Utility Week

Community Carry on screaming Cometh the hour, cometh the technology. Disconnector learns that Thorpe Park has installed pioneering devices at its new Walking Dead-themed rollercoaster that can harness people's screams to generate electricity sufficient to help charge their mobile phones when they get off. Designed and installed by researchers at Queen Mary University of London and the engineering team at Thorpe Park Resort, the technology took three months to imple- ment. If a trial is successful, it may become a permanent fixture for the remainder of the 2018 season. Dr Joe Briscoe of the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary Univer- sity said: "Using vibrations and movement from The Walking Dead: The Ride has allowed us to harness the stray energy that is all around us. "The system uses a mini energy harvester to capture the kinetic energy, transferring it to a separate electrical circuit and storage unit." Now, if the good doctor can just refine the device to harvest the power of moans, then Brexit Britain will have sorted out its energy security free of the machinations of Putin the Poisoner and those equally ghastly continentals. Fighting mad Talking of things that make you scream, the great man has not lost his ability to be flab- bergasted by the antics of US president Donald Trump. We're not talking about the alleged spanking sex sessions with former porn actress Stormy Daniels. Neither is the great man referring to the prez wip- ing millions off the share price of Amazon with a series of, as always, ill-advised tweets. No, Disconnector is refer- ring to his Trumpness tweeting about how he could beat up 75-year-old former vice-pres- ident Joe Biden. What stirred the ire of his excellency was Biden's declaration that, were the two men in high school, he would give Trump a thrashing for the way he treated women. Donald saw no reason to set any such fight in a theoretical context: "Crazy Joe Biden is weak both mentally and physi- cally." In a fist fight, he said, Biden "would go down fast and hard, crying all the way". Which raises the intrigu- ing – and appalling – question, if Biden called him out on it, would Trump consent to a pub- lic fight? The best you could say for the current president is "probably not". Pardon my French In these days of neurotic preoccupation with customer service, Disconnector would like to nominate Canadian Guillaume Rey for an award. Mr Rey was a waiter at a restaurant in Vancouver for ten months before he was fired for his "aggressive and disrespect- ful behaviour" towards his colleagues. But he's not taking his sacking lying down and has filed a complaint with British Colombia's Human Rights Tribunal against his former employer, arguing that his colleagues misinterpreted his "direct, honest and profes- sional" French personality. Although both parties agreed Mr Rey was good at his job, the manager at Milestones Restaurant said he le a col- league "borderline in tears". The tribunal refused Mile- stones' request to have the case struck off and said it would hear it later. However, tribunal member Devyn Consineau wrote: "Mr Rey will have to explain what it is about his French heritage that would result in behaviour that people misinterpret as a violation of workplace standards of accept- able conduct." Disconnector thinks Mr Rey won't have much trouble with that one. 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 2017 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 | 6TH - 12TH APRIL 2018 | 31 Richard Lowes @heatpolicyrich The new ECO consultation proposes 17,000 solid-walled homes insulated each year. To insulate all seven million solid-walled homes in the UK at that rate it would take over 400 years. Has BEIS missed off a zero? Ørsted UK @OrstedUK Good to see @nationalgriduk backing 2030 ban on new diesel and petrol cars – but EVs only make sense if powered by green energy. The offshore wind industry's vision is 30GW by 2030 – three times today's capacity. Alexander Anderson @DouneFarm Great news: @Edinburgh_CC have bought former @nationalgriduk site next to #ScottishGas HQ. Fantastic opportunity to bring new lease of life to Granton's iconic Victorian Gasholder. How about a design competition @welovehistory Dominic Gogol @DominicGogol Mr Gove putting more money and action where his mouth is as the UK commits to tough EU recycling targets of 65% by 2035. Citizens Advice @CitizensAdvice @ofgem's Decision to ban @IresaEnergy from taking on new customers is an important intervention. We referred Iresa to the regulator last year, and hope this prompts the supplier to drastically improve its customer service. Opus Energy @Opus_Energy An analysis of electricity consumption across the EU found that the UK reduced its electricity use in 2017 by 2%, and since 2010, UK consumption has fallen by more than 9%. National Grid UK @nationalgriduk The impact of electric vehicles on the electricity system is something we've already done lots of work on – including looking at possible demand increases. The 30GW figure shouldn't be seen as likely and we'd expect the increase in demand to be much lower. 1/2 National Grid UK @nationalgriduk We have also looked at other opportunities such as the possibility for providing charging points across the motorway network. Read our mythbuster: http://ow.ly/FLKz30jcsXH 2/2 Top Tweets

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