Utility Week

Community Hey, what's cooking? They say that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but the problem nowadays is that pretty well everything seems to killyou. Disconnector vents his spleen thus on learning that roast dinners have been o cially added to the list of Things That Are Bad For You. Yep, the roast may soon be toast. At issue are PM2.5s, the tiny particulates of air found in car fumes, the smoke from solid-fuel € res and, now, the air in your kitchen as you're roasting your Sunday dinner. The World Health Organisa- tion sets the safety limit for PM2.5s outdoors at 10 micro- grams per cubic metre. Scientists in the US meas- ured the pollution caused by roasting food indoors and were shocked to € nd that roasting a turkey caused the PM2.5 count to spike at 200 micrograms per cubic metre, some 20 times the WHO limit. Brussels sprouts – already the world's most pointless vegetable – were found to be the worst oŠ enders in terms of the amount of PM2.5s emitted when roasted. The bottom line is that we're all being advised to boil meat instead, which, quite frankly, is just un-British. Vegetables, yes, any fool knows you boil them for three hours until you're certain they're dead, but you can't boil a roast dinner. That's why it's called a roast. A meating of minds? As it happens, there's a grow- ing crescendo of disapproval from the killjoys and do- gooders – or "climate change scientists", as they prefer to call themselves – about all forms of dairy farming because of the amount of methane given oŠ by cattle " atulence. The issue was highlighted again last week by no less a personage than Bill Gates, until recently the world's richest man, in a letter issued by Bill and wife Melinda in which they list the key problems facing the world today. Celebs o– en get a bad press for trying to be "worthy" (Bono and George Clooney, take note), but Gates has earned the right to be heard since he puts his money where his mouth is with his philanthropy and has pledged to leave the bulk of his $89 billion fortune to charity when he dies. Disconnector can't help wonder what that other, equally famous but less philanthropic billionaire Donald Trump makes of it all as he thoughtfully munches on another burger. What goes around Bill Gates might have his work cut out for him, though, if he is relying merely on science to support his arguments. These days conspiracy theo- ries abound in a population deeply sceptical about experts, the establishment and the "deep state" (whatever that is). And, according to Dr Asheley Landrum at Texas Tech Uni- versity, the problem is being exacerbated by YouTube. It's long been known that people who believe one con- spiracy theory are more likely to believe others, and because YouTube's algorithms auto- matically line up videos based on what you like, watching one conspiracy video takes you down a rabbit hole of outland- ish ideas, up to and including those of the Flat Earthers. "YouTube really has propa- gated the Flat Earth movement in a way I don't think has been done before with any conspir- acy community," Dr Landrum says. She cites a YouGov poll last year that only two-thirds of young people surveyed "€ rmly believed" the Earth was round. So there you have it. A lot is written about polarised politics in the West, shouted out above the white noise of fake news on social media, but now it seems we can't even all agree that the Earth is round. Disconnector Publishing director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Acting editor: Suzanne Heneghan, t: 01342 332106, e: suzanneheneghan@fav-house.com Acting content director: Denise Chevin, 01342 332087, denisechevin@fav-house.com; Deputy editor: Jane Gray (maternity leave); Features editor: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080, e: loisvallely@fav-house.com; News editor: Katey Pigden, t: 01342 332082, e: kateypigden@ fav-house.com; Energy correspondent: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@ fav-house.com; Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@fav-house.com; Reporter: Adam John, t: 01342 332069, e: adamjohn@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085, e: paulnewton@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Ben Hammond, e: benhammond@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332116; Business development executive: Sarah Wood, e: sarahwood@ fav-house.com. t: 01342 332117 Conference sponsorship manager: Sophie Abbott, t: 01342 332062, e: sophieabbott@ fav-house.com; General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332057, e: peterbissell@fav-house.com. ISSN: 1356-5532. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Offi ce. 2,500 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2018 Membership subscriptions: UK £769+VAT per year. Overseas £781 per year. Contact Peter Bissell on: 01342 332057 Utility Week is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (which regulates the UK's magazine and newspaper industry). We abide by the Editors' Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think that we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint please contact the publishing director, Ellen Bennett, at ellenbennett@fav-house.com. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you would like more information about IPSO or the Editors' Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk UTILITY WEEK | 22ND - 28TH FEBRUARY 2019 | 31 Richard Lowes @heatpolicyrich Ouch. The buildings section in Lord Deben's letter to Claire Perry paints a terrible picture of UK heatpolicy. John Baldwin @baldwinbiogas It's an electricity industry issue – electricity suppliers and networks should be promoting grid- connected electric heat pumps but aren't. The gas industry (inc me) wants to retire but the elec indus- try is too busy feasting on EVs and storage to get involved in heat. BHESCo @BHenergyservice #FuelPovety is an oˆ en hidden crisis that's responsible for a shocking amount of premature deaths in the UK. A price cap does nothing. We need a far-reaching programme of retro‹ ts to improve the quality of UK housing stock. William Marchant @richonlyinname "No one o' ered even a tenner" for Victory Energy yet it's back on the cards, with opposition councillors counting on its pro‹ ts to fund new museums. As you do. Duncan Carter @Duncan_E_Carter The local authority model is a po- tential house of cards. In theory, LAs have access to cheaper ‹ - nance, but I think this is o' set by their restrictive governance, which will make them slow to innovate. Speculating the price cap may have dampened one of their USPs. Top Tweets

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