Matt Friend

Business strategist focused on low-carbon, sustainability, innovation and new ventures. Capoeira. Mostly here to listen.

[Matt Friend @friend_matt]

The always thought-provoking Jérôme à Paris on fire today:

https://t.co/H6eqQZNGuB

[Matt Friend @friend_matt]

Bfd

[Lauri Myllyvirta @laurimyllyvirta]

New from us: clean energy technologies contributed more than 10% of China’s GDP in 2024 for the first time ever, with sales and investments worth $1.9tn.

Clean energy sectors drove a quarter of the country’s GDP growth and have overtaken real estate sales in value.

[Matt Friend @friend_matt]

Ooh this is an interesting potential AI use-case

[Kyle Baranko @kyle__cb]

Deep research announcement has me thinking... what if you sent out an army of AI researchers to do a bunch of basic desktop work to “pre-develop” all 155 million properties in the US for different types of infrastructure projects?

I think there is a compelling case that it could reshuffle the entire project finance capital stack. Here's how...

[Kyle Baranko @kyle__cb]

Deep research announcement has me thinking... what if you sent out an army of AI researchers to do a bunch of basic desktop work to “pre-develop” all 155 million properties in the US for different types of infrastructure projects?

I think there is a compelling case that it could reshuffle the entire project finance capital stack. Here's how...

[BusinessGreen @BusinessGreen]

BloombergNEF: Global lithium-ion battery prices hit record low in 2024 https://t.co/EYW6H3WfHL

[Matt Friend @friend_matt]

@thomasforth 🤣🤣🤣

[Jan Rosenow @janrosenow]

I always thought that industry had limited electrification potential.

How wrong I was:

Once we looked into it in more detail we found that the potential for industrial electrification is huge. 90% of industrial process heat could be electrified in Europe by 2035.

That is what the most recent analysis for Agora Industry says.

[Matt Friend @friend_matt]

Rookie mistake...it rained this morning...of course there's a sewage spill...

[Matt Friend @friend_matt]

Tfw you dash out for an afternoon swim in the October sunshine, and only check the @sascampaigns app when you get home...🥺

[Matt Friend @friend_matt]

@SteveHaben @drrosechard @NationalGridESO But I’d have thought there’s both cognitive psychology literature and advertising agency experience published on this?

[Matt Friend @friend_matt]

@SteveHaben @drrosechard @NationalGridESO (father of a toddler speaking 🤣)

More cognitive work to do - i.e. working out when I should put on the washing (or where to put my feet if not on the table!) = more effort = lower compliance (?)

[Patrick Collison @patrickc]

Congratulations to @mcannonbrookes, who just received government approval to build the world's largest renewable and storage project. Sun Cable is a preposterously large (24GW+) solar and wind farm plus an improbably long electricity cord.

https://t.co/gveXctXh6V

[Matt Friend @friend_matt]

Yay!

[S Sebag Montefiore @simonmontefiore]

WolfHall next season coming this winter. Exciting

[S Sebag Montefiore @simonmontefiore]

WolfHall next season coming this winter. Exciting

[Matt Friend @friend_matt]

Really enjoyed this encouraging podcast on energy transition of industrial heat. So many areas where we have the solutions. Innovation in business models and integration to drive deployment are now our key challenges.

https://t.co/c8MrF9k6aj

[Jenny Chase @solar_chase]

Yes. BNEF estimates that to be on a pathway to net zero by 2050, the world needs to be investing about as much in grids as it does in renewables generation. This is very good news from the UK.

[AukeHoekstra @AukeHoekstra]

The point is that we use transmission power optimally, because it's quickly becoming the most expensive part of our system, and it's largely due to outdated pricing mechanisms that pretends it's a copper plate.

Time to change that.

[Ed Hawkins @ed_hawkins]

If you live in SE England, today is a hot summer day.
This type of hot summer day is about 4°C hotter than it was in the 1960s.
That's with about 1°C of global warming.

[Lewis Goodall @lewis_goodall]

There's another element to this, which I explore in the piece. The far right’s ideas aren’t normal but have become more normalised, often thanks to some politicians/commentators who should know better. It’s time for a more full-throated defence of a multi-ethnic, multi-religion Britain, which although of course has problems, is in fact a big success story.