Once again a storm shows the weakness of modern energy systems. On an ordinary day in Georgia, hundreds of customers are without power because of accidents. At this moment, 258,727 customers are without power because of the hurricane, and it hasn't even hit the state yet. See:
http://outagemap.georgiapower.com/external/default.html# Small cold fusion generators would eliminate this problem. The generators themselves would fail from time to time, but probably not any more often than refrigerators are HVAC equipment does. In my experience, that happens less often than power failures lasting 1 hour or longer. I am ready for a power failure. I now have a 2 kW inverter which I attach to the starter battery in a Prius. That is located inside, under the deck, where the spare tire is kept, so it stays dry in the rain. I can then leave the motor on. It only runs when the battery drains. 2 kW is enough to run a modern refrigerator and lights. Or a pump to drain water under the house, but I don't think I can run both at the same time. I wish I had a 4 kW inverter but I don't think you can attach that to an ordinary car battery. - Jed
