Watt's Wrong?

🚧 DRAFT IN PROGRESS - WORK IN PROGRESS 🚧

A comprehensive guide to what's wrong with Britain's electricity and energy system - perfect for newcomers seeking context and experts wanting to explore beyond their specialty

⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTICE: This book is currently a DRAFT IN PROGRESS. Content is being actively developed and may contain incomplete sections, placeholder text, or information that requires verification. Please check back regularly for updates and improvements.

📖 Read Online

This book is available to read online at: https://benjaminwatts.github.io/watts-wrong/

📥 Download Latest Builds

All formats can be built locally using the provided scripts:

🚀 Quick Downloads

📥 Direct Download Links - Ready to read formats

Format	Description	Download Link	File Size
🌐 Website	Read online with full formatting	🌐 Read Online	-
📚 EPUB	For most e-readers and mobile devices	⬇️ Download EPUB	3.2 MB
📱 MOBI	For Amazon Kindle devices	⬇️ Download MOBI	275 KB
📄 PDF	For printing and desktop reading	⬇️ Download PDF	3.5 MB

🔄 Auto-Build System: All downloads are automatically built and updated on every commit using a pre-commit hook. No manual builds required!

📋 How to Download

Option 1: Build Locally (Recommended)

1. Clone this repository: git clone https://github.com/benjaminwatts/watts-wrong.git
2. Install dependencies: npm install
3. Build all formats: npm run build:complete
4. Find your files in the dist/ directory

Option 2: Download Built Files

The built files are available in the dist/ directory:

• EPUB: dist/watts-wrong.epub - For most e-readers
• MOBI: dist/watts-wrong.mobi - For Kindle devices
• Website: dist/website/ - Read online in your browser

💡 For PDF generation, you'll need LaTeX installed: brew install --cask mactex (macOS) or sudo apt-get install texlive-full (Ubuntu/Debian)

📚 Table of Contents

Introduction

• Chapter 1: Watt's Wrong with Britain's Energy? - Welcome and overview

Part 1: The Generation Mess

• Chapter 2: Biomass - The biomass energy problem
• Chapter 3: Feed-in Tariffs and ROCs - Renewable energy subsidies
• Chapter 4: North-South and NIMBYs - Geographic and political opposition to energy infrastructure
• Chapter 5: Nuclear - Nuclear power policy and development

Part 2: The Grid & Infrastructure Problems

• Chapter 8: Regional Privatisation - Market fragmentation

Part 3: The Consumer & Market Failures

• Chapter 9: Smart Meters - Digital infrastructure rollout
• Chapter 10: Electricity Levies - Hidden costs and taxes
• Chapter 11: Price Cap - Energy price regulation
• Chapter 12: EPCs - Energy Performance Certificates
• Chapter 13: RHI vs Bus - Renewable Heat Incentive comparison

Part 4: The Policy & Pricing Chaos

• Chapter 14: CFD vs Marginal Pricing - Energy market mechanisms
• Chapter 15: Flexibility, Balancing and Storage - The grid's hidden challenges and balancing mechanisms
• Chapter 16: Exercise Duty and Road Pricing - Transport energy policy
• Chapter 17: Brexit Friction - EU exit impacts on energy

Part 5: The Human Factor

• Chapter 18: Interest Rates - Impact of interest rates on energy investment

Conclusion

• Chapter 19: Shale Gas - A Missed Opportunity - Economic benefits, environmental considerations, and political factors
• Chapter 20: Power Versus Other Sectors - Energy sector competition and policy priorities

🚀 Quick Start

Reading Online

Simply browse the chapters above or visit the GitHub Pages site for the best reading experience.

Building for Kindle/EPUB/PDF/Audiobook/Website

To build the book for different formats:

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build EPUB
npm run build:epub

# Build Kindle (MOBI)
npm run build:kindle

# Build PDF
npm run build:pdf

# Build Audiobook
npm run build:audiobook

# Build Website
npm run build:website

# Build all formats
npm run build:complete

The built files will be available in the dist/ directory.

📝 Contributing

This book is written in Markdown format. To contribute:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Edit the Markdown files in the chapters/ directory
4. Submit a pull request

🔧 Chapter Development Priorities

🚨 High Priority - Needs Significant Work

• Chapter 12: EPCs - Incomplete, needs completion of missing sections and data
• Chapter 13: RHI vs Bus - Needs expansion and completion
• Chapter 14: CFD vs Marginal Pricing - Missing chapter (file not found)

🔄 Medium Priority - Needs Enhancement

• Chapter 18: Interest Rates - Needs expansion with more analysis
• Chapter 20: Power Versus Other Sectors - Needs development

✅ Good Quality - Minor Improvements Needed

• Chapter 19: Shale Gas - Recently enhanced, good quality
• Chapter 10: Electricity Levies - Well-developed
• Chapter 17: Brexit Friction - Good content

✅ Recently Created

• Chapter 15: Flexibility, Balancing and Storage - New comprehensive chapter on grid flexibility challenges

🛠️ Development

Project Structure

watts-wrong/
├── chapters/          # Markdown chapter files
├── assets/           # Images, diagrams, CSS files
├── scripts/          # Build scripts
├── dist/             # Built output files
├── README.md         # This file (also serves as online reader)
└── package.json      # Build dependencies

Adding New Chapters

1. Create a new Markdown file in the chapters/ directory
2. Follow the naming convention: XX-chapter-title.md
3. Update the table of contents in this README
4. The build scripts will automatically include new chapters

🔧 Build System

The build system uses:

• Pandoc: For converting Markdown to EPUB/MOBI/PDF
• Node.js: For build automation
• Build Scripts: For automated local builds and deployments
• Text-to-Speech: For generating audiobooks (local and cloud options)
• CSS Styling: For consistent formatting across all formats

🚀 Local Builds

Run these commands to build all formats:

• ✅ Website build: npm run build:website
• ✅ EPUB generation: npm run build:epub
• ✅ MOBI generation: npm run build:kindle
• ✅ PDF generation: npm run build:pdf (requires LaTeX)
• ✅ Audiobook creation: npm run build:audiobook
• ✅ All formats at once: npm run build:complete

📱 Publishing

GitHub Pages

The book automatically deploys to GitHub Pages when you push to the main branch.

Kindle Publishing

1. Build the MOBI file: npm run build:kindle
2. Upload to Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
3. Follow Amazon's publishing guidelines

PDF Publishing

1. Prerequisite: Install LaTeX first:
   • macOS: brew install --cask mactex
   • Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install texlive-full
   • Windows: Install MiKTeX from https://miktex.org/
2. Build the PDF: npm run build:pdf
3. Perfect for:
   • Printing and physical distribution
   • Academic submissions
   • Professional presentations
   • Offline reading

Audiobook Publishing

1. Build the audiobook: npm run build:audiobook
2. Choose your TTS provider:
   • Local: Free, uses system TTS (macOS: say, Linux: espeak)
   • Cloud: High quality, paid services (Azure, Google, ElevenLabs, OpenAI)
3. Upload to audiobook platforms (Audible, etc.)

📄 License

This work is licensed under the MIT License - feel free to use, modify, and distribute as long as you include the original license and attribution.

🌟 Features

• 📱 Responsive Design - Optimized for all devices
• 🎧 Audiobook Generation - Multiple TTS options (local and cloud)
• 📚 Multi-format Export - EPUB, MOBI, PDF, and website
• 🤖 Automated Builds - Build scripts handle everything locally
• 📖 Markdown Source - Easy to contribute and modify
• 🌐 GitHub Pages - Instant online publishing

---

Built with ❤️ using Markdown and open source tools