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UTILITY WEEK | 17TH - 23RD 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 Taxing arguments Many observers have lamented the level of debate when it comes to the EU referendum, with name-calling and mud- slinging on all sides. Not Disconnector, though. The great man thinks the campaign has been revelatory. Who knew, for instance, that Boris Johnson was such an egalitarian? This, aer all, is the man who, when chal- lenged by Jeremy Paxman on whether he knew the price of a bottle of milk, once quipped: "No, but I know the price of a bottle of champagne." But it turns out his posh boy image is all wrong, as evidenced by his clarion calls to stick it to the establishment, especially the "sneering elites" and the "undeserving rich", by voting to leave the EU. Some may unhelpfully observe that this is a pretty good description of just about every- one in Johnson's social circle, but he would doubtless counter that they don't sneer much and their riches are deserved. Likewise, it turns out that arch-right-wingers Ian Dun- can Smith and Liam Fox are actually mostly motivated by a desire to free up money for the beloved NHS and help the poor. One of the ways the latter could be progressed would be to scrap VAT on energy bills, they say. Of course, to do this we'd have to leave the EU because those dastardly Eurocrats won't let us. Those with long memories will recall that when Parlia- ment last voted on the issue, in 1994 when chancellor Kenneth Clarke proposed raising VAT on energy bills from 5 per cent to 17.5 per cent, IDS and Dr Fox supported the proposal. It took an alliance of Labour MPs and Tory rebels to block it. It's heart-warming to see two such hawkish politicians find their inner doves. Dong for a song Of course, it may be unfair to hold politicians to account for decisions they made years ago. Circumstances change and what once seemed like a good idea can, in retrospect, be revealed to be a terrible one. Take Dong Energy. Back in 2012 the state-owned company was having a rough time – operating profits fell by more than a third and its credit rating was cut. It was forced to cut costs and sell off parts of the business to rescue its bal- ance sheet, leaving it with little cash to invest in its fledgling offshore wind operation. The Danish government didn't want to stump up the cash so it was pleased when Goldman Sachs offered to do so, in return for a 19 per cent stake in the company. It proved a shrewd investment: Dong has become a world leader in offshore wind and the com- pany's fortunes have been revived. So much so that when Dong was listed on the Danish stock exchange last week it was valued at a staggering £10 billion, £2 billion of which now belongs to Goldman Sachs rather than the Danish people. The Danes are an egalitarian lot – even more so than Boris Johnson, perhaps – and have even less enthusiasm for invest- ment bankers and general City spivvery than we do, if such a thing were possible. Needless to say, the Danish media has not been found wanting when it comes to pouring opprobrium on the heads of those politi- cians judged to have given away the nation's treasure for a song. Stone me A group of rather clever scien- tists in Iceland have developed a foolproof carbon capture and storage technology that turns CO2 into stone. Yup, you heard that right. Stone. All you have to do is pump a mixture of carbon dioxide and water deep under- ground into basalt rocks and let basic chemistry take over. The acidic mixture dissolves the rocks' calcium and magnesium and forms limestone, a perma- nent natural jail for CO2. Now the concept has been proven, they just need to make the process financially viable. It sounds like a good investment to Disconnector, and if the guys behind CarbFix are looking for a backer, Disconnector has it on good authority that Gold- man Sachs recently came into some money. Disconnector Solarcentury @solarcentury Solar generated 50% more electricity than coal in May in the UK, as days lengthened and coal use fell. American Wind Energy @AWEA Wind is winning: #Windpower on pace to meet 10% of US electricity by 2020. Bernie Sanders @SenSanders My advice for climate change deniers in Congress: Worry less about your campaign contributions and more about your children. Jon Ferris @JonFerris2 Big summer coming up for DECC – CMA, NAO reports into LCF and CCS, ISO, etc. Hard to see ministers working together. Nick Spooner @NickSpooner8 Energy efficiency integral to achieving #energysecurity. @EurActiv William Marchant @richonlyinname Come 24 June, I'm wondering which DECC minister will have to Leave, and which will get to Remain. Michael Liebreich @MLiebreich Yes, sadly energy manliness is a thing. Digging, drilling, fracking, big engines, boilers – manly. Energy efficiency, EVs, heat pumps – not manly. Southern Water @SouthernWater Today we're trying to tweet 90 #water facts in honour of the #Queenat90. Join us @WaterUK @stwater @YorkshireWater @NorthumbrianH2O - Southern Water @SouthernWater #water fact #78: There's a 100% probability that in every glass of water at least 1 molecule was drunk by Cleopatra. #90waterfacts #Queenat90 - Southern Water @SouthernWater #water fact #75: If all the water vapour on Earth fell at once, it would only cover the earth with an inch of water. #90waterfacts #Queenat90 Top Tweets