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utIlIty WEEK | 4th - 10th July 2014 | 31 Community Disconnector Editor: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellen.bennett@fav-house.com; News editor: Jillian Ambrose, t: 01342 332061, e: jillian.ambrose@fav-house.com; Associate news editor: Mathew Beech, t: 01342 332082, e: mathew.beech@fav-house. com; Reporter: Conor McGlone, t: 01342 332083, e: conor.mcglone@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Ed Roberts, t: 01342 332067, e: ed.roberts@fav-house. com; Sales executive: Hayley Cronin, t: 01342 332077, e: hayley.cronin@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 Get orf moi solar farm Opponents of solar arrays take their role of opposition really, really seriously. One such is Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, a politician who wants to leave the voters in no doubt about where he stands vis a vis solar power. He stood up in the House and declared that his northwest Leicestershire constituents "have considerable sympathy for those protest- ers campaigning against the current high-profile application by Borchester Land to build a large-scale solar farm on the Berrow estate in Ambridge". He demanded to know the govern- ment's view on the matter. The sharp-eyed among you will have noticed, though, that Ambridge is not in northwest Leicestershire. It's a fictional village in the BBC's longest- running radio soap opera The Archers, where go-getting mover and shaker Justin Elliot is infuri- ating his neighbours with plans to cover a wide tract of farmland in solar panels. Not to be outdone, climate change minister Greg Barker told Bridgen that all local councils had been issued with planning guidance instructing them to "focus on brownfield sites, not high-grade agricultural land". MPs are forever being told to come down from their ivory tow- ers and connect with the lives of the ordinary man, but Discon- nector is not sure how impressed the proles will be at government Disconnector energy policy being thrashed out obliquely via the story lines of soap operas. The vegetarian option Anti-solar campaigners are pushing against an open door, of course, at least as far as the Conservatives are concerned. They have already cut solar subsidies and have said they will cut them further, year by year. That has pretty much put the kibosh on the nascent solar industry in the UK. But that could change. Researchers at the University of Liverpool claim to have success- fully addressed a key problem with the current generation of photovoltaic cells: their use of cadmium chloride, which is both expensive and toxic. Scientists working at the university have produced prototype cells that replace the cadmium chloride with magnesium chloride, a cheap, readily available alterna- tive with a much lower level of toxicity. "The cost of solar is going to match fossil fuels eventually and this is going to get us there quicker," said research leader Jon Major. It will take about ten years before a mass-produced product is ready for manufacture, but the breakthrough promises to alter the economics of solar generation, and with it the gov- ernment's ability to control it, no matter how much it annoys nimbys in the shires. As if to rub salt in the wounds of the "right-minded" citizens who so loathe solar power, magnesium chloride is the same chemical commonly used to coagulate soya milk into tofu. All the scientists need to do is discover a solar panel that runs on yogurt, and Jeremy Clarkson's head would explode. You need bangs for your buck Okay, so you can't stop pro- gress. But surely you've got to draw the line somewhere, and that line stops at messing with a man's HOG. No, not the domestic pig. A HOG. A Harley- Davidson motorcycle, beloved of American Hell's Angels, Brit- ish 50-something marketing directors, and Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider. The Harley is an iconic, chrome-soaked symbol of rock 'n' roll and rebellion. And a big part of its power is the thunderous noise it makes. In fact, more of a Harley engine's output goes to creating its dis- tinctive booming sound than its speed. Fact. The great man was therefore dismayed to read that Harley- Davidson has unveiled its first prototype electric motorbike. An electric Harley? Ye Gods. What are the marketing egg- heads thinking? If a man wants a smooth, quiet motorbike he can buy a bloody Honda. If he wants to annoy the neigh- bours, he buys a Harley. 3,580 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2013 Subscriptions: UK £577 per year, Overseas £689 per year fhcustomerservices@ abacusemedia.com 3WhitehallPlace @3WhitehallPlace Today we are subsidising everything, including gas & coal. Turns out that free market malarkey was a bit rubbish Ofgem @ofgem We've reached 500,000 FITs installations. Half a million homes, community orgs & businesses now generating their own renewable energy Boris Johnson @MayorofLondon We should take London's vast supply of sewage and turn it into methane – as they do in Paris. My team on it #askboris Mark Isherwood @MarkIsherwoodAM As Chair of the Cross Party Group on Fuel Pov- erty, I welcome news that Ofgem is referring the energy market for a full investigation EnergyBillRevolution @EnergyBillRev UK houses waste £1.8bn worth of energy each year due to lack of insulation. Enough cash to fill lofts of 36 homes with bundles of £20 notes! Emily Gosden @emilygosden Fallon slaps down @MayorofLondon over idea households should own oil+gas. Says community should benefit; landowners shouldn't hold to ransom Roger Helmer @RogerHelmerMEP How about Owen Paterson for EU Energy Commissioner? Javier Mascarpone @richonlyinname Strange what people can develop an emo- tional attachment to: RWE gets petitioned to demolish Didcot towers in daylight Guy Newey @guynewey Among other things, the NAO report underlines, once again, the utter perverting madness of the 2020 RE Target John Deben @lorddeben All scientists must be sceptical but overwhelming evidence that climate change is happening. Denial not sceptical – it refuses to face facts Top Tweets