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 lose, power flowed over transmission 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

0123456789

Pa,N

j,Md(

june

1967

)

Mia

(may

1977

)

NY

(jul

y197

7)

Cal

i(Dec

1994

)

# 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 chain-reaction 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/2003-08-17-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