On this day 30 years ago…

I moved ‘down south’ to start a 2-year contract to work for was known as Farm Electric. Back then:

• Everybody still bought their gas and electricity from the electric / gas board:

  • The wonderful (?!) world of energy brokers did not exist

• Climate change barely existed outside the realms of academia and ‘tree huggers’

• Renewable energy was something that people had out of necessity or as a hobby

• Coal was still very much ‘king’ in electricity generation

• Almost all of the gas we used came from UK sources

And, for sure, a career in energy was at best ‘you’re going to do what?’ But the fact was that I needed a job and they offered me one!

I could rattle on for a few paragraphs about how we didn’t have email back then and mobile phones were the size of two bricks (not just one) but that’s the same whatever jobs people have had over this length of time. I could talk about how much farming, commercial horticulture and the energy industry have changed but again so have most industries.

Reflecting on the bullet points above and where we are now:

• Buying / selling gas or electricity:

  • There are now c. 100 electricity supply companies registered with OFGEM

  • There are many, many more brokers out there chasing contracts

  • I’m not sure this is entirely ‘progress’!

• Climate change is real and impacting our lives now:

  • Some people still argue this but they are a shrinking minority

  • Whilst some progress has been made there are still plenty of arguments about the causes and solutions

• 50% of UK electricity comes from renewable sources

• Only 1% of electricity comes from coal

• 40% of our gas come from UK sources

[Stats according to various reliable looking sources on the internet]

But its clear that food and energy:

• Have never been as high in the ‘public vision’ as they are now
  …for both positive and negative reasons

• Have never been so strongly connected

• Have never offered so many opportunities for intelligent, motivated people to build a great career

I wonder what the next 10 years will bring. Lets see… I plan on being a part of it.

Note: the photo isn’t quite 30 years old! It’s from 2005, around the time that I became co-owner of the Farm Energy Centre.