Right now, I think we are worse off than the dinosaurs, at least they knew how to scavenge. If we lose power for an extended period of time due to a natural disaster we are hosed.
On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 9:32 AM, Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com> wrote: > Things are a mess! No power at office yesterday morning, and the telephone > equipment was hit by lightning and is not functional. Many traffic lights > are off, so commuting is slow. > > See: > > http://outagemap.georgiapower.com/external/default.html > > > http://www.ajc.com/news/weather/forecasters-windy-morning-drive-but-diminished-cha/nfk3P/ > > As I have said, this illustrates the vulnerability of today's energy > systems. Both electricity and gasoline depend on infrastructures that are > easily disrupted. Natural gas is the least vulnerable because the > infrastructure is underground. > > Disruptions can come from second or third order events, such as at the > Fukushima reactor, where an earthquake caused a tsunami that destroyed the > backup generator fuel supplies. Years ago I read about nuke in California > that was shut down because a storm along the coastline stirred up the > ocean, which broke off kelp, which clogged the cooling water inlet. > > I hope that cold fusion and other future technology can make power, > telecom, and even transportation infrastructure less vulnerable to > disruption. I hope that indoor agriculture and in vitro meat production > will make food and water supplies with no link to natural conditions or > weather. Colonization of the moon or Mars would help that about, as Arthur > Clarke pointed out long ago. > > - Jed > >
