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UtILItY WeeK | 31st OctOber - 6th NOvember 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; Energy correspondent: Joyeeta Basu, t: 01342 332110, e: joyeeta.basu@fav-house.com; Insights editor: Jane Gray, t: 01342 332087, e: jane.gray@fav-house.com; Research analyst: vidhu Dutt, t: 01342 332026, e: vidhu.dutt@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul Newton, e: paul.newton@ 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: 020 8955 7045. 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 Oil be damned It's sheer bad luck that some renewable technologies cham- pioned by those trying to ensure the future of the planet (such as wind and tidal generation) turn out to have an immediate, and disastrous, effect on the present-day world – specifically, the local wildlife. Turbines are making mincemeat of birds and bats alike, while the potential for large-scale tidal schemes to lay waste to local habitats may well mean that one never gets through planning in the UK. As if to add insult to injury, scientists at the Occidental Col- lege and the University of Califor- nia, Santa Barbara, who studied 16 offshore oil platforms over a 15-year period, found the artifi- cial structures were on average home to 27 times as many fish as natural rocky reefs in the area. Yup, it turns out that the very structures that have come to symbolise the rapacious energy companies turn out to be ideal environments for aquatic life. It's their "verticality", apparently. Not many structures – natural or otherwise – spring 300 from the ocean floor straight up to the surface, and fish love 'em. Many aquatic creatures need to inhabit environments of different depths depending on what stage they're at in their lifecycle, and an oil rig allows them to do this with ease. It's a "win-win" situation – unless one springs a leak, of course, and spews out millions of gallons of burning crude oil, poisoning the Disconnector water and choking the air for miles around. But hey, you can't have everything. Playing the goat Disconnector does not want dear readers to think that by recognising the shortcomings of certain renewable technologies, the pages of this august organ are offering a platform to climate change deniers. Far from it. Climate change is real, and is increasingly going to have a real impact on all our lives. The great man does not refer here to severe weather events, which are too far in the distance to be a worry. Ditto the disappearing ice cap, and the polar bear sitting anx- iously on top of it. No, Discon- nector is especially perturbed about shrinking mountain goats. Research by Frontiers in Zool- ogy, and brought to a wider pub- lic by website Climate Progress, shows that Alpine mountain goats have got a staggering 25 per cent lighter over the past 30 years. The science linking this observ- able loss of body mass to changes in the climate is too complex – and let's face it, too tenuous – to be recounted here. Suffice to say, the news is alarming. At the rate at which the "chamois" are shrinking, it is only matter of time before they're small enough to put in your handbag. And you know what that means: micro-goats. Does the world really need more miniaturised animals to be pampered and cooed over by B-list celebrities? Rich tease Now and then, a small news story appears about nuclear fusion. Usually, it concerns a breakthrough in a lab where someone has created a fusion reaction in a teacup (they didn't) or a breakthrough in a factory where someone has managed to make a commercially viable reactor (they hadn't). Make no mistake, fusion has a great story to tell. It's the pro- cess by which the sun works, and it offers the possibility of producing huge amounts of energy for tiny amounts of fuel, with little or no waste. Theo- retically, the reactors could also be very small. The big problem – apart from getting it to work at all – is getting it to produce more energy than the scientists need to put in to make it work. Enter stage le… Richard Dinan. Describing himself as "a British technology entrepre- neur", Richard has founded the company Applied Fusion with the intention of creating a prototype fusion reactor within three years. His portfolio of companies includes 3D home printer com- pany IonCore and Senturion, which makes security bracelets from meteorites. If neither of those rings any bells, Richard is better known as one of the lead- ing characters in "structured reality show" Made in Chelsea. Disconnector is not sure the fusion boffins at Iter and Lock- heed Martin need to be looking over their shoulders just yet. 3,580 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2013 subscriptions: UK £577 per year, Overseas £689 per year fhcustomerservices@ abacusemedia.com Bryony Worthington @bryworthington One of Europe's historic strengths: pursuing common goal using different approaches. Fight against climate risk strengthened w diversity Waterwise @Waterwise Interesting @UtilityWeek retrospective of 25yrs of UK water privatisation by Jonson Cox Chair of @Ofwat OVO Energy @OVOEnergy Finished with the oven? Turn it off and leave it open for a quick and toasty warm up! #LifeHack #BESW14 Adam Scorer @adam_scorer Welcome idea that energy could move to principles/outcome based regulation, but cautionary tales out there & suppliers will need to 'get it' Megan Darby @rtcc_megan At a forests/carbon offset meeting. Amber Rudd was due to speak, but ex-minister Greg Barker has turned up instead Emily Gosden @emilygosden Decc says lights to stay on as "there are power stations on standby that can start pumping out power when needed" but can't name any of them 3WhitehallPlace @3WhitehallPlace Today Amber is giving out great energy saving tips, such as washing dishes while taking a shower, and wearing pants Nick Grealy @ShaleGasExpert Today, wind back to normal and gas is still here. www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk Janet Wood @Janet_NewPower Poyry's Stephen Woodhouse: at least two companies delaying entry to GB market because of fears over @labourenergy price freeze #EUKconf14 Stephen Crabb MP @SCrabbMP Very pleased to see @DECCgovuk approve the new 500MW South Hook CHP plant in Pembrokeshire. 100s of new construction jobs coming Top Tweets