electricity

Unstable Green Power Grids: German ARD Television Tells Citizens To Start Getting Used To Blackouts!

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– Unstable Green Power Grids: German ARD Television Tells Citizens To Start Getting Used To Blackouts!:

Flagship ARD public television here broadcast a report on the state of the German power grid, which until about some 15 years ago was by far among the world’s most stable. But those days are now gone, thanks to volatile green energies.

The ARD report basically tells German citizens and industry that they need to prepare quickly for blackouts because the country’s power grid is as unstable as never before.

Just last week the power went out due to a winter North Sea storm which swept across a large part of Germany: 300,000 people lost power.

Outages leading to millions in losses

Read moreUnstable Green Power Grids: German ARD Television Tells Citizens To Start Getting Used To Blackouts!

This Cryptocurrency Mining Rig Can Also Heat Your Home

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– This Cryptocurrency Mining Rig Can Also Heat Your Home:

The intensifying energy consumption of the bitcoin network is becoming a concern for environmentalists who have begun to question whether digital currencies should be considered a socially responsible investment. As we pointed out last month, Digiconomist’s Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index stood at 29.05TWh.

That’s the equivalent of 0.13% of total global electricity consumption. While that may not sound like a lot, it means Bitcoin mining is now using more electricity than 159 individual countries, including Ireland and Nigeria.

As the share of the world’s electricity consumed by miners of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rises, miners will likely face pressure – both economic and social – to find efficiencies wherever they can.

In anticipation of this trend, a crypto startup called Comino is marketing a mining rig that also functions as a heater.

Read moreThis Cryptocurrency Mining Rig Can Also Heat Your Home

Bitcoin Mining Now Consuming More Electricity Than 159 Countries Including Ireland & Most Countries In Africa

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– Bitcoin Mining Now Consuming More Electricity Than 159 Countries Including Ireland & Most Countries In Africa:

Source: Power Compare

Bitcoin’s ongoing meteoric price rise has received the bulk of recent press attention with a lot of discussion around whether or not it’s a bubble waiting to burst.

However, most the coverage has missed out one of the more interesting and unintended consequences of this price increase. That is the surge in global electricity consumption used to “mine” more Bitcoins.

According to Digiconomist’s Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, as of Monday November 20th, 2017 Bitcoin’s current estimated annual electricity consumption stands at 29.05TWh.

That’s the equivalent of 0.13% of total global electricity consumption. While that may not sound like a lot, it means Bitcoin mining is now using more electricity than 159 individual countries (as you can see from the map above). More than Ireland or Nigeria.

Read MOre…

H/t reader kevin a.

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The power grid is failing in Central America

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– The power grid is failing in Central America:

Earlier this month a massive power outage hit Central America, leaving millions of people without electricity for hours. The outage was caused by an overload in the Central American Transmission System in Panama.

Though it mostly affected people in Costa Rica and Panama, the outage also partially affected power in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. These countries all share the same electricity transmission line, which extends approximately 1,130 miles between Panama and Guatemala.

Read moreThe power grid is failing in Central America

One coal worker or 79 solar ones, same electricity

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– One coal worker or 79 solar ones, same electricity:

The New York Times tells us that Today’s Energy Jobs Are in Solar, Not Coal. But watch the pea –  these jobs are “energy jobs”, not jobs that use energy.

Apparently it takes 79 people to create the same energy through solar as one person does through coal. (And that would be cheaper, how? )

Washington Examiner.

Read moreOne coal worker or 79 solar ones, same electricity

What Will You Do When The Lights Go Out? The Inevitable Failure Of The US Grid

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Grid

– What Will You Do When The Lights Go Out? The Inevitable Failure Of The US Grid:

Delta Airlines recently experienced what it called a power outage in its home base of Atlanta, Georgia, causing all the company’s computers to go offline—all of them. This seemingly minor hiccup managed to singlehandedly ground all Delta planes for six hours, stranding passengers for even longer, as Delta scrambled to reshuffle passengers after the Monday debacle.

Where Delta blamed its catastrophic systems-wide computer failure vaguely on a loss of power, Georgia Power, their power provider, placed the ball squarely in Delta’s court, saying that “other Georgia Power customers were not affected”, and that they had staff on site to assist Delta.

Read moreWhat Will You Do When The Lights Go Out? The Inevitable Failure Of The US Grid

Blackouts Loom With California In Power Grid Emergency: “All Customers Should Expect 14 Days Without Power”

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California In Power Grid Emergency

– Blackouts Loom With California In Power Grid Emergency: “All Customers Should Expect 14 Days Without Power”:

The entire Los Angeles metropolitan area and most of Southern California can expect blackouts this summer.

The power grid is under direct threat as a result of the unprecedented, but little reported, massive natural gas leaks at Alisco Canyon that was ongoing for  four months as an intense summer heat wave sets in.

According to Reuters:

California will have its first test of plans to keep the lights on this summer…

With record-setting heat and air conditioning demand expected in Southern California, the state’s power grid operator issued a so-called “flex alert,” urging consumers to conserve energy to help prevent rotating power outages – which could occur regardless.

Read moreBlackouts Loom With California In Power Grid Emergency: “All Customers Should Expect 14 Days Without Power”

Too Much Solar Electricity Makes Chile Give It Away For Free

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Too much solar electricity makes Chile give it away for free

– Overpowered: Too much solar electricity makes Chile give it away for free:

Chile’s main solar power plants are supplying so much electricity that they have to give it away for free or face prices going down. The glut has been driven by the country’s booming copper industry.

Chile’s growing energy demand has prompted the development of 29 solar farms to supply the central grid. Booming mining production and economic growth have been the main drivers. The country is expected to install almost 1.4 gigawatts of solar power this year, up from 371 megawatts in 2015, according to Bloomberg , which is enough to supply hundreds of thousands of homes.

Read moreToo Much Solar Electricity Makes Chile Give It Away For Free

Venezuela Runs Out Of Electricity, Will Shut Down For A Week, El Nino Blamed

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Well, Venezuela is out of elecricity – again. The Guri Dam, which provides some two thirds of the country’s power, is at “critical levels.” Thankfully, Nicolas Maduro has prepared some “measures.”

– Venezuela Runs Out Of Electricity, Will Shut Down For A Week, El Nino Blamed

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Bolivia Nationalises Electricity Companies Owned By Spanish Utility Iberdrola

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– Bolivia nationalises Iberdrola electricity companies (Reuters, Dec 29, 2012):

Bolivia nationalised two electricity distribution companies owned by Spanish utility Iberdrola on Saturday, the latest move by leftist President Evo Morales to assert control over the country’s resources.

Iberdrola will be compensated according to a valuation to be drawn up by an independent arbiter, Morales said, adding that the measure was aimed at enhancing rural energy services.

“We considered this measure necessary to ensure equitable energy tariffs … and to see to it that the quality of electricity service is uniform in rural as well as urban areas,” Morales said.

President Morales has nationalised oil, telecommunications, mining and electrical generation companies.

Read moreBolivia Nationalises Electricity Companies Owned By Spanish Utility Iberdrola

India’s Power Network Breaks Down: Second Blackout This Week Affects Area Where 680 Million Live (WSJ)

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– India’s Power Network Breaks Down (Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2012):

Second Blackout This Week Affects Area Where 680 Million Live, Embarrassing Nation by Exposing Ramshackle Grid

NEW DELHI—India suffered the world’s biggest-ever power outage Tuesday as transmission networks serving areas inhabited by 680 million collapsed, putting the nation’s ramshackle infrastructure on stark display.

The grid failure, the second massive blackout in as many days, happened around 1 p.m. local time and affected 18 states and two union territories in north and eastern India, grinding trains across large swaths of the country to a halt, forcing thousands of hospitals and factories to operate on generators, temporarily stranding hundreds of coal miners underground and causing losses to businesses estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The government said power was about 80% restored in north India by late Tuesday evening.

Read moreIndia’s Power Network Breaks Down: Second Blackout This Week Affects Area Where 680 Million Live (WSJ)

Worst India Outage Highlights 60 Years of Missed Targets: Energy (Businessweek)

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– Worst India Outage Highlights 60 Years of Missed Targets: Energy (Businessweek, Aug 1, 2012):

India’s worst-ever power crisis is the legacy of 60 years of missed investment targets and on current projections fixing the nation’s electricity supply is still decades away.

The network in Asia’s third-largest economy loses 27 percent of the power it carries through dissipation from wires and theft, while peak supply falls short of demand by an average of 9 percent, according to India’s Central Electricity Authority. Some 300 million people, or one in every four, remain without links to the grid and the number will still be about 150 million by 2030, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency.

Read moreWorst India Outage Highlights 60 Years of Missed Targets: Energy (Businessweek)

Behind India’s Grid Breakdown, Deeper Energy Issues And Opportunities (Video)

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– Behind India’s Grid Breakdown, Deeper Energy Issues – and Opportunities (New York Times, July 31, 2012):

Here’s a look at the world’s biggest blackout and India’s underlying energy challenge by someone who works to bring electricity to the hundreds of millions of Indian citizens for whom the grid failures are an abstraction because they were never on the grid to begin with.

In June, at a summit in Manila on Asia’s energy future, I met Harish Hande, an award-winning Indian engineer and entrepreneur based in Bangalore who, since 1995, has built a company that provides energy assessments and solar panels or other sources of locally generated power to (mainly) rural Indian communities. We had several long conversations about how to affordably provide electricity in countries like India and the Philippines, with vast poor populations, both rural and urban.

With much of the electrified half of India suddenly thrown into the dark, I re-visited video I shot of parts of our conversation. Here’s a portion that’s highly relevant, in which Hande explains that urgent calls now to fix the grid or speed the building of more coal-burning power plants are unlikely to ameliorate the energy challenges confronting hundreds of millions of citizens there:


YouTube

I also invited Hande this morning to reflect on the current debate over India’s various energy gaps, and opportunities. Here’s his “Your Dot” contribution

It’s interesting that the rich in the states without power are complaining the most, about how they are suffering because of no air conditioners, etcetera. Yet 400 million Indians today still have not seen a light bulb while 200 million more regularly suffer from regular brownouts (between 6 and 19 hours).

Read moreBehind India’s Grid Breakdown, Deeper Energy Issues And Opportunities (Video)

India: 620 MILLION Without Power After 3 Power Grids Fail

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– 600 million without power in India after 3 power grids fail (USA Today, July 31, 2012):

NEW DELHI (AP) – India’s energy crisis cascaded over half the country Tuesday when three of its regional grids collapsed, leaving 620 million people without government-supplied electricity in one of the world’s biggest-ever blackouts.

Hundreds of trains stalled across the country and traffic lights went out, causing widespread traffic jams in New Delhi. Electric crematoria stopped operating, some with bodies half burnt, power officials said. Emergency workers rushed generators to coal mines to rescue miners trapped underground.

Read moreIndia: 620 MILLION Without Power After 3 Power Grids Fail

Super Storm = Breakdown Worldwide Grid System = Worldwide Nuclear Meltdown

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For your information.

See also:

– Study: Nuclear Meltdown In One Of The Reactors In Operation Worldwide Is Likely To Occur Once In 10 To 20 Years – Map Shows Risk Of Heavy Contamination

– Expert Warns: 100% Certainty of Total Catastrophic Failure of the Entire Power Infrastructure Within 3 Years

– Interview With Former US Army Intelligence Officer And Bestselling Author James Wesley Rawles: Global Economic Collapse – Gun Confiscation – How To Survive The End Of The World – If The Power Grid Goes Down We Are In A Massive Die Off Situation Where Literally More Than 50% Of The Population Of The Country Could Die In Just One Winter (Video)

– Super Storm = Breakdown Worldwide Grid System = Worldwide Nuclear Meltdown (Before It’s News, May 23, 2012):

Solar SuperStorms Coming…

As the sun boils up increased numbers of sunspots, we here on Earth need to be wary of the resultant solar flares and CME’s that are often hurled in our direction. An X-class solar flare can reach the Earth in just 8 minutes (CME’s, Coronal Mass Ejections, can take days). If an X-class flare… or Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun… is of sufficient magnitude… it could bring down our electrical power grid and end life as we know it…
for a long period of time… or forever…

A solar Super Storm of the size and duration of the ‘Carrington Event’ of 1859 will down the world’s power grid infrastructure for years… Think about that for a minute… No food… water… gasoline… radio… internet…

In short: almost nothing will be left… Hundreds of millions in Europe and the US would surely die. But this is not all… All nuclear reactors will melt down… because the cooling of the reactors fails…. Thus, a Super Solarstorm has the potential to cause a Fukushima type accident at every nuclear power plant in the world!
And worse… The fuel assemblies in the spent fuel pool will melt… Catch fire, and radioactive fission products will be released into the atmosphere… Because there is at least 10 times more spent fuel then in the reactors… The world will be confronted with the equivalent of thousands nuclear reactors melting down…! Will this be the end of human life on earth…?

Read moreSuper Storm = Breakdown Worldwide Grid System = Worldwide Nuclear Meltdown

Geomagnetic Storms, EMP And Nuclear Armageddon (400 Chernobyls Or More!)

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For your information.

PDF:  Geomagnetic Storms, EMP and Nuclear Armageddon (Nexus Magazine Article)

– Geomagnetic Storms, EMP and Nuclear Armageddon (Nexus Magazine Article) (When Technology Fails):

There are nearly 450 nuclear reactors in the world, with hundreds more either under construction or in the planning stages. There are 104 of these reactors in the USA and 195 in Europe. Imagine what havoc it would wreak on our civilization and the planet’s ecosystems if we were to suddenly witness not just one or two nuclear melt-downs but 400 or more! How likely is it that our world might experience an event that could ultimately cause hundreds of reactors to fail and melt down at approximately the same time?  I venture to say that, unless we take significant protective measures, this apocalyptic scenario is not only possible but probable.

Consider the ongoing problems caused by three reactor core meltdowns, explosions, and breached containment vessels at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi facility, and the subsequent health and environmental issues. Consider the millions of innocent victims that have already died or continue to suffer from horrific radiation-related health problems (“Chernobyl AIDS”, epidemic cancers, chronic fatigue, etc) resulting from the Chernobyl reactor explosions, fires, and fallout. If just two serious nuclear disasters, spaced 25 years apart, could cause such horrendous environmental catastrophes,  it is hard to imagine how we could ever hope to recover from hundreds of similar nuclear incidents occurring simultaneously across the planet. Since more than one third of all Americans live within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant, this is a serious issue that should be given top priority![1]

In the past 152 years, Earth has been struck roughly 100 solar storms causing significant geomagnetic disturbances (GMD), two of which were powerful enough to rank as “extreme GMDs”. If an extreme GMD of such magnitude were to occur today, in all likelihood it would initiate a chain of events leading to catastrophic failures at the vast majority of our world’s nuclear reactors, quite similar to the disasters at both Chernobyl and Fukushima, but multiplied over 100 times. When massive solar flares launch a huge mass of highly charged plasma (a coronal mass ejection, or CME) directly towards Earth, colliding with our planet’s outer atmosphere and magnetosphere, the result is a significant geomagnetic disturbance.

Read moreGeomagnetic Storms, EMP And Nuclear Armageddon (400 Chernobyls Or More!)