The not so smart grid

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The, in the beginning of September 2013 broadcast, pilot of the Channel 4 series (?) “BLACKOUT” shows how vulnerable our electricity grid is and smart is not the word that I would use to describe it. Stupid would be more adept here.

It would not even require a (sophisticated) cyber attack to cripple the grid. All it needs is a solar flare of the right magnitude or the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from an asteroid (or meteorite) exploding in the atmosphere. But still the powers-that-be want to make the grid “smarter” still. Sorry, I should really turn off my sarcasm but...

Instead of an ever more “sophisticated” electricity supply grid we must decentralize power generating and distribution down to a local level again – and not just as regards to electricity.

The national supply grid – especially with the reliance on computer control – is highly vulnerable to cyber attacks and to EMP. In fact, an EMP blast, whether from a solar flare of the right magnitude or other source, could cripple all the developed countries' electricity supply and could destroy the entire infrastructure.

We have become too reliant on so-called “smart” technology which is not smart at that smart at all; the technology and our reliance and dependence on it.

It is not a question “if technology fails” but rather “when” and when it happens we are all going to end up up the proverbial watercourse without a paddle.

As (almost) everything is dependent on electrical power when a collapse of the “smart” grid occurs – as it sooner or later will – we are all screwed. Everything will be affected by it; gas supply, water supply, and much, much more.

Smart grid and smart meters are not so much intended to make things easier; they are all designed as a way of control over the population. It has absolutely nothing to do with improving energy delivery or efficiency.

Smart meters are capable to monitor the energy use of every home and if a home, according to the powers-that-be, deemed to use too much power they can and will cut off the supply, for a a short time or for even longer.

It is also for this reason the of-grid energy independence is not being pushed, especially not as to households first and foremost keeping as much as energy as possible generated by themselves by means PVs and small wind, etc. People are always encouraged – pushed would be a better term here – towards feeding the electricity generated directly into the grid.

Only a decentralization of the generating of electrical power can give us security in this respect. Small is beautiful also and especially applies in this case and that is why the author of the book by that title, Fritz Schumacher, also advocated this.

With using renewables such as PVs (on every roof) and small wind also, and storing the generated energy in battery banks every home and building could be self-sufficient as far as electricity goes. Even more so if (1) we changed the current and the voltage that we use and (2) by using less on electricity.

Most of our devices and appliances, today, do not need mains voltage of the 240 V AC 50 Hz (110 V AC 60 Hz in the USA). They use transformers, in fact, to change that high voltage – and it is a very wasteful process – down to low voltage DC, in the region of 12 V or even lower and 12 V DC is the general output power (13.5 V DC nominal, in fact. The same voltage as that of a ordinary motorcar) of domestic PVs and small wind. Thus a lighting a lower power circuit could be created in buildings as only some of the so-called “white goods” require mains voltage. There are, however, fridges and freezers, designed for the caravaning and boating sector, that work directly from 12 V DC. So, there is no excuse.

But this, as so many other self-reliant steps, scare the bejesus out of the power-that-be as it would mean that they and their cronies in the respective industries would no longer have power – in some aspects at least – over the people and will go to any length to block any such attempts.

Only, however, if and when power generating is decentralized, ideally to the house and block level, will the problem that could be caused to the grid, as we know it, be mitigated and even averted. Time for a rethink, as in so many other ways and cases.

© 2013

When the infrastructure fails

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

When not if the infrastructure – the one that we have so much gotten used to and which runs (almost) everything and upon which we depend for almost everything nowadays – breaks down (irreparably) in the event of a crisis or collapse of society we will all be up the proverbial creek without a paddle unless we prepare and learn how to do without it.

Because of our reliance, or should I better say over-reliance, on computer control of every section and sector of our vital infrastructure, from energy supply to water and everything else (almost) disruption and total breakdown of it it is not a question of if but when. Sooner or later it is going to happen and it does not just need a hostile cyber attack or an EMP blast from some sort of device. A solar flare or a solar storm of the right magnitude or the atmospheric explosion of an asteroid or such body could be enough to do it.

Depending on the extent of the EMP (electromagnetic pulse) generated and strength such an outage could be “just” restricted to a small area or it could affect an entire country, several countries, or an even much greater area.

It would, however, appear that not a single country is taking, or has been taken, adequate steps to “harden” its vulnerable critical and vital infrastructure and, to some extent, it would also appear that that is, in fact, not really possible or, at least, not an easy task at all.

Not only will our energy and water supply be affected if the outage is caused by EMP but also the telephone system including and especially cell phones, our (modern) cars and trucks, the Internet and even our PCs and other devices. Not just will the service fail; any such blast will “fry” the circuitry in our computerized cars and trucks and in our devices, whether they are on or not.

Some of those circuits literally may and will end up “fried”, including in the computers running our vital infrastructure. Distribution of food and fuel to supermarkets and forecourts also depends on computerized systems as both are ordered on an “as need” basis.

Stores, especially food stores, in general, do not have more than two days of supply and then the power goes out through an EMP strike they, even then, simply will remain closed. The doors and everything else depends on power.

It is time, high time in fact, that we rethought our use of technology and our over-reliance and over-dependence on it.

No, I am no Luddite, but leaving the control of everything almost that is necessary for our daily lives in the hands – proverbially speaking – of machines, is a recipe for disaster. Most of the infrastructure cannot even be controlled manually by human hands anymore today, unlike decades ago when there were manual overrides and people could take control of everything again (just in case). Manual controls need to be brought back into use again and we must learn to depend less on computer control and revert back to human control of things.

We have become, in all things, far too reliant and dependent on technology for everything and even the slightest failure can and will have devastating consequences. There is nothing wrong with technology per se. it is our over-reliance and over-dependence on it that is the problem. Therefore it is imperative that we got away from our reliance and dependence on it and went back to better, more reliable, ways.

© 2013

Massive solar flare sparks solar storm; possible threat to power grid, computers

Disruptions to power grids, satellite navigation systems and computer systems feared

By Michael Smith (Veshengro)

On June 7, 2011 the US Space Administration (NASA) registered the strongest solar storm since 2006 and it is feared that it could affect systems on Earth.

The most benign effect assumed will be increases aurora activities, that is to say it should be possible to witness awesome polar lights.

Other effects, on the other hand, which would be far from benign, could be damage to satellites, interruptions and other problems by the transmission of satellite communication and data, such as GPS, because of an increased mass of electrons in the ionosphere. Disruptions to power- and communications networks through induction are also possible.

While this event was bad enough, so to speak, space-weather experts are concerned about future solar events.

The sun's 11-year cycle of activity, driven by tangled surface magnetic fields, will hit its maximum in late 2013 or early 2014. Magnetic messiness will peak around that time and prompt nasty solar storms.

We will, however, probably see [extreme] flares every couple of months instead of years and if one of these powerful flares – and its coronal mass ejection – faces Earth, the particles will pound satellite components with charged particles, short some out, and potentially cripple them.

On the planet's surface, extra currents of solar particles drive extra electric current through power lines and heat them up. A solar storm in 1859, for example, caused telegraph lines to burst into flames. Power companies distribute loads to avoid such a disaster, but energetic solar storms could still blow transformers and lead to power outages, especially during heat waves like the one sweeping the eastern U.S. this week.

"Despite great countermeasures, the power grid is still vulnerable and we could be in for some serious problems, and not just, as if this were not bad enough, as regards the power grid. Communications, which today more often than not rely on satellites also could be severely crippled and impossible for days, if not longer.

This also could seriously effect and impact on aviation and maritime traffic as all communications, nowadays, are dependent on satellites, as does the navigational systems of aircraft and ships.

Yet another proof, if any more proof would be needed, that we have become too reliant and dependent on vulnerable high-tech equipment which could be put out of action by electromagnetic pulse and fields.

Individual computer centers could be secured by use of a Faraday cage and the same could, probably, be achieved for the PC at home, but the problem is that the Internet, the system of communication that we have become so dependent upon, and that includes me, as I am no Luddite, can and will suffer under such “attacks.”

So far, as time of writing, several days after the event on the sun, nothing awful seems to have happened so far but, as some scientists stated, it could be several days before the impact could be felt with all power.

This may, on the other hand, just be a “shot across the bow” and should be used as a wakeup call to harden our critical infrastructure systems and the Net is part of that critical infrastructure.

© 2011