Acclaimed expert on energy and engineering Sir David MacKay dies aged 48

clock • 2 min read

Former DECC chief scientific adviser and author of acclaimed book 'Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air' died yesterday after year-long battle with cancer

Professor Sir David MacKay, who served as chief scientific adviser to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) for five years from 2009 to 2014, passed away yesterday after almost a year of battling...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

More on Climate change

UNICEF: Climate impacts disrupted education for 171 million school children in 2025

UNICEF: Climate impacts disrupted education for 171 million school children in 2025

Major new report warns climate hazards are causing school closures which could result in $200bn in lost lifetime earnings for impacted students worldwide

clock 10 September 2026 • 3 min read
'Dangerous territory': August confirmed as joint-hottest month on record

'Dangerous territory': August confirmed as joint-hottest month on record

Global average surface air temperature last month reached 1.65C above pre-industrial times, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service confirms

Michael Holder
clock 10 September 2026 • 4 min read
Study: Eight-in-10 British cities already highly vulnerable to extreme heat

Study: Eight-in-10 British cities already highly vulnerable to extreme heat

New OS Heat Vulnerability Index finds 83 per cent of UK cities are highly vulnerable to extreme heat and the 'urban heat island' effect

clock 09 September 2026 • 5 min read