By: Amanda Torres
BLACKOUTS:What causes them
and how to reduce…
Energy is the main source that keeps
this world alive. When energy blows out
it causes blackouts and brownouts. A
blackout is the total loss of electric
power supplied by the electric company.
A brownout is a temporary reduction of
voltage supplied by the electric
company.
Now here is a little history on these
outages. About every four months, the
United States experiences a blackout
large enough to darken half a million
homes. The United States still have not
ended blackouts…
nor even reduced
their frequency.
It was said by experts that blackouts
are due to human error. The blame was
on operators in the two central centers
and singling out individuals for the
Summer 2004 blackout.
In this case a plant operator pushed one
generator near Cleveland too hard,
exceeding its limits and ending in an
automatic shutdown at 1:31 p.m. that
summer afternoon. With the generator
…over transmission
lose, power flowed
lines to fill the need in Cleveland. The
utility failed to consider the seriousness
of the situation, because it did not
perform an analysis after the loss of the
plant to see if another failure would
lead to serious trouble.
# of people affected by blackouts
in major cities
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
li(
De
c1
99
4)
Ca
97
7)
NY
(j u
ly1
7)
19
7
M
ia(
ma
y
Pa
,N
j ,M
d(
ju
n
e1
9
67
)
# ppl (mill)
Gas & Electric
HOW TO REDUCE????
To reduce the risks of blackouts we need to
improve the engineering state. These include
ways to control exactly where power flows
through the lines, electrical strains on systems
when a consumer turns up a large motor, and
direct current transmission lines. Generating
electricity in small plants located close to
consumers, rather than in large central
generation plants will help reduce these
blackouts.
LINES
Better Transmission Lines!!
• However, fixing the way
that power is moved could
cut the chance of another
widespread electrical
failure. The economy
needs to build better
transmission lines and
protect them from chainreaction outages that can
blackout cities one after
another.
Superconductivity!!!!!
A new technology known as "superconductivity" cable has
been proposed to fix the problem. This nitrogen-cooled
transmission line, now under development, could carry up to
25 times more electricity than today's standard copper cable
can. That means it could absorb power surges and other
assaults, natural and manmade, without failing. Industry
consultant Eric Hirst estimates that at least $56 billion will
have to be spent in the next decade just to maintain
"adequacy" in the nation's 157,000 miles of high-voltage
transmission lines. These new devices would help create a
smart, self-healing power system if they were put in.
$$$$$$$$$!!!!
•
There are too many
warnings for these types
of problems. The
nation's more than 3,100
electric utilities operate
10,000 power plants,
plus transmission lines
and distribution
facilities. Together, they
are worth an estimated
$800 billion. The nation's
combined yearly electric
bill, paid by 131 million
households and
businesses, totals $247
billion.
We need electricity!!!!!!
•
The world cannot live without
electricity that is for sure. We run on
electricity. American offices and
factories had also been transformed
by electricity. Elevators, lights, air
conditioners, typewriters, adding
machines, and even the budding
computer industry all demanded
electricity. Manufacturing facilities
relied more and more on electricity to
increase production. And by the
1960s, engineers and architects began
sealing off building from the
outdoors, constructing mechanical
environments are controlled by
electric power.
Who is helping??
Regional coordinating councils such
as the Northeast Reliability Council
(NERC) and power pools such as the
New York Power Pool (NYPP) were
formed to develop forms of
equipment testing and equipment to
reserve generation capacity for
energy, as well as coming up with
measures to prevent these types of
incidents, so that a similar failure
would not happen again.
What can WE do???
•
We Americans learned a lot from
blackouts. It forced Americans to
reconsider their dependence on
electricity. New Yorkers learned to
keep batches of candles, batteries,
flashlights and transistor radios
close at hand. The electric utility
industry also learned to plan for
the unexpected. We are not sure if
we are ready for another blackout
again, it is up to the economy to
decide. WE just have to preserve
energy by turning off lights and
AC’s, TV’s, appliances, pc’s when
not in use. Basically anything that
has to do with electricity.
THE END!!!!
SO BE AWARE WHEN
WE USE
ELECTRICITY AND
THE WORLD WILL
BE A BETTER AND
SAFE PLACE!!!
References:
1. http://blackout.gmu.edu/events/tl1965.html
2. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-0817-power-cover_x.htm
3. http://mises.org/story/2264
4. http://www.issues.org/20.4.apt.html
5. http://demo.apogee.net/kids2/gloss.asp