On YIMBY Pod this week:
We talk about how thanks to Britain’s lack of grid infrastructure, we’re spending millions of pounds every day on ‘balancing payments’ on the grid, and James gets surprisingly mad about it.
And then former West Midlands Walking and Cycling Commissioner Adam Tranter joins us to explain why James is completely wrong in his enthusiasm for pavement robots.
Pavement Overload can be found here. Our previous episode about pavement robots is here
James’s Substack is here, and he picked a fight with Amol Rajan here.
Martin’s Substack is here, and his blockbuster new video on the Rainham Volcano is here.
Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!
YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Substack and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!
It would be better to have regional electricity prices, to better align the costs - and benefits - of production with the prices people pay. ‘Excess’ energy in places like Wales and Scotland is having to be blocked and paid not to produce, and there’s no benefit to energy-dependent businesses to set up in these areas where electricity is cheap rather than where energy is expensive - and therefore more likely to trigger the higher (and carbon-based) tariff. Unsurprisingly, I’m a pro-renewables YIMBY, but it’s pretty difficult to make the case for more giant pylons and turbines across Wales if all the benefits go across the border. If we had a more regionalised system, it would operate as a market better, meaning more green energy, and more data-centres at lower cost and fewer local opposition.