Power Grid Threatened by Solar Plasma Burst

[Safiel]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20127001.300-space-storm-alert-90-seconds-from-catastrophe.html?full=true

The gist of this article is that a blast of plasma from the sun <technically a coronal mass ejection> might hit the earth's magnetic field. Such a large mass of plasma interacting with the magnetic field would cause a sudden massive flow of DC current in the worldwide electrical grid which would blow out many transformers and cause an extended failure of the electrical grid.

Does this sound like a plausible scenario to you all?

If it is a plausible scenario, are there any fixes that would not require a virtual reconstruction of the power grid?

I put this in Washington Politics as this report is courtesy of NASA and National Academy of Science. As we know, their analysis of global climate change left much to be desired. I wonder if they have done any better this time.

[Hellsbane]

Its old news. Such ejections in the past have wrecked havoc on communications. No reason why an ejection, of sufficient magnitude, wouldn't have an EMP effect on the power grid.

[tguns]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20127001.300-space-storm-alert-90-seconds-from-catastrophe.html?full=true

The gist of this article is that a blast of plasma from the sun <technically a coronal mass ejection> might hit the earth's magnetic field. Such a large mass of plasma interacting with the magnetic field would cause a sudden massive flow of DC current in the worldwide electrical grid which would blow out many transformers and cause an extended failure of the electrical grid.

Does this sound like a plausible scenario to you all?

If it is a plausible scenario, are there any fixes that would not require a virtual reconstruction of the power grid?

I put this in Washington Politics as this report is courtesy of NASA and National Academy of Science. As we know, their analysis of global climate change left much to be desired. I wonder if they have done any better this time.

Yes, plausible.
No, there are NO fixes cheap or otherwise.
Will it happen, more then likely on a much smaller scale.......as it does every so often.

[shannytown]

This is all a bunch of bull.
My husband works for a company and they are already working on a smart grid (he is in R&D) that not only takes care of this problem by using individual cell relays from the utility boxes on your house (smart boxes) so that if a power surge comes on it will shut down automatically until the danger has passed and reboot on it's own. They are already being used ind Houston, TX. Los Angeles, CA as prototypes are being developed. Did you know 80% of the energy we use right now is wasted because we can't control how fast it is released or exactly where it goes? These new boxes will solve all that and more.
It's just another lame atempt by the paranoid left to claim the sky is falling, the sky is falling!

[tguns]

This is all a bunch of bull.
My husband works for a company and they are already working on a smart grid (he is in R&D) that not only takes care of this problem by using individual cell relays from the utility boxes on your house (smart boxes) so that if a power surge comes on it will shut down automatically until the danger has passed and reboot on it's own. They are already being used ind Houston, TX. Los Angeles, CA as prototypes are being developed. Did you know 80% of the energy we use right now is wasted because we can't control how fast it is released or exactly where it goes? These new boxes will solve all that and more.
It's just another lame atempt by the paranoid left to claim the sky is falling, the sky is falling!

What?

[CrusaderFrank]

A really big Big BIG solar flame might even cause more damage than the Obama Administration!

[tguns]

A really big Big BIG solar flame might even cause more damage than the Obama Administration!

Doubtfull.

[CrusaderFrank]

Doubtfull.

I'm talking about one big enough to blow the atmosphere away like what happened on Mars.

If it does come, I'm going to spend half of our remaining time laughing my ass off at Libruls and the other half crying.

[tguns]

I'm talking about one big enough to blow the atmosphere away like what happened on Mars.

If it does come, I'm going to spend half of our remaining time laughing my ass off at Libruls and the her half crying.

The sun can go supper nova and wipe out the entire solar system, but I still think that clown in the White House could figure out a way to do more damage.

[shannytown]

What?
It's science but not rocket science..it will save energy and keep power surges from being able to affect the energy grid.

[Patranus]

Yes, plausible.
No, there are NO fixes cheap or otherwise.
Will it happen, more then likely on a much smaller scale.......as it does every so often.


Will that stop government from over reacting and spending a tone of money?

[shannytown]

Will that stop government from over reacting and spending a tone of money?
Are you kidding..they have to take advantage of a good crisis!

[tguns]

It's science but not rocket science..it will save energy and keep power surges from being able to affect the energy grid.

I'm not seeing how something placed on a service entrance can do either.

[shannytown]

I'm not seeing how something placed on a service entrance can do either.
It stops power surges (not the kind that will wipe us all out).
The left is just making a mountain out of a mole hill. To get the real story you need to read the article by the New Scientist magazine referred to in the opening OP.
It doesn't say it will destroy earth..it says we will lose power and it will last for MONTHS maybe even YEARS..which is a bunch of BS

[Flyboy84]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20127001.300-space-storm-alert-90-seconds-from-catastrophe.html?full=true

The gist of this article is that a blast of plasma from the sun <technically a coronal mass ejection> might hit the earth's magnetic field. Such a large mass of plasma interacting with the magnetic field would cause a sudden massive flow of DC current in the worldwide electrical grid which would blow out many transformers and cause an extended failure of the electrical grid.

Does this sound like a plausible scenario to you all?

If it is a plausible scenario, are there any fixes that would not require a virtual reconstruction of the power grid?

I put this in Washington Politics as this report is courtesy of NASA and National Academy of Science. As we know, their analysis of global climate change left much to be desired. I wonder if they have done any better this time.

This just in... A giant meteor is heading directly to your house and will destroy everything and everyone you know and love. The sky is falling, what ever shall we do?

But wait, we have hope. According to an international effort by some partisan hacks in the media, a few scientist who will lose thier government funding if they don't sign on with our solution, and a UN panel of experts who are actually nothing more than a few europoean socialists with some intelligent sounding accents, we can all be saved if we all act irrationally and don't question anything they say.

That's right, the world can be saved if we only surrender all our wealth, jobs, personal property, our God given rights and submit to a world of poverty and despotism ruled by a few tyranical dictators.

What the hell are you waiting for America, destruction is at hand. The world may end at any moment, or possibly in the next two centuries... but that is besides the point. We must act now!!!

[Flyboy84]

This just in... A giant meteor is heading directly to your house and will destroy everything and everyone you know and love. The sky is falling, what ever shall we do?

But wait, we have hope. According to an international effort by some partisan hacks in the media, a few scientist who will lose thier government funding if they don't sign on with our solution, and a UN panel of experts who are actually nothing more than a few europoean socialists with some intelligent sounding accents, we can all be saved if we all act irrationally and don't question anything they say.

That's right, the world can be saved if we only surrender all our wealth, jobs, personal property, our God given rights and submit to a world of poverty and despotism ruled by a few tyranical dictators.

What the hell are you waiting for America, destruction is at hand. The world may end at any moment, or possibly in the next two centuries... but that is besides the point. We must act now!!!

Why are you not running around with your arms flailing ready to give in to global warming, I mean global meteor disaster. WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE... if you don't buy one of our meteor friendly cars. For only seven times the price of a normal car, it's a steal. Plus it has a built in Starbucks locator.

Hurry up America. Don't think, just vote liberal now!!!

What do you mean evidence of a meteor hurling to the Earth? What kind of evidence do you need? Look up at the sky. That thing that looks like the moon, that's a meteor and it will destroy us all. Stop asking questions and buy Al Gore's meteor credits or the ocean will rise 7 million meters and we will all drown right before we are vaporized by a giant meteor.

[Flyboy84]

Why are you not running around with your arms flailing ready to give in to global warming, I mean global meteor disaster. WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE... if you don't buy one of our meteor friendly cars. For only seven times the price of a normal car, it's a steal. Plus it has a built in Starbucks locator.

Hurry up America. Don't think, just vote liberal now!!!

What do you mean evidence of a meteor hurling to the Earth? What kind of evidence do you need? Look up at the sky. That thing that looks like the moon, that's a meteor and it will destroy us all. Stop asking questions and buy Al Gore's meteor credits or the ocean will rise 7 million meters and we will all drown right before we are vaporized by a giant meteor.

I am having way too much fun with this.

[MarkyS]

This is all a bunch of bull.
My husband works for a company and they are already working on a smart grid (he is in R&D) that not only takes care of this problem by using individual cell relays from the utility boxes on your house (smart boxes) so that if a power surge comes on it will shut down automatically until the danger has passed and reboot on it's own. They are already being used ind Houston, TX. Los Angeles, CA as prototypes are being developed. Did you know 80% of the energy we use right now is wasted because we can't control how fast it is released or exactly where it goes? These new boxes will solve all that and more. It's just another lame atempt by the paranoid left to claim the sky is falling, the sky is falling!

This is the part of smart grid that frightens me - the "and more" part. The and more is that they can reach into our homes and decide how much power we can use. Like your air conditioning? Well, if you use more than we want, we will turn it down for you, or charge you more to get it. Want to run your power saws? Okay, but only between the hours of 3:00 am and 5:00 am please, or we will know, and we will bump your bill accordingly.

I know, they're all saying that is not the intention, but they also all admit that it will be possible to ration your electricity, and in fact, that is the key element to smart grid - rationing where and when electricity will be used, and/or charging you more to use it when you want, instead of when they want.

M

[ConstitutionHugger]

the sad part is that if the $2 trillion in damages that are projected to occur if this happened would still be +$8 trillion savings over what Hussain is proposing to spend to "end this crisis"

[gdoane]

The thing that makes me skeptical that this is nothing but scaremongering by scientists to shake the D.C. money tree is where they put the hypothetical disaster. Of COURSE it would hit Washington D.C. because that's where the people with the money that the scientists want to scare are!

Realistically, it probably wouldn't even hit the United States. Figure that the Earth is 197 Million square miles (only 57 Million square miles is land and the rest water) and that the USA is 3.8 Million square miles, making the USA only 2% of the Earth's surface. The odds that the plasma storm would even hit the USA at all is only 1:50 and it's more likely to hit water than it is land anyway.

We'd have to be incredibly unlucky to get hit with anything like that.

[CaptainPike]

Maybe Obama will shut down power for the whole country. Bush had a machine that controlled the weather, so I'm thinking that Obama has a big red button that he can push to cut our power off.

He'll blame it on a plasma burst, and never turn our power back on. Instead, we'll build green energy alternatives, and live in tree houses and eat berries all day.

[ConstitutionHugger]

....
We'd have to be incredibly unlucky to get hit with anything like that.

Well we did get very unlucky in the last elections with BO and several of his lib cronies taking control, and the markets/economy tanking. Looks like we are on a streak of bad luck, Hopefully the bad luck will end soon.

I bet the light show would be awesome tho even if it comes nowhere near the US it should still be visible if i remember the article right.

[Ninjacorpse]

I'm talking about one big enough to blow the atmosphere away like what happened on Mars.

If it does come, I'm going to spend half of our remaining time laughing my ass off at Libruls and the other half crying.

I thought mars core cooled resulting in its electromagnetic field to cease or significantly weaken and that is what allowed solar winds too "blow away" its atmosphere?