Nick Butler is an energy economist specialising in the economic and political aspects of the transition to a lower carbon world. He chairs Promus Associates and the Sure Chill company which specialises in innovate refrigeration technology for use in areas without grid connections. He was the founding Chair of the Policy Institute at Kings  having previously served as Group Vice President for Strategy and Policy Development at BP p.l.c. and subsequently as Senior Policy Adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He serves as energy policy adviser at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge and at Faraday Institution - the entity established by the UK Government to develop energy storage technology. He is a member of the Advisory Council of Hay on Wye Literary Festival. He is a regular contributor on energy issues for the BBC, the Financial Times and Project Syndicate.