Utility Week

Community Did you spill my pint? There is a lot of fearmongering when it comes to intelligent machines taking over the world – a good deal of it spread by this column. But these days expressing pessimism about the future has become tantamount to spitting on Winston Churchill's grave, so Disconnector renounces any previously expressed trepidation about the future and wants it wknown that the great man is willingly joining the hive mind to gambol on the sunny uplands to come. So, while the US military industrial complex might be dreaming up battlefield robots, US student Jacob Pierce points to a more benign future with his "beerbot", dreamt up so he and his chums could have a constant supply of beer while watching the Superbowl – without leaving the couch. The 22-year-old aviation student from Kentucky built the robot from scratch using a miniature keg of beer and spare parts. "I was watching Star Wars and noticed that R2D2 was sort of keg-shaped. My roommate and I thought it would be funny to build a RBrewD2, that drives itself around," says Jacob. It's a laudible enterprise, and once that trade deal with the US is in the bag, that's just the sort of stuff we will have tariff-free access to – along with all the chlorinated chicken and beef pumped full of antibiotics. Which will also be great! Car trouble Another American with a can-do attitude is supersmart whiz-kid Elon Musk, who made headlines around the world a few weeks ago when his SpaceX company successfully launched the world's heaviest rocket – two of the three huge boosters from which returned majesti- cally to Earth as planned. The eventual aim of the rocket programme is to send a manned mission to Mars, to which end the Falcon Heavy's payload was a Telsa Roadster – with a space-suited mannequin in the driving seat and David Bowie's Space Oddity blasting out of its stereo – which was launched into an orbit designed to take it towards Mars. Unfortunately for Elon, physicists at the University of Toronto have been running simulations to try to work out what will happen to the Tesla, and their calculations suggest that over the next million years there is a 2.5 per cent chance the vehicle will hit Venus, and a slim chance it will end up col- liding with the sun, but virtu- ally no chance it will hit Mars. Interestingly, there is a 6 per cent probability of the car end- ing up back on Earth. It could be that a future race of Earth's inhabitants learns that they aren't alone in the universe when a Tesla Roadster heaves into view. Of course, no homo sapiens will be around to share the joke, except perhaps Elon. Cryogenically frozen. On his personal moonbase. I want to be alone No sooner has Disconnector vowed to take a more positive outlook viz-a-viz technol- ogy than a study released by scientists from Hawaii warn that aliens could trigger an apoca- lypse on Earth simply by send- ing humanity a message that contains a malicious AI. D'oh! The study – "Interstellar communication. IX. Message decontamination is impossible" – says we should delete alien messages without reading them. "Such a message cannot be decontaminated with certainty, and technical risks remain which can pose an existential threat," the researchers write. Hmmm. Someone should have told the folk behind Voy- ager 1, which was sent into the void in 1977 with anatomically correct pictures of humans and a map of where to find us. 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; Associate editor: Suzanne Heneghan, t: 01342 332106, e: suzanneheneghan@ fav-house.com Features editor: Lois Vallely, t: 01342 332080, e: loisvallely@fav-house.com; Deputy news editor: Katey Pigden, t: 01342 332082, e: kateypigden@fav-house.com; Content editor: Alice Cooke, t: 01342 332102, e: alicecooke@fav-house.com; Energy correspondent: Tom Grimwood, t: 01342 332061, e: tomgrimwood@fav-house.com; Reporter: Clare Ruel, t: 01342 332069, e: clareruel@fav-house.com Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@fav-house.com; Sales executive: Ben Hammond, e: benhammond@fav-house.com. t: 01342 332116; 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. 2,500 Average circulation Jan–Dec 2016 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 UTILITY WEEK | 23RD FEBRUARY - 1ST MARCH 2018 | 31 Maf Smith @SmithMaf Floating Offshore Wind should be a great opportunity for the UK, yet government putting UK supply chain at risk as it stands by and watches projects fall. Paul Wheelhouse @PaulWheelhouse Very important story – UK govt has powers to make a real difference here. If powers were in hands of Scottish ministers the flexibility asked for would be provided. Floating wind is key technology for deployment in deeper waters – great opportunities here, but also for export markets. Hugh McNeal @hughmcnealRUK Congratulations to @StatoilUK and @Masdar on a great accomplishment from Hywind, the world's first floating offshore wind farm – with an average capacity factor of 65%. Greg Jackson @g__j Thanks @LoisVallely. Supermarkets are super- efficient, hyper-competitive deliverers of great value to happy, empowered customers. Energy market designers could do worse than look here… (@Laura_Sandys setting the pace!) George Smeeton @GSmeeton IPPR poll shows leavers and remainers united in not just retaining standards (including on environment/renewable energy), but actually tightening them. Leonie Greene #FBPE @LeonieGreene Good to see. Price cap bill committee looking to @ofgem to clarify "green" tariff offers. If so, real chance for consumers/market to drive forward renewables investment… Ann Robinson @AnnRobinson8 Interesting developments in domestic retail energy market. Shell buying First Utility and now IKEA partnering Big Clean Switch. More direct selling to public and hopefully IKEA will be selling energy-saving products alongside energy. Neil Gibb @Neil_Gibb I find the National Grid Control tweets some of the most thrilling on Twitter. A bit like the old ticker tape football results. 29.4% wind power. There is a quiet revolution in play… Top Tweets

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