Christopher Frank William Goodall (born 29 December 1955) is an English businessman, author and expert on new energy technologies. He is an alumnus of St Dunstan's College, [1] University of Cambridge, and Harvard Business School (MBA). [2] He was the Green Party candidate for Oxford West and Abingdon in the 2024 general election, [3] having run in the same constituency in 2010. He writes Carbon Commentary, a free newsletter on global advances in clean energy. [4] His latest book, Possible: Ways to Net Zero, was published by Profile Books in March 2024. [5]
His début book How to Live a Low-Carbon Life , won the 2007 Clarion Award for non-fiction. [6] His second book, Ten Technologies to Fix Energy and Climate , was one of the Financial Times' Books of the Year, first published in 2008 it was revised and updated in 2010. [7] [8] His third book, The Green Guide For Business, was published in 2010 by Profile Books. [9] Goodall also wrote Sustainability: All That Matters, which was published in 2012 by Hodder & Stoughton. [10]
In July 2016, The Switch was published by Profile Books, focusing on solar, storage and new energy technologies. [11]
Goodall's What We Need To Do Now: For a Zero Carbon Future (2020, Profile Books: ISBN 978-1788164719) was short-listed for the 2020 Wainwright Prize for writing on global conservation. [12]
Goodall has also contributed a number of articles to The Guardian, [13] the Independent, [14] and the Ecologist [15] among others. He has also spoken at literary festivals around the UK, at the British Library, the Science Museum and many universities. [16]
On the issue of UK's energy mix, Goodall used to consider that nuclear power had a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Goodall once said "Including nuclear power in this mix will make a low-carbon and energy-secure future easier to achieve". [14] However, he opposed the construction of the Hinkley C nuclear power plant. [17]
More recently, Goodall has changed his position on nuclear and his analysis has focused on how the UK can move to a future powered by 100% renewables. This is evident from his Carbon Commentary blog [18] and his 2020 book, What we Need to Do Now. [19]
Goodall helped develop the UK's first employee-owned solar PV installation in 2011 at the Eden Project. [20]