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UTILITY WEEK | 3RD - 9TH JUNE 2016 | 31 Community Editor, Utility Week, and content director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Acting editor: Jane Gray, t: 01342 332087, e: janegray@ fav-house.com; Insights editor: Mathew Beech, t: 01342 332082, e: mathewbeech@fav-house. com; News editor: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080, e: loisvallely@fav-house.com; Networks correspondent: Lucinda Dann, t: 01342 332083, e: lucindadann@fav-house.com; Reporters: Saffron Johnson, t: 01342 332050, e: saffronjohnson@fav-house.com and Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Richard Powell, t: 01342 332062, e: richardpowell@fav-house.com; Business development executive: Sarah Wood, t: 01342 332077, e: sarahwood@fav-house.com; Publisher: Amanda Barnes, e: amandabarnes@ fav-house.com. General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332507, e: peterbissell@fav-house.com. 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 3,580 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2015 Membership subscriptions: UK £637 per year. Overseas £749 per year. Contact Peter Bissell on: 01342 332507 Top trumps Politicians oen bewail the fact that so many people are dis- engaged from politics, but it's their own fault, thinks Discon- nector. They make it so dull. How is it that in this country even a referendum becomes tedious, while in the US just their selection of a Republican presidential candidate is TV gold. It leaves us bizarrely more interested in the internal poli- tics of a foreign country than the independence of our own. Boris Johnson has tried his best, bless him, but he tries too hard. Okay, so the tousle- haired blond has accused pro-Europeans of doing Hitler's work, but it's a bit laboured. No one can match Donald Trump for being effortlessly outrageous. In the same week as he was confirmed as the official Republican nominee for president, he was telling a rap- turous rally in drought-stricken California that the water short- age was the government's fault. He said state officials were causing the drought because they were pumping the water out to sea to "protect a certain kind of three-inch fish". His supporters whooped and cheered, even as state police fired tear gas and bean bags to try to quell the riot that was going on outside. Ours may be the oldest parliament in the world (if you ignore Iceland's), but in showbiz terms, it just doesn't cut it. Queue jumping Disconnector is oen struck by the ambition of other nations when it comes to humongous national infrastructure projects and the like. Time was when America had all the bragging rights when it came to the biggest, fastest, zaniest, etc, but China is coming up fast on the inside. The great man muses thus on reading about the Transit Explore Bus (TEB), unveiled at a technology exhibition in Beijing last week. The futuristic "straddling bus" will glide along on rails laid alongside roads, allowing it to sail over traffic jams, for which China's rapidly industrialising cities have become notorious. Its legs allow the TEB's giant frame to glide high above the gridlock at speeds of up to 60km an hour and it has the capacity of 40 conventional single-decker buses. According to the company behind the bus, its chief sell- ing points are that it is much cheaper than an underground railway and can be rolled out much more quickly. A proto- type is due to be deployed in Qinhuangdao, a coastal city about 300km east of Beijing, this summer. It shows an admirable can- do attitude on the part of the Chinese, thinks Disconnector, although it might be cheaper still to manage the traffic better. Smells like success Okay, enough is enough. The great man thinks the good citi- zens of the Far East really need to take time out and stop obsess- ing about toilets. He muses thus on learn- ing that research engineers from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research in Singa- pore have unveiled a prototype device for monitoring a toilet so that it can send you a signal when it needs to be cleaned. The system tracks how heavily toilets are used, and has a sensor to measure the odour levels of things such as ammonia, which is found in urine, and hydrogen sulphide, which is found in faeces. The Restroom Visitilizer Sys- tem has been on trial in more than 60 public toilets and costs about £1,000 per installation. There are many unsolvable problems in this world, but knowing when a toilet needs cleaning is not one of them. If it doesn't look dirty or smell dirty, it doesn't need to be cleaned. Trust your nose on this one. Disconnector Ann Robinson @AnnRobinson8 Hearing some good stuff and some rubbish on energy in Referendum so-called debate. Point is in or out we need european policy and action. William Marchant @richonlyinname Part of UK State Aid case for Hinkley was to close urgent capacity gap. Leadsom doesn't seem particularly bothered when a decision is made. CCWater @WaterWatchdog Could poo power be the answer to our looming energy shortage? The Climate Group @ClimateGroup Global solar photovoltaic sector employs ~2.8 million people: 11%+ on previous year Laurie van der Burg @LaurievdBurg EU commission approves €1.6 bln in state aid (subsidies) to coal power plants to 'compensate for lost profits' Alex Doukas @adoukas #G7 governments just committed to end subsidies, yet Germany is forging ahead with them - what gives? Climate Reality @ClimateReality A sign of the times: The world's largest coal supplier is building a giant solar plant Paul Lewis @paullewismoney Household savings from scrapping 5% VAT on domestic gas/elec assume that suppliers wouldn't use it as cover for a price rise. Trewin Restorick @TrewinR Procter and Gamble to eliminate phosphates from dishwater tablets potentially saving 21bn litres of water annually Environment Agency @EnvAgency Glastonbury Festival fined after 20,000 gallons raw sewage pollute 4km #river killing #fish Joolz Denby @JoolzDenby @EnvAgency yes - the famous Glastonbury 15 parts sewage, 5 parts mud mix that no one wants to think about as they wade through it. Top Tweets