Richard Lyon
author and energy economist

Richard Lyon is an electrical engineer, petroleum engineer and energy economist. He served in the Royal Air Force before spending over 25 years in the oil and gas industry, holding senior operational and commercial roles in the UK, Norway, Azerbaijan, the Republic of the Congo and Cameroon.

He holds a BEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, an MEng in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot-Watt University, and an MSc in Energy Economics from the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy at Dundee. His master’s research quantified the degree of optimism in institutional estimates of remaining oil reserves.

His first book, The Energy Trap: Why the renewable energy transition can’t work – and what can, is published by Swift Press in September 2026. He writes on energy and economics at the Substack State of Britain, and built the UK Subsidy Clock, a public account of what Britain’s low-carbon subsidies have cost.

Follow Richard on X: @RichardLyon_

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