I wonder what would happen if...
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...as part of Earth Hour 2009, everyone shut their stuff off at the exactly same time. 3...2...1 OFF! I wonder what the sudden removal of load would do to a power grid... I wonder if one could coordinate an event of that magnitude. Anyone? Roger Wright seems to have a power centric background.. perhaps we can get some interesting feedback from him?
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...as part of Earth Hour 2009, everyone shut their stuff off at the exactly same time. 3...2...1 OFF! I wonder what the sudden removal of load would do to a power grid... I wonder if one could coordinate an event of that magnitude. Anyone? Roger Wright seems to have a power centric background.. perhaps we can get some interesting feedback from him?
would be comical to be at that sub station.... nneeer.... worker." huh well that was strange, cali just went dark for no reason, systems working.." that's my bored mind at work....
///////////////// Thus spake the master programmer: ``A well-written program is its own heaven; a poorly-written program is its own hell.''
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would be comical to be at that sub station.... nneeer.... worker." huh well that was strange, cali just went dark for no reason, systems working.." that's my bored mind at work....
///////////////// Thus spake the master programmer: ``A well-written program is its own heaven; a poorly-written program is its own hell.''
I was more concerned about a very sudden and large lowering of load on a system. I wonder if there would be a sudden backup (reverse inrush) of excess power being served and if that would cause any issues. I would have to think that the grid could handle it to some point just because things like that on a smaller scale happen when a line goes down, but an entire small city I think could cause an issue.
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...as part of Earth Hour 2009, everyone shut their stuff off at the exactly same time. 3...2...1 OFF! I wonder what the sudden removal of load would do to a power grid... I wonder if one could coordinate an event of that magnitude. Anyone? Roger Wright seems to have a power centric background.. perhaps we can get some interesting feedback from him?
I think there would be a global sigh of relief from all of the power plants along with a gnashing of teeth by the owners of the plants (for not making a profit in that hour)
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...as part of Earth Hour 2009, everyone shut their stuff off at the exactly same time. 3...2...1 OFF! I wonder what the sudden removal of load would do to a power grid... I wonder if one could coordinate an event of that magnitude. Anyone? Roger Wright seems to have a power centric background.. perhaps we can get some interesting feedback from him?
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I think there would be a global sigh of relief from all of the power plants along with a gnashing of teeth by the owners of the plants (for not making a profit in that hour)
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The real issue is the other way around. What if everyone turns on their lights at the exact same time after Earth hour?
modified on Thursday, March 26, 2009 3:30 PM
A Wong wrote:
What if everyone turns on their lights at the exact same time
I reckon there would be a great deal of fizzing, popping, sparking and minor explosions at sub/power stations, worldwide.
Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.”
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The real issue is the other way around. What if everyone turns on their lights at the exact same time after Earth hour?
modified on Thursday, March 26, 2009 3:30 PM
I'm sure the power companies would get wind of that and implement pre-emptive brownouts :doh:
Steve _________________ I C(++) therefore I am
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The real issue is the other way around. What if everyone turns on their lights at the exact same time after Earth hour?
modified on Thursday, March 26, 2009 3:30 PM
Nothing apart of the fact that the sun should start wearing sunglasses...
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...as part of Earth Hour 2009, everyone shut their stuff off at the exactly same time. 3...2...1 OFF! I wonder what the sudden removal of load would do to a power grid... I wonder if one could coordinate an event of that magnitude. Anyone? Roger Wright seems to have a power centric background.. perhaps we can get some interesting feedback from him?
Yesterday, I saw a video (AD of earthhour.org) on metacafe.com where an astronaut is looking from the space station and suddenly all the lights goes off. And he says: "Houston you got a problem." :-D (sorry cant post that link from work)
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...as part of Earth Hour 2009, everyone shut their stuff off at the exactly same time. 3...2...1 OFF! I wonder what the sudden removal of load would do to a power grid... I wonder if one could coordinate an event of that magnitude. Anyone? Roger Wright seems to have a power centric background.. perhaps we can get some interesting feedback from him?
It could get interesting. After all, the electrons hurtling down the wires do have mass, and thus momentum. If the loads are shut off they can't stop instantly. If you don't have all the unused outlets in the house capped with those little plastic safety plugs the surge will most likely spill gazillions of the little buggers on the carpet, creating the worst outbreak of static discharges from fingers to doorknobs the world has ever recorded. This could even be fatal for anyone who likes wearing fuzzy slippers. If the power remains off for more than a few minutes, the cold load pickup will create havoc as generators trip out when the surge caused by refrigerators and air conditioners starting up again hits them, and breakers trip from the overcurrent. A "blackstart" event has to be carefully coordinated to minimize the disruption, and an unplanned restart can be disastrous. This sort of event can lead to a ripple of outages over a wide area, and can potentially last for days. I'd stock up on batteries and canned food. Don't forget the can opener (the manual kind) and keep your gun handy. Looters will be everywhere, and they're hard to see in the dark.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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Yesterday, I saw a video (AD of earthhour.org) on metacafe.com where an astronaut is looking from the space station and suddenly all the lights goes off. And he says: "Houston you got a problem." :-D (sorry cant post that link from work)