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Community A cultural revolution? No-one can say the folks in Hull aren't prepared to put in a shi when it comes to justify- ing their city's moniker of "City of Culture". To be honest, they may be trying a bit too hard. Over the weekend a 75m-long wind turbine blade was dragged into the city centre, where it will hang sus- pended until March. The credit for the installation, named in rather literal fashion "The Blade", goes to artist Nayan Kulkarni, although it is in fact a B75 rotor blade made by the Siemens factory nearby. More than 50 pieces of "street furniture" (lamp posts, traffic lights and so on) had to be moved before the mas- sive object could be trundled through the narrow streets of Hull's old town. Said Kulkarni: "Carefully positioned it will force us to dri around its arabesque edges, our sight taking the place of the breeze. The twist- ing wing although inert and at rest in the street, speaks of movement, but not of freedom." Hmm. The locals in most places around the UK can be counted on to protest against wind turbines on the grounds that they are eyesores, but somehow the great man thinks the installation may receive a warmer welcome in Hull, which is more avant garde than you might credit. Last year, to mark Hull being awarded City of Culture 2017, 3,200 citizens volunteered to be painted blue and pose naked around landmarks in the city to publicise the fact. Now that's art. Things are gonna change To many observers, the energy industry has made a right song and dance out of rolling out smart meters, with the programme beset by delays virtually from the get-go. It is fitting, then, that to mark the start of the rollout proper, Smart Energy GB has commissioned long-time conductor and choirmaster Tim Rhys-Evans to form and train Energise: The Smart Meter Choir, made up of employees from British Gas, Eon and SSE. The results of their labours is a song called "Changes" penned by Rhys-Evans himself. As most readers will be aware, while the start of the rollout has been postponed several times, the completion date of 2020 has not, mean- ing the actual time allowed to deploy all the meters has been repeatedly compressed. Disconnector wonders if it might not have been wiser to compose a song of celebration once the task was completed rather than to mark its start. Just a thought. Chaos theory As it turns out, the whole smart meter rollout may be irrelevant, at least if Peter Turchin, from the University of Connecticut, is right. Turchin is a professor of ecology and mathematics and he says the rise and fall of civilisations can be predicted using mathematical formulas – and he reckons ours is in for a right kicking in 2020. Turchin is the pioneer of a cross-disciplinary subject he calls "cliodynamics", a "transdisciplinary discipline" that treats history as just another science. He started out using maths to predict human activity from 1500BC to 1500AD. Then, three years ago, the good professor started using similar models to forecast the future. The runes do not make for happy reading. He says his model predicted the upheav- als seen in the western world recently and that the trends are for turmoil to increase, peaking with maximum chaos in 2020. So, just when Disconnector is scheduled to take receipt of his smart meter, then. Typical. It's enough to make you paint yourself blue and move to Hull. Disconnector Editor, Utility Week, and content director, Utilities: Ellen Bennett, t: 01342 332084, e: ellenbennett@fav-house.com; Deputy 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; Reporter: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085, e: paulnewton@fav-house.com; Business development manager: Richard Powell, t: 01342 332062, e: richardpowell@fav-house.com; Business development executive: Nigel Searle, t: 01342 332009, e: nigelsearle@fav-house.com; Publisher: Amanda Barnes, e: amandabarnes@ fav-house.com. General enquiries: 01342 332000; Membership enquiries: Peter Bissell, t: 01342 332057, 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 £669 per year. Overseas £781 per year. Contact Peter Bissell on: 01342 332057 Utility Week is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (which regulates the UK's magazine and newspaper industry). We abide by the Editors' Code of Practice and are committed to upholding the highest standards of journalism. If you think that we have not met those standards and want to make a complaint please contact the editor, Ellen Bennett, at ellenbennett@fav-house.com. If we are unable to resolve your complaint, or if you would like more information about IPSO or the Editors' Code, contact IPSO on 0300 123 2220 or visit www.ipso.co.uk Gregory Barker @GregBarkerUK PM should tell @PHammondMP to halt sale & pass #GIB back to #BEIS Ministers who have the right vision & grip & understand its value Doug Parr @doug_parr Provisions UK Govt have put in to keep Green Investment Bank 'green' will not stop asset- stripping by Macquarie Bank Caroline Lucas @CarolineLucas More details emerge of plans to sell off #GIB. Ministers being grossly naive about MacQuarie's intentions. Daniel Walker-Nolan @DWN85 Billing an intractable prob in energy. Content complex/creates inertia but mostly regulated so difficult to innovate William Marchant @richonlyinname The test for Swansea isn't whether it creates jobs - throwing cash at anything will. It's does it offer cost effective carbon abatement? Tidal Power @tidal_power Did you know that Wales has reduced its emissions by 18% since 1990, compared to 46% in Scotland Clive Lewis MPVerified account@labourlewis What should our economy look like in the 21stC? Have yr say on Labour's Industrial Strategy Syed AkbaruddinVerified @AkbaruddinIndia Indian firm - Carbonclean - makes carbon capture breakthrough by profitably turning CO2 emissions into baking powder Nick Hurd MP @nickhurdmp Good to see British involvement in carbon capture breakthrough in India Paul Lewis @paullewismoney Problem adding Winter Fuel Payment to state pension: it is paid to individuals at five rates and isn't indexed Top Tweets UTILITY WEEK | 13TH -19TH JANUARY 2017 | 31