26 May

* Concrete Destruction: Costs and Damages of the Concrete and Cement Industry and the Future of Construction * By me, @urbanusnils.bsky.social, @conradkunze.bsky.social, Paulina Orozco & @matthiasschmelzer.bsky.social Read the full study here: www.rosalux.de/fileadmin/rl...

Tom Ackers reposted

Important info here re likely % of fossil assets that must remain “stranded” >> 70% of fossil fuels << *need to stay in the ground* *written off* *value destroyed* restructuring of all capitalised claims on future revenue. bsky.app/profile/thie...

Dr. Aaron Thierry@thierryaaron.bsky.social

How much of the world’s proven coal, oil and gas (i.e. already found, pays to extract at today’s prices) can still be burned for a 66% chance of holding 2 °C? About 30%. The other 70%, 2,040 billion tonnes of CO₂, are stranded assets. Burn it all and CO₂ alone means roughly 2.7 °C Purple = added

Dr. Aaron Thierry@thierryaaron.bsky.social

those fossil assets comprise an arsenal of climate weaponry & ammunition waiting in store. We require disarmament, w legal instruments to ensure this. Put the entire arsenal of fossil fuels completely and verifiably "beyond use"

re Finland: curious to know more…

Orla Dwyer@orladwyer.carbonbrief.org

Finland talks a lot about identifying and reforming nature-harming subsidies. Finland and Colombia are co-leading an initiative called the "friends of target 18", which looks to boost efforts on tackling these subsidies.

Tom Ackers reposted

21h

Horseshoe theory of scammer aesthetics: Defunded gov meets cowboy outsourcing meets entrepreneurial scammery meets AI

Steve Cicala@stevecicala.bsky.social

As scams work to look more and more like official government communications, I for one think the government should go out of its way to look less like a scam. I would sooner chew off my arm than click this link or download this app.

Tom Ackers reposted

TY @sioldridge.bsky.social, I didn’t know this >> UK’s carbon budgets are too large/loose, based on outdated ideas about 2C warming being ok. should have been tightened in line with updated science. Didn’t happen. Why? Concerns about public acceptance. The CCC said this privately in 2022.

Simon Oldridge@sioldridge.bsky.social

The UK gov was able to approve #Jackdaw because UK targets are woefully outdated. The current ‘Carbon Budget’ was set 15 years ago back when 2°C of warming was considered ‘safe’. It wasn’t tightened as the threat picture worsened due to concerns about public acceptance.

Tom Ackers reposted

bloomberg.comBe-Bop-a-Lula, Brazil’s Black MondayMarket plunge after election surprise could lead to another Lula buying opportunity.

Baked-in high per capita energy consumption will do that to a country. esp when based on *burning stuff* an economy saturated (more than most) in motor vehicle dependency Baked-into the built environment. Comparatively difficult to undo (concrete, asphalt, low density) a cautionary tale.

Lauri Myllyvirta@laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social

New from me: The US has faced a higher cost than any other country from the global Hormuz oil shock, with the crisis adding $160 billion to its fuel bill — or $471 per person on average — despite being the world’s largest oil producer.

Tom Ackers reposted

Kate Mackenzie

@katemac.bsky.social

been wondering all day about why such an extreme sell-off in Brazil markets on Lula's victory, thankfully @johnauthers.bsky.social has unpacked - just how extreme it was (Black Monday / currency deval levels!) - maybe why it happened (tired int'l market risk perceptions?) - why it's unwarranted

Tom Ackers reposted

Sharing some (simplified!) illustrations re home heating: N home thermal energy *need* U actual thermal energy *use* C resulting energy *consumption* N = a function of climate & building fabric ("fabric efficiency") U → C function of technological efficiency (here, a gas boiler)

Tom Ackers reposted

Replying to @tomackers.bsky.social

Here thinking about the different possible relationships between Need (N) & Use (U). N = U Sufficiency N > U Insufficiency N < U Over-sufficiency (profligacy?) N = U Sufficiency As above, N = function of climate & building fabric ("fabric efficiency"). Retrofit / insulate to reduce N.

👇

Eli Friedman@elifriedman.bsky.social

Re-reading Polanyi for class and even if he's the lesser Karl he's got some anti fascist bangers: "Yet the victory of fascism was made practically unavoidable by the liberals' obstruction of any reform involving planning, regulation, or control."

Tom Ackers reposted

Ilias Alami

@iliasalami.bsky.social

The French cops use weapons of war against children. All is well.

Tom Ackers reposted

Replying to @tomackers.bsky.social

Funny how “public acceptance” so closely tracks the interests of fossil incumbents & other capital interests whose rates of return would diminish. 🤔

lrb.co.ukNabila Ramdani | In ParisAmid the tear-gas fumes and flying stun grenades it was easy to miss the ceremony taking place on the Pont Saint-Michel...

16h

17 October 1961: “up to thirty thousand men, women, and children had been marching peacefully through Paris to protest against a curfew imposed on ‘French Muslims from Algeria’ [...] more than two hundred were killed: shot, beaten, lynched or pushed into the Seine to drown.” 23 October 2026:

London Review of Books@lrb.co.uk

‘There are currently almost 25,000 specialist riot police in France, including 11,000 full-time Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité officers. It has often been argued, with good reason, that their mere presence incites trouble.’ Nabila Ramdani on the blog. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/oc...

jacobin.comWho’s Afraid of Gen Z Socialism?From France to India, young people have led the current wave of protests. Rather than deny the importance of generational politics, we can see it as a way that people make sense of their life chances ...

16h

‘Somehow groups as diverse as young Burmese guerrillas, Indonesian delivery riders, and French high school students have all come to think of themselves as part of a political subject called “Gen Z,” as if this were the most natural thing in the world. […] Socialists are taking note.’

Elias@eliaskoenig.bsky.social

Wrote about socialist generational politics for Jacobin! In light of all that's happening... jacobin.com/2026/10/gen-...

@thierryaaron.bsky.social

17h

The bored of deputies is not actually anti-racist

Joseph Finlay@josephfinlay.bsky.social

Today the Board of Deputies passed a resolution (118-1!) declaring the Greens a racist party. The resolution claimed that the BoD had a good record of campaigning against ‘racist parties’ . As a historian of this rather niche issue, the truth is rather different.

Tom Ackers reposted

Dr. Aaron Thierry

"...we cannot be confident that temperature decline after #overshoot is achievable within the timescales expected today. Only rapid near-term emission reductions are effective in reducing climate risks."

nature.comOverconfidence in climate overshoot - NatureAiming for declining global temperatures can limit long-term climate risks compared with a mere stabilization of global warming, including sea-level rise and cryosphere changes.

Lauri Myllyvirta@laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social

Cars & car dependent sprawl Instruments of social detachment, antagonism & derangement. whether ICE or EV “Car brain”, an ode.

To read: bsky.app/profile/zetk...

The Zetkin Collective@zetkincollective.bsky.social

We're excited to announce our next book! The Great Driving Right Show: Cars, Crisis and the Rise of Fossil Fascism will be published by @versobooks.bsky.social exactly one month from today. Here it is, in the flesh. If you're interested, please do pre-order now: www.versobooks.com/products/340...

Simon Oldridge@sioldridge.bsky.social

@nicholasbeuret.bsky.social

Funny how “public acceptance” so closely tracks the interests of fossil incumbents & other capital interests whose rates of return would diminish. 🤔

Tom Ackers reposted

Nicholas Beuret

The UK govt is gutting local democracy "The National Scheme of Delegation will introduce a standardised national framework for deciding planning applications, with most decisions expected to be made by council planning officers" tinyurl.com/buvbjr7x 1/3

tinyurl.comGreen councillors condemn ‘attack on local democracy’ over planning changes | Stroud TimesStroud district councillors will have less say over planning applications under new Government rules coming into force on October 31.

21h

Horseshoe theory of scammer aesthetics: Defunded gov meets cowboy outsourcing meets entrepreneurial scammery meets AI

Steve Cicala@stevecicala.bsky.social

Thread of into-the-weeds important climate / env / biodiversity stuff >>

bsky.app/profile/thie...

Dr. Aaron Thierry@thierryaaron.bsky.social

1/5 The green & blue pathways very likely have overly optimistic assumptions about: - climate sensitivity - carbon-cycle feedbacks - scaling carbon dioxide removal - methane cuts The four papers in this thread 🧵 explain why we’ve been underestimating how little room is left.

21h

also known as my reading list

Thread of into-the-weeds important climate / env / biodiversity stuff >>

bsky.app/profile/glen...

Glen Peters@glenpeters.bsky.social

We have a pretty good understanding of the differences between GHG emission estimates, but when it comes to some sectors (e.g., land), estimates seem all over the place! Why is this? @wflamb.bsky.social has you covered... essd.copernicus.org/articles/18/... 1/

lambwf.github.ioTidy GHG Inventories

bsky.app/profile/wfla...

William F. Lamb@wflamb.bsky.social

I have updated Tidy GHG Inventories - a dataset of greenhouse gas emissions based on country submissions to the UNFCCC. Summary figures: lambwf.github.io/Tidy-GHG-Inv... Dataset: zenodo.org/records/1969... This version has much more detailed energy sector data⚡including the split by fossil fuel 🛢️

Thread of into-the-weeds important climate / env / biodiversity stuff >>

essd.copernicus.orgessd.copernicus.org

bsky.app/profile/robb...

Robbie Andrew@robbieandrew.bsky.social

Back in 2020, I wrote a big paper that explained why different datasets of global fossil CO₂ emissions gave different numbers. 📢Now @wflamb.bsky.social has hand-picked a crowd of experts and gone much further: "Differences in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions estimates explained", out today.

Lauri Myllyvirta@laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social

Get thee to electrification!

Energy fragility, energy frailty Late-stage power projection as self-harm Fossil Leviathan madly sacrificing its body politic

Arguably needs have a strong subjective element. They esp vary re age / infirmity. Needs vs wants: eg a “preference” for being more/less cold/warm. For wearing more/less clothes indoors. However, these all relatively marginal re comfort vs climate & fabric efficiency. bsky.app/profile/toma...

Tom Ackers@tomackers.bsky.social

Actual thermal energy *use* (U) is a function of *both* - need (N) - & the effective *cost* of thermal energy consumption (C). Hence, 2 arrows converge: N → U ← C ← cost

Illustrations from this bsky.app/profile/toma...

Tom Ackers@tomackers.bsky.social

From me: *Remaking Home Heating in the UK* (2025) For a universal home retrofit + home heating/cooling electrification programme in the UK. Relevant for the cold & for heatwaves too... Various explainers + some detailed proposals 👇👇 peopleandnature.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...

Tom Ackers reposted

Pavlos Roufos

@proufos.bsky.social

The Berlin youth organisation of the CDU has called for the deployment of military forces to *prevent* planned protests by pupils against ... militarisation. Not only an *unconstitutional* use of the army in the name of "protecting democracy" but another case of normalising fascist tactics.

To do: Remake the above as Sankey diagrams, showing heat/energy loss at each stage (including upstream of the home); & showing heat (or coolth) *transferred* by a HP. Would look something like these nice diagrams by @janrosenow.bsky.social, but with added "need" variable. bsky.app/profile/janr...

Jan Rosenow@janrosenow.bsky.social

What most people don't know: when you fill up a petrol car most of the energy never moves it. Petrol car: 13–21% of the crude oil's energy reaches wheels. Electric car on today's UK grid: 43–45%. Electric car on wind+solar: 77–80%. That's why we don't need to replace fossil energy one for one.

Finally, gas boiler vs heat pump with the cost variable added. Based on the relative prices of gas vs electricity in the UK in 2025. Again, arbitrary units - the relative height of the bars is the important thing.

Note that here I'm focusing only on what happens around end-use consumption. Not looking at (often v. large) upstream system energy (in)efficiencies / energy loss. Note these are arbitrary units, illustrational only - but pegged to the "baseline" gas boiler / central heating efficiency.

Gas boiler vs heat pump 85% = av. total in-home gas inefficiencies in UK SCOP = "seasonal coefficient of performance" = effective efficiency over a year, for a given unit, in a given place (varies by climate).

SCOP 2.5 = effective 250% efficiency (for moving thermal energy in/out, using electrical energy). Average measured year-round efficiency of an installed ASHP system in the UK as of 2024. Improving since & all the time...