Irish inflation falls but electricity prices are up 62%. Where is the push for more alternative energy sources? OpenAI's chatbot will change the world. And is a real threat to Google.
And much more!
Our latest podcast:
Irish inflation has fallen. Is this the turn? Spoiler: too early to tell but maybe.
50% of electricity from wind power in November may sound good but it should be better. It needs to be better. We need to be on a war footing for increasing alternative energy supplies. To achieve energy security, something we that is obviously lacking.
OpenAI’s new chatbot is mind blowing. It will change the world and represents a real threat to businesses and jobs. Teachers and lecturers just found their jobs got a lot harder. Or easier - who knows? Maybe even Google, the destroyer of so many business models itself, is now under threat.
And much more!
Thanks for reading and listening.
For a detailed explanation on how the government of Ireland is planning to fail to meet its climate change remediation goals for 2030 you could do worse than listen to the excellent RTE podcast Hot Mess. The latest episode (EP 16) asks “What if we can’t deliver our offshore wind targets on time.” The theme of the series is - measuring the gap between Ireland’s climate aspirations and actions. There is really no excuse for voters not to lobby TD’s about the details of this issue as it set out clearly in these podcasts. It would be great if Chris or/
and Jim could do the same. First question is whether the enabling legislation for offshore seabed exploration by companies anxious to start work on the bidding process set for 2023 will actually come into force on 01-01-2023 or has it been “delayed” until 20-12-23. This has important implications for our energy and economic security.
I do not believe that individual investing in solar PV panels produces optimum benefit nor productivity. E.g. a typical €10k system would produce payback in say 12-15 years (assuming suppliers do not increase standing charges). I rather invest the €10k in a group, ultility led or a national scheme, which leverages scale and construction labour, also ongoing servicing costs, and directly benefit from an actual reduced unit cost per kw over the term of the investment on my bill from a regulated energy utility. We got to do something different and better than heretofore, and individual private investment will NOT work. It's interesting to compare quotes from 2020 to those now issuing to see that investment cost has massively escalated and the suppliers are overwhelmed because they cannot hire contractors.