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Community Bright ideas A little-considered side effect of a solar eclipse in the 21st century is that an increasing amount of our power comes from solar energy, and an eclipse bumps it off the grid. Not for long, of course, but a momentary movement in the price of power is all an energy trader needs to make a fortune. As long as they bet in the right direction, that is. Unfortunately for many of the bright young things at the Southwest Power Pool in the US, they bet that power prices would spike as solar genera- tion across the country was blacked out. In the event, solar energy was indeed bumped off the grid, but it was more than offset by the fact that millions of Americans were outside (and not using electricity) to, er, watch the eclipse. In fact the only people hammering the air con that day were sweating energy traders. Where the sun don't shine The other person who got the eclipse wrong was president Donald Trump. And not because of the widely circu- lated photo of him squinting into the eclipse without safety glasses, but because he glee- fully retweeted an animation of a smiling, brightly coloured Donald Trump passing in front of a monotone, dark photo of a glum Barack Obama with the words: "Best Eclipse Ever!" The problem (apart from the overt racism) is that the science doesn't work out well for the prez. If he's doing the eclipsing, then he's the moon and Obama is the sun. The sun's eclipsing is only temporary, and only possible because although the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun it's also 400 times nearer, so it appears to be much bigger than it actually is. Disconnector isn't sure The Donald thought this through. It's not over… The problem for Trump, and perhaps the rest of the world, is that he doesn't see the need to think anything through prop- erly. This could yet turn out to have more profound conse- quences than being mocked for a bizarre tweet. A few weeks ago he upbraided North Korea for continuing to develop nuclear missile technology, warning that the consequences would be biblical if it didn't start behaving itself. He's already patting himself on the back for a job well done, and, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, told a rally in Arizona last week: "I respect the fact that he is starting to respect us." Since then, Jong-un has issued a stream of blood-cur- dling threats, fired three short- range missiles into the sea and on Monday launched a long- range missile over northern Japan, causing the authorities in the country's second-largest city, Hokkaido, to run for cover as air raid sirens wailed. Hmm. Disconnector thinks Trump should revise down that one to "work in progress". …until it's over Given their proximity to so many unstable and hostile regimes, it's perhaps little surprise that the Japanese take the funeral business more seri- ously than we do in the West. A full funeral can be a drawn-out affair costing £20,000 or more. Perhaps Disconnector shouldn't have been surprised to learn, then, that at the recent Life Ending Industry Expo in Tokyo, robotics company So- bank unveiled a model of its emotion-reading robot Pepper designed specifically to offici- ate at funerals. For a mere £350, you can hire a Pepper in priests' robes to recite Shinto or Buddhist prayers while banging a drum. The way things are going, Pepper could have a lot of work on soon. 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; Features editor: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080, e: loisvallely@fav-house.com; Senior reporter: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085, e: paulnewton@fav-house.com; Sales executive: Sidney Houliston, e: sidneyhouliston@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332009; Conference sponsorship manager: Sophie Abbott, t: 01342 332062, e; sophieabbott@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, 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 Nick Mabey @Mabeytweet Green Investment Bank sold. European Investment Bank cutting off cash due to Brexit. Who will fill UK investment gap? Keith Taylor MEP @GreenKeithMEP Asset-stripping of the formerly publicly- owned Green Investment Bank began just the working day after it was sold Richard Lowes @ukheatpolicy It's quite funny that the hydrogen (gas) lobby is scared that the shale gas lobby is going to destroy hydrogen by promoting it! Ann Robinson @AnnRobinson8 Energy suppliers blaming high bills on green taxes. Why is there up to £300 between cheapest deal and tariff most of Big 6 customers on. William Marchant @richonlyinname Believe it or not the UK isn't world leader in energy tariff shenanigans. We have some way to go to match Australia. Mike Foster @mikefosterEUA Closure of Centrica's Rough gas store, what happens to the £750m of gas there? Lower consumer bills or higher dividend payments 4 s'holders? Martyn Williams @MartynWilliams2 Doing my @GoodEnergy vote only to find @ecotricity have backed down. Wish @DaleVince would hassle polluting energy firms and not green ones. Atlantis Resources @atlantisresplc MeyGen has now passed 1 gigawatt hour (GWh) exported to the grid! Going great guns. Jenny Chase @solar_chase Did you know, Ghanaians have a special word for unpredictable, irregular power cuts? It's dumsor (doom-sore). Top Tweets UTILITY WEEK | 1ST - 7TH SEPTEMBER 2017 | 31