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UtILItY WEEK | 21st - 27th March 2014 | 31 Community Disconnector Editor: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellen.bennett@fav-house.com; Energy editor: Megan Darby, t: 01342 332087, e: megan.darby@fav-house.com; Features editor: Karma Ockenden, t: 01342 332086, e: karma.ockenden@fav-house. com; Reporter: Mathew Beech, t: 01342 332082, e: mathew.beech@fav-house.com; Reporter: Conor McGlone, t: 01342 332083, e: conor.mcglone@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085; Business development manager: Ed Roberts, t: 01342 332067, e: ed.roberts@fav-house.com; Sales executive: Nicky Shaw, t: 01342 332070, e: nicky.shaw@fav-house.com; Publisher: amanda Barnes, e: amanda.barnes@fav-house.com. General enquiries: 01342 332000; Subscriptions: UK £577 per year, Overseas £689 per year, t: 01342 332011. ISSN: 1356-5532. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. Printed by: Buxton Press, Palace road, Buxton, Derbyshire sK17 6aE. Published by: Faversham house Ltd, Windsor court, Wood street, East Grinstead, West sussex rh19 1UZ Something to shout about In space, no one can hear you scream, they say. Which could be inconvenient for the US Navy, when their contractors scream "le a bit, right a bit" as they try to position thousands of solar panels into a 1km-wide array in orbit around the earth. What? Disconnector hears you cry, are they mad? Well, you be the judge. The brainchild of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), the idea is to build a huge solar satellite in space that is capable of beaming energy back down to earth via radio waves. This would allow military missions to proceed for much longer under their own steam (as it were), unencumbered by the need to constantly refuel. It's expected that space solar will be able to produce more energy than ground-based collectors because it can soak up rays around the clock, and regardless of the weather below. The technology already exists to transmit energy over radio waves. Paul Jaffe, a spacecra engi- neer leading the NRL's project, conceded that some sceptics doubted that the idea would ever get off the ground, literally or metaphorically, but declared: "It's hard to tell if it's nuts until you've actually tried." Hmm. Disconnector does not find that very reassuring. Surely when it comes to developing military technology, a prereq- uisite is to establish that what Disconnector you're doing isn't nuts before you try to do it? Looking for a reaction Talking of not finding things very reassuring, Disconnec- tor was as alarmed as he was impressed (or should that be incredulous) earlier this month to learn that schoolboy Jamie Edwards had successfully fused two hydrogen atoms together to create helium in a controlled experiment conducted at his Lancashire school laboratory. That's right, we're talking nuclear fusion here. Thirteen-year-old Jamie, who attends Penwortham Priory Academy near Preston, has officially become the youngest person in the world to build a nuclear fusion reactor aer he talked the school authorities into buying the specialist kit that would allow him to create a nuclear reaction. According to Jamie, he was inspired by reading about the exploits of a 14-year-old US schoolboy, Taylor Wilson, who became the youngest person to produce a small fusion reactor, in Nevada in 2008. All this has come as some- thing of a surprise to the great man. How many school kids are out there building nuclear reactors in their classrooms? Dis- connector was under the distinct impression that kids weren't even allowed to play conkers because of health and safety concerns. Some schools need to get their priorities sorted out. Okay, fusion ain't fission, as Disconnector's nuclear scien- tist friends are fond of saying, so it's unlikely that a team of Iranian agents is going to try to bundle Jamie into the back of a Ford Focus and whisk him off to a new life in Tehran, but even so. You light my fire We are all hostages to fortune in one way or another, but none more so than the market- ing team charged with promot- ing Gazprom to the West. The state-controlled gas giant has handed over a good number of its petro-dollars to sponsor ITV's coverage of the UEFA Champions League, but had they known Putin was going to "liberate" Crimea at the end of a gun, they might have saved their cash. The campaign's slogan seems a little unfortunate in retrospect, too. "Gazprom: lighting up football." Discon- nector is reminded of all those Vietnam war movies, where "lighting up" something was a euphemism for hitting an enemy position with sud- den and overwhelming force. Perhaps a better slogan might be: "Gazprom: we definitely won't turn the gas off and leave all our customers freezing to death just because our bat- crazy president wants to start World War III. Promise." Just a suggestion. 3,580 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2013 Subscriptions: UK £577 per year, Overseas £689 per year fhcustomerservices@ abacusemedia.com Jennifer Webber @jennifercwebber The Conservative website still has John Hayes as being at DECC Alex Marshall @alexends @jennifercwebber To be fair, DECC switches ministers so often he might actually be back! Peter @L0MAS78 As a low energy user, I paid around £70 for gas last year. It'll be around £140 this year because of @ofgem's billing changes. #ofgem #gas Mark Craven @TheCrav Been sent a paper bill from @BritishGas for 46p. Same company offering me a smart meter to help save resources. May be time to switch 3WhitehallPlace @3WhitehallPlace Today we are boosting Green Deal by offering a free colour rinse with every finance plan #GreenDealWithIt Tim Probert @TimProbert IMO the UK may regret not implementing specific regs | Britain must not strangle shale gas with bureaucracy Frack Off @Frack_Off There are now THREE permanent anti- #fracking Community Protection Camps in the UK. #BartonMoss leading the way Emily Gosden @emilygosden As Ukraine crisis raises fears over gas supplies, Decc ministers who ruled out new gas storage must be mighty thankful for the mild winter Trevor Grant @gittarman Just imagine if we had someone with the balls of Bob Crow working for Ofgem or IPCC or Ofwat or even Off-f***ing-whatever. Caroline Flint @CarolineFlintMP Shameful attempt by Govt to bury the truth after 400,000 families hit by bills fiasco Guy Newey @guynewey Tory members polled by ConHome want both more nuclear and lower green taxes. Who'd be a politician? Top Tweets