Two days with the model that used to cost six figures

Two days learning PyPSA at Birmingham, then a real day of Britain's gas fleet rebuilt on a laptop, on free software and free data

Everything that goes into electricity is getting dearer. Gas. Capital, which is what actually prices wind farms, nuclear stations and pylons alike. Almost nothing in the stack is falling, and the one thing that is — the price of a solar module — matters least in a northern European winter.

There is one exception, and nobody talks about it: the cost of as…