Utility Week

Community Nuclear confl ict The newspapers are fond of proclaiming that we live in Lawless Britain, with moped gangs running amok and youths prowling the street with zombie knives, but in truth, most of the violence is con ned to particular urban hotspots while the rest of us get on with our lives as ordinary British gentlefolk – which mainly entails moaning about stu . Spare a thought, then, for those who live somewhere truly anarchic, such as parts of Brazil. Last week, a convoy of trucks carrying nuclear fuel came under armed attack on a highway in Rio de Janeiro as it drove past an area controlled by a drugs gang. Gang mem- bers armed with ri es opened re on the convoy, according to Rio's O Globo newspaper. Armed police escorting the convoy exchanged re as the trucks carrying uranium continued to a nearby nuclear plant. According to Eletronuclear (the company transporting the fuel), the incident was down to bad luck because the convoy happened to be passing an area where a gun ght was unfolding, and some of the participants started taking pot shots at the trucks. Oh well, that's alright then. Disconnector Publishing director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Content director: Jane Gray, janegray@fav-house.com, t: 01342 333004; Acting editor: Suzanne Heneghan, t: 01342 332106, e: suzanneheneghan@fav-house.com Intelligence editor: Denise Chevin, 01342 332087, denisechevin@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; Editorial assistant: Greg Jones, t: 01342 332102, e: gregjones@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. 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 (IPSO), the regulator of 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 we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint, please contact the Editor. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you want more information about IPSO or the Editors' Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk. Waterwise @Waterwise What will you be having for lunch today? Did you know there is around 15,415 litres of water per 1KG of beef? And around 2,393 to make a single hamburger? Join us for Meat Free Monday as part of #WaterSavingWeek and choose a veggie option today. Ripple @RippleEnergy Bringing forward the date of the UK's ban on new petrol + diesel car sales to 2030 (not 2040) is necessary and possible. Good to see MPs putting pressure on Govt to act. Jan Rosenow @janrosenow Yes, we need a policy to replace fossil fuel-based heating with low-carbon solutions. Long track record of those working well in other countries. William Marchant @richonlyinname Is SSE's retail arm worth a billion quid? That would give it a similar valuation to Ovo, but it's struggling to š nd a taker. CCSA @The_CCSA We welcome the BEIS Select Com- mittee Report @CommonsBEIS on #CCUS which recommends UK Government supports three clusters by 2025. This level of ambition shows #CCS is a must have to reach #netzero by 2050. Tom Steward @Steward_T Interesting from the BEIS commit- tee on CCS. Deš nitely could have beneš ts for commercial uses, but in a world of cheap renewables and flexibility, CCS for electricity generation looks pretty laughable. Top Tweets already be walking among us, he proclaims. Indeed, thinks Disconnector. In fact, they could be disguised as climate change protesters. It would help account for their appalling dress sense, anyway. Who's keeping score? It's o‰ en said that all politicians lie, which to a certain extent is true. Indeed, whether prompted by error or necessity, everyone lies on occasion. Some supporters of president Trump use the "everyone lies" line to de ect criticism about some of the more outlandish untruths he spouts. A‰ er all, who's counting? Well, unfortunately for The Donald, The Washington Post is, and this week its Fact Checker database claims the president has clocked up no fewer than 10,000 falsehoods in the 800- plus days of his tenure so far. And in the past seven months his lies have increased to almost 23 a day. It takes a lot of e ort to re o porkies at that rate, so at least it gives some credence to Trump's claim that he is full of energy despite his age (which he lies about). That said, the hardest part of being a liar is remembering what you've said, and that's not something that seems to keep the Orange One awake at night. ET to the rescue Typical! No sooner have Extinction Rebellion nished their campaign of massively inconveniencing everyone in the name of ghting climate change, than it emerges that they needn't have bothered. We're all going to be saved anyway by a species inter- bred between humans and aliens. Or at least that's what Young-hae Chi says, and he's a professor at Oxford, so he ought to know. Professor Chi has long maintained that there is a cor- relation between alien abduc- tions and climate change – and now he's written a book about it. In it, he says it's "not only scientists and theologians, but also non-human species who appear to be greatly concerned about the survivability of the human species". He reckons these aliens' low estimation of humans' moral capacity would be greatly improved if we managed to reverse the e ects of climate change under our own steam, but if we don't manage it, they will produce a hybrid species to ride to the rescue. Chi is not a professor of science as such, but an instruc- tor in Korean at Oxford's Faculty of Oriental Studies, but his inside track on these aliens is remarkably detailed. Alien-human hybrids could UTILITY WEEK | 3RD - 9TH MAY 2019 | 31

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