Utility Week

Community Dutch see red over rubbish Most Brits are conflicted when it comes to rules. Thus, we take great pride in our nation's abil- ity to queue, but we also loathe being told what to do. Nowhere is this schizo- phrenic attitude more preva- lent than when it comes to recycling, with most of us both fully supportive of reducing the amount of landfill waste we generate and contemptuous of the council officers, or as the popular press would have it "Nazis", charged with making sure we do it. So Disconnector must con- fess to a certain schadenfreude on learning that the Dutch – those paragons of level-headed reasonableness – are similarly vexed about it. In the town of Best, near Eindhoven, the authorities decided to crack down on people failing to separate their recycling properly and introduced a system of yellow and red cards, footie-style. Red cards are dished out to repeat offenders and their rubbish is le on the roadside to rot. It's proved a step too far for even the mild-mannered and eco-friendly Dutch, so much so that the mayor of Best has had to enlist the help of the buitengewoon opspor- ingsambtenaar (that's special constables to you and me) to accompany the town's refuse collectors, who have been subject to threats and swearing from irate citizens. The Best bigwigs have some way some way to go before they match the diligence of local authorities in England, of course, who in their fight to find out if householders are putting the right bits in the right bins have been known to invoke powers of surveillance intended to combat terrorism, but when it comes to jobswor- thiness no-one beats the Brits! When you're hot, you're hot You've got to feel sorry for the citizens of Hawaii's Big Island, who are dealing with the spectacular eruption of Kilauea Volcano. And by "dealing with", Disconnector of course means running away. The volcano first started throwing up streams of molten lava at the beginning of May, and such is the intensity of the heat that the lava flows hitting the sea are creating massive clouds of steam laden with sulphuric acid and plumes of tiny – and deadly – particles of glass. As if that wasn't enough, the lava started moving towards a geothermal plant where around 200,000 litres of the highly flammable chemical pentane were stored. The plant was hastily shut and workers worked around the clock to move the chemical and close and cap the plant's 11 wells. The plant, which used to meet a quarter of Big Island's electricity needs, has been shut for good. Help-to-borrow From June borrowers in Wales will be able to take out a big- ger mortgage when buying a property equipped with energy efficiency measures under a help-to-buy scheme introduced by the Welsh government. It is aimed at new-builds, but Welsh housing minister Rebecca Evans says she hopes the mortgage industry will fol- low suit for all properties. The difference could amount to £11,000 on a £300,000 home, according to figures from the Building Research Establishment. The great man confesses he is still scratching his head on this one. Since it does nothing to increase the actual supply of houses, won't the fact that banks will lend you an extra ten grand to buy a green home simply mean that the price of a green home goes up by ten grand? Answers on a postcard, please. 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; Policy correspondent: David Blackman, e: davidblackman@fav-house.com; Production editor: Paul Newton, t: 01342 332085, e: paulnewton@fav-house.com; Business development manager: 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 | 25TH - 31ST MAY 2018 | 31 William Marchant @richonlyinname CMA's Npower/SSE report paints a picture of the Big 6 suppliers being obsessed with forecasting and monitoring the response to each others SVT price movements yet entirely disinterested in movements outside that group. Ann Robinson @AnnRobinson8 We need to achieve maximum self-sufficiency in energy given all the political uncertainties. This is why I am pleased @GregClarkMP and @claireperrymp are behind exploiting our own deposits of shale gas. Jonathan Bartley @jon_bartley At a time when we should be leading the way, the Government has created a hostile environment for renewable energy. Withdrawing support and spreading confusion around future investments it has led to a "dramatic and worrying collapse" in green investment. Eric Holtaus @ericholtaus The first peer-reviewed study of bitcoin's energy consumption confirms our fears: Bitcoin's energy consumption is growing at 20% *per month* and is effectively erasing decades of progress on renewable energy. Sandbag.org.uk @sandbag.org.uk Negative emissions from BECCS are essential in almost all climate scenarios that meet the #ParisAgreement - so we wish Drax success with this new carbon capture trial Nigel Adams MP @nadams Great news that Drax is back in the CCS game Peter J. Cavan @PJCavan National Grid is expecting a demand spike of 1,500MW after the Royal Wedding, as viewers turn on kettles and open fridges. In a severe case of mistaken priorities, the FA Cup Final will only cause a demand spike of 200MW. Robert Llewellyn @bobbyllew Yes, I've heard that the royal couple drove away from Windsor in the Jaguar e-type-zero electric car we featured on Fully Charged last year. Nice. Top Tweets

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