{"id":6752,"date":"2016-04-20T16:16:48","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T15:16:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752"},"modified":"2016-04-20T16:16:48","modified_gmt":"2016-04-20T15:16:48","slug":"david-mackay-appreciation-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752","title":{"rendered":"David MacKay an appreciation of his life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"51YM3I8C0ML._SX434_BO1,204,203,200_\"<\/a>On a visit to my parents I was surprised to see a copy of “Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air”<\/a> by David MacKay lying around.\u00a0 My father told me my brother had given him a copy since he had been at Cambridge at the same time as David MacKay.\u00a0 I had heard of the book and read as much as I could whilst I was there.<\/p>\n

Dr David McKay was born in 1967 and studied Natural Sciences and Physics\u00a0 at Cambridge University.\u00a0 After carrying out doctoral studies in the States on machine learning he continued his research at Cambridge.\u00a0 This might have be have been it, a good but obscure career in Science if he had not written “Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air”.<\/p>\n

In this he had a number of brilliant ideas.\u00a0 The first was so simple (but like many innovations you wonder why you have not thought of it yourself).\u00a0 This was to put all our energy use in kWh\/day per person (for UK and USA), rather than barrels of oil, or millions of tonnes of oil equivalent etc.\u00a0 The kWh is a unit that even we cannot define is something we are familiar with in our daily lives.\u00a0 The second idea was to consider all our energy use for all we do in kWh.\u00a0 Many books (and I’ve read some of them) simply say we can move over to renewables and that’s it.\u00a0 The problem is as we tried to express in our book<\/a> its not as simple as that.\u00a0 At the moment carbon fuels and to a certain extent nuclear give us an excess of energy which means we do not have to worry about our energy use for material things which make up our total (hidden) energy demand.\u00a0 Some of the examples he gives are shocking such as newspapers and magazines and aluminium cans (cans need 500W each to make).\u00a0 He produced overall graphs of energy demand and supply in kWh\/day per person.\u00a0 When we can to write “No oil in the Lamp” he very kindly gave us permission to reproduce one of these without paying royalties.<\/p>\n

In 2009 he was appointed as Chief Scientific officer at the Department of Energy and climate change.\u00a0\u00a0 Here David McKay came up with another innovation which was an on-line 2050 calculator, free for anyone to use.\u00a0 In it you could come up with your own electricity system and see if you meet the UK climate targets (mandated under the climate change act).\u00a0 You could choose all nuclear\/solar etc or any combination thereof and see how far it got you.\u00a0 This was an open source effort written in Ruby that anyone could join in.<\/p>\n

Whilst I think David MacKay’s analysis of the problems was spot on, I did not always agree with his solutions.\u00a0 He did not seem to recognise resource limitations which when you are planning longterm you must do.\u00a0 He was very pro nuclear and given all that has happened since with Fukishima and the Hinkley C only confirms my anti-nuclear stance.\u00a0 Indeed in some ways his energy calculator undermined his own arguments.\u00a0 I had several goes with the 2050 calculator and could meet the 2050 climate target using only renewables*. \u00a0 He did<\/em> seem to recognise Uranium resource limitations, but his way round this was to extract it from seawater.\u00a0 I got hold of one of the papers he cited and in my view he made a mistake in his calculations by a factor of 1000.\u00a0 Uranium has been extracted from seawater on a minute scale but as the concentrations are in the order of parts per billion its simply impracticable.\u00a0 Interestingly he was far more cautious about extracting lithium from seawater and this is a 1000 times more concentrated than uranium.<\/p>\n

He also underestimated the speed and the fall in cost of solar or batteries (but has every excuse there), but more worryingly the contribution solar could make to the nations electricity supply.\u00a0\u00a0 We are now producing whilst not anything like the potential maximum he comes up with but at the same time disproportionately more than we should be in his terms, having barely scratched the surface of our roof and field space.\u00a0 Partly this his caution in considering only the best south facing roofs when in actual fact roofs that face East or West give a reasonable power output.\u00a0 Partly its that he considers fields and the domestic scale and not large commercial roofs (and we have barely started on these).<\/p>\n

David McKay came from a strongly Christian background but lost his faith.\u00a0 This background made him strongly aesthetic in his personal life according to some.\u00a0 My last criticism of the his book was that it attempted to keep everything humming along as it is now.\u00a0 What his book confirmed to me was this is not possible and its this that will be the difficult sell.\u00a0 Its sad and shocking when someone dies so young.\u00a0\u00a0 His contribution to our future energy debate was immeasurable and he will be missed.<\/p>\n

Neil<\/p>\n

* closing the existing nuclear was not an option.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a visit to my parents I was surprised to see a copy of “Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air” by David MacKay lying around.\u00a0 My father told me my brother had given him a copy since he had … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDavid MacKay an appreciation of his life - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752\",\"name\":\"David MacKay an appreciation of his life - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/51YM3I8C0ML._SX434_BO1204203200_-262x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-20T15:16:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/51YM3I8C0ML._SX434_BO1204203200_-262x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/51YM3I8C0ML._SX434_BO1204203200_-262x300.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"David MacKay an appreciation of his life\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil\",\"description\":\"Blogging by Neil and Andy about Peak oil and faith.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"David MacKay an appreciation of his life - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752","url":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752","name":"David MacKay an appreciation of his life - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/51YM3I8C0ML._SX434_BO1204203200_-262x300.jpg","datePublished":"2016-04-20T15:16:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/51YM3I8C0ML._SX434_BO1204203200_-262x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/51YM3I8C0ML._SX434_BO1204203200_-262x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6752#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"David MacKay an appreciation of his life"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/","name":"The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil","description":"Blogging by Neil and Andy about Peak oil and faith.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6752"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6764,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6752\/revisions\/6764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}