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Heath Blount Local Energy www.localenergy.org ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <biofuel@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2003 5:00 PM Subject: [biofuel] Re: Brittle Power > The question, as I see it, is not your diatribe on the evils of > government, or the lack of oversite by said government. > All these nasties you speak of relate to money. George W. can't do as > he wants any more than you or I can. Billy (The BJ) Clinton couldn't > do it either. > The question is, what have YOU done about it? > Did you connect your Alternative Energy resources to the grid to > supply power for friends, neighbors and esential services? Or did you > just sit for the last few months pondering how to be nasty and > hateful for no better reason than not being in the position to make > it better. > The Major question is, What the Hell are you doing to make it better? > Rather than Why isn't Government making it better while not costing > me any money. > The world today, (Read that: the USA ) is a slave to the media. > If you are so naive to believe what you see in the high dollar, > slanted press, maybe you should obtain a shortwave radio and connect > it to your off grid power supply. > Dallas Farnworth > PS: > This is not for or against any government agency, it is pointed > toward the people who gripe and do nothing. > DF > > > --- In biofuel@yahoogroups.com, Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/news/electricity_blackouts.htm > > Corporate Watch: News > > NEWS October 21st 2003 > > > > Brittle Power > > or: Everything you need to know about electricity but don't - yet... > > > > Keith Parkins > > > > "As America plunged into the dark ages, and millions of Americans > > went without electricity, the message was clear: the terrorists had > > struck. Except these terrorists weren't your easy-to-target > > Allah-lovers, they were the barons of fossil and nuclear power and > > their government cronies. Their weapon is an ancient electric grid > > that's, in their own words, fit for 'a third world country'. It's > an > > insanely fragile device that inefficiently sends electricity from > > polluting, centralised generating plants to buildings that waste > > massive amounts of energy and generate none. And it will crash, > crash > > and crash until it's replaced." > > -- SchNEWS > > > > The recent cascading power failures along the entire east coast of > > North America were a graphic illustration of the vulnerability and > > brittleness of hard energy supply paths. They were not due to a > > dilapidated grid, though that would not have helped. Nor was the > > problem new - it had happened before. > > > > When part of the system goes down, it puts extra load on other > parts > > of the system. These become overloaded, putting further overload on > > the remainder of the system, and thus the problem cascades until it > > takes out the entire network. Once the system is down, it is not an > > easy matter to bring it back up. Loads and power generators have to > > be matched, hence the plea to everyone to switch off. There also > has > > to be a matching of frequency and phase over the entire network: > > every generator in sync with every other generator. Not easy to > > achieve. Power stations, when down, rely on the grid to spin up > their > > rotors. Many power cables are fluid cooled, and rely on pumps to > > maintain the pressure. If there's no grid, the whole system fails. > > > > No surprise then that it took several days to get the system back > up > > and running, and that it kept collapsing. At the height of the > > blackout more than 50 million people were left without power in > eight > > US states and eastern Canada, including in major cities like New > > York, Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto and Ottawa. > > > > The US government used to take responsibility for ensuring that > each > > area had enough spare capacity to act as a safeguard in times of > > difficulty. But, since the deregulation of the industry in the > 1980s, > > the rules have been much less strict. Demand for electricity in the > > US has been growing steadily, alongside increased use of air > > conditioning and computers. But electricity firms have not been > > investing in building new high voltage distribution lines. US power > > demand has grown by 30% in the last decade, while transmission > > capacity has grown by just 15%. > > > > The California-based Electric Power Research Institute has > calculated > > that if the US government does want to upgrade the grid, it will > cost > > between $50bn and $100bn. If it is upgraded it will the public who > > will pay, not the electricity companies. > > > > It can't happen here, was the smug reaction in the UK when the east > > coast of North America was blacked out. Before the month was out, > > London and a huge swathe of Kent and Sussex were blacked out and > > 400,000 customers lost power for on average half an hour. In London > > it was chaos as lifts and trains ground to a halt and traffic > lights > > defaulted to red. The blackout caused rush-hour misery for 250,000 > > people when it stopped around 1,800 trains and closed 60% of the > Tube > > network. > > > > The cause was two near-simultaneous failures on the grid. They did > > not cause the cascading blackouts we saw in North America, but they > > should not have happened at all. > > > > For a system to be reliable it has to have built in redundancy. In > an > > electric power supply system this means alternative switching and > > routing and spare generating capacity. In the broader sense, > > alternative sources of supply, and less reliance on electricity. > > > > The UK regulator, Ofgem, has been a failure. Ofgem has concentrated > > on driving down generator price to the exclusion of all else. A > > policy that has not resulted in lower consumer prices (rather, > > increased profits for distribution companies), but has removed all > > spare generating capacity from the system. > > > > London Underground used to have its own generating capacity, last > > year it closed its last power station. The National Grid has lost > 10% > > of its generating capacity in the last two years. > > > > It will only take one sharp cold spell this coming winter to see > > rolling blackouts across the country, something we last saw in the > > 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. > > > > But why were we so complacent? Last winter saw power failures > across > > East Anglia, which then took weeks to restore. The weather was > > nowhere as severe as previous bad winters. The problem was > > deregulation and corporate greed. This led to a lack of regular > > maintenance and routine maintenance workers and insufficient > > engineers and equipment to get the system back up and running. > Around > > 15,000 jobs have been axed from the electricity distribution > network > > over the past five years. Engineers had to be drafted in from > across > > the country and eventually brought over from France. > > > > An unstable system needs tough regulation, recognized by Franklin > > Roosevelt in the 1930s, but lacking in today's neo-liberal > > environment. Roosevelt ensured energy prices were linked to actual > > costs, blackouts were penalised and all electricity companies were > > closely monitored by the federal power commission. Maybe even more > > importantly, FDR banned political contributions from utilities. > > > > Then along came George Bush Snr, and in came deregulation. To show > > their gratitude, the power companies showered Bush Jnr with money > to > > ensure his election. > > > > One of these companies was FirstEnergy. FirstEnergy's President, > > Anthony Alexander, was a Bush Pioneer in 2000, meaning he raised at > > least $100,000 for Bush Jnr. He then went on to serve on the Energy > > Department transition team. Peter Burg, FirstEnergy CEO and > chairman > > of the board, hosted a June 2003 event that raised more than half a > > million dollars for the Bush-Cheney 2004 election campaign. > > > > FirstEnergy is believed to be the cause of the August 2003 North > > America blackout. FirstEnergy's 550-megawatt, coal-fired Eastlake > > power plant in Ohio stopped running. In response, FirstEnergy began > > to pull roughly 20% of its load of electricity out of Michigan to > > meet its needs. This transfer overloaded several transmission > lines, > > causing them to trip. Non-FirstEnergy plants in Ontario, Canada, > > began supplying energy to the underpowered Michigan market, which > > then led to overload on those transmission lines. This movement of > > power in Canada deprived New York of power it had relied on, which > > led to the blackouts there. > > > > FirstEnergy may have triggered the crisis, but there is no talk of > > them paying the price. Instead it will be the US taxpayer who will > > stump up the cash to pay to overhaul the transmission system, even > > though it will be companies like FirstEnergy who will benefit. > > > > Although FirstEnergy are seen as the immediate villains, it is > > deregulation that is ultimately to blame. The US transmission > system > > was never designed to shift large amounts of electricity across the > > continent, to satisfy the 'free market'. In the past the utilities > > were obliged to invest in the infrastructure, now they 'invest' in > > the purchase of overseas companies. US companies own British > > companies, French companies own British companies, the National > Grid > > owns the New York system that went down. Money that should be > > ploughed back into the electricity system is going instead on > > building global companies. > > > > Deregulation has been likened by investigative journalist Greg > Palast > > to a 'committee of bank robbers figuring out how to make > safecracking > > legal'. > > > > Under GATS, as the utilities cast their predatory eye on Third > World > > markets, it can only get worse. In Brazil, Houston Industries > seized > > ownership of Rio de Janeiro's electric company. Bush's buddies > fired > > workers, raised prices, cut maintenance. Blackouts occurred so > often > > the locals called it Rio Dark. > > > > In 1952, a Blue Ribbon report to Harry Truman predicted that the > > future of America's energy rested with the sun. It predicted 13 > > million solar-powered homes by 1975, and the promise of > > decentralized, off-grid self-sufficiency. > > > > Instead, Dwight Eisenhower embarked on the Peaceful Atom. A > trillion > > dollars programme that has left us with crashing grids and > dangerous > > nukes that are vulnerable to terrorism and must shut down precisely > > when they're most needed, as they did during this latest blackout. > > > > Jimmy Carter, frightened by the OPEC severing of Middle East oil, > > pushed a massive solar energy and energy saving programme, only for > > it to be immediately abandoned when Reagan took office. > > > > In the mid 1990s, there was proposed for California a 600-megawatt > > network of solar, wind and other renewable generators that would > have > > entirely prevented the fake deregulatory crisis of 2000-1. It was > > approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, but then > > killed by Southern California Edison and the Federal Energy > > Regulatory Commission. > > > > Of course, all energy supply systems have costs, if we mean > > environmental and social costs, not just monetary costs. As a rough > > rule of thumb, costs are determined by size. The larger the scale > the > > greater the cost, and the larger the mismatch between supply and > > demand. The classic example would be a nuclear reactor with a core > > plasma temperature equivalent to the heart of a star, supplying > > heating via electricity to raise the ambient temperature by a few > > degrees. But our needs for electricity or, for that matter, energy, > > are widely distributed - usually low power, and local. It is needed > > in some applications, eg medical equipment, telecoms, computing, > but > > not in others, eg space heating (if a district heating system went > > down for a few hours we would probably not notice, and if we did we > > could put on extra clothing or turn on alternative heating). > > > > We should therefore be looking at localising the grid, making areas > > self-sufficient, so the grid is then only used to correct minor > > imbalances, not as a major transmission conduit. > > > > The University of East Anglia (UEA), is to build two wind turbines, > > which will generate more than enough power for the whole campus, > with > > the surplus being sold back to the National Grid. A turbine at > Cassop > > Primary School in County Durham has been in operation since 1999 > and > > provides twice the school's electricity, with surplus going back to > > the Grid. Catchgate School in County Durham powers itself > completely > > with its own turbine. Large scale wind turbine farms are unsightly, > > noisy and dangerous to birdlife. Why despoil our few remaining wild > > spaces? The large amounts of capital required makes us dependent on > > big business. We should tap into natural energy flows, divert a > small > > amount for our needs, and allow the remainder to flow on past. The > > classic example would be the pre-industrial miller diverting part > of > > a stream. He has little impact on the eco-system. Our energy needs > > are low power and widely distributed. Natural energy flows are low > > power and widely distributed. If we need space heating then design > > our buildings to tap light from the sun, not build a dangerous > > nuclear reactor and connect it to our house by a fragile grid. Our > > dependence on a fragile grid is not only the electricity grid. It > is > > the fragile supply lines stretching halfway around the world, > > vulnerable to natural disasters and terrorist attack. Do we really > > need the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline stretching from the Caspian through > > Turkish occupied Kurdistan or the OCP (Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados) > > pipeline running through Amazonian Ecuador? A criticism of local > > generation is that it is not 100% reliable, demand is not matched > to > > supply. True, but we then use the grid to make up the difference. > > > > A hard, brittle energy system is dependent on, nourished by and > > embedded in, a hard political system - corrupt, unrepresentative > > elites, there to do the bidding of big business. A localised, > > community-based, self -sufficient soft energy system depends on the > > active support of, and active participation of, the local community. > > > > The blackouts in North America and London and the southeast show > how > > vulnerable we are to equipment failure, system overload or > terrorist > > attack. Indeed, in both New York and London the reaction on the > > street was that it was a terrorist attack. The irony is that we > spend > > billions of dollars on attacking Iraq, impose Draconian security > and > > civil rights clampdowns in the name of homeland security, and yet > do > > nothing about our decrepit power supply systems either in terms of > > system upgrades, redundancy, regulation or diversity of supply. > > > > Environmental campaigner Keith Parkins has a Masters Degree in > System > > Science. A regular contributor to Indymedia, he has written in the > > past for Corporate Watch and Red Pepper. He is currently working on > a > > manifesto for the new revolution. > > > > Web: http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------ Yahoo! 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