Complexity Digest 2003.33 - 01.05

18-Aug-2003

We're All on the Grid Together, NYTimes Bookmark and Share

Excerpts: The magnitude of the blackout is rooted in an often ignored aspect of our globalized world: vulnerability due to interconnectivity. (...) In the early days of electricity, all power was produced locally.(...) Local generators had to satisfy the peak demands of hot summer nights, when everything from air-conditioners to televisions run full power. That means that the generators were idle most of the time outside of peak hours.(...) . The current power grid linked up formerly isolated systems with enough wire to stretch to the moon and back. Editor's Note: The German system has switched to de-centralized power (co-) generation and experts declared that such a large scale power outage would be impossible in Germany.