power grid

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Do We Need to Protect Grid From Sunstorms?

Officials clash over whether to upgrade system

(Newser) - The peak in the 11-year cycle of solar flares happens next year, but electricity regulators have made little progress in deciding how much protection the power grid needs, the Wall Street Journal finds. They are reviewing records as far back as the 1859 "superstorm," the strongest solar storm...

Scientists Warn of 'Catastrophic' Solar Storm

1 in 8 chance of destructive megaflare by 2020

(Newser) - Prepare yourself for yet another potential disaster. Scientists are warning that we face a one-in-eight chance of a massive "catastrophic" solar storm by the year 2020. A colossal "megaflare" from the surface of the sun could cause trillions of dollars in damage to electrical systems, and could take...

Your Electric Bill Is Going Up

Utilities have to pay for needed upgrades: Daily Beast

(Newser) - The Daily Beast delivers some bad news after looking at the regulatory filings of utilities across the country: Electric rates are going up, and they won't be coming back down for a while. The problem is that the utilities have to make badly needed repairs to the nation's...

Huge Power Outage Hits California, Arizona

San Diego, parts of Mexico in the dark after grid failure

(Newser) - A massive power outage has left more than 1 million people in the dark in California, Arizona, and Mexico, reports AP . San Diego is especially hard hit. No definitive word yet on what triggered the problem about 4pm local time, but authorities made a point to rule out terrorism. "...

Obama Tags $3.4B for Smart Energy Grid

Plan will create tens of thousands of jobs and cheaper electricity

(Newser) - President Obama will roll out a plan to use $3.4 billion in stimulus funds to modernize the nation’s electrical grid today. The “smart grid” spending will go to private contractors, utilities, and municipal governments in grants of between $400,000 and $2 million. The administration expects $4....

Exercisers Boost Power Grid
 Exercisers Boost Power Grid 
May 18, 2009 6:20 AM CDT

Exercisers Boost Power Grid

Green tweak captures energy from popular gym equipment

(Newser) - Exercise buffs who hop on an elliptical machine for half an hour can power a laptop for an hour with the generated energy, thanks to a tweak made by a young Florida entrepreneur. The technique takes advantage of a generator already built into a popular model of the cross-trainers. About...

US Seeks 'Ethical Hackers' to Combat Cyber Threats

(Newser) - To combat the rising threat of attack on the nation’s computer networks, the US government is turning to the dark side for help, the AP reports. A call has gone out for so-called “ethical hackers” who “think like the bad guy” to work with Homeland Security to...

New Power Source Catches a Wave: Ocean Tides

(Newser) - In the search for renewable energy, Europe and the US are turning to one of the earth’s most abundant resources—the tides, Bloomberg reports. Technology developed three decades ago to turn tidal energy into electricity in developing countries is finally finding traction in the West. The largest grid-connected turbine,...

Google CEO: Energy Bailout Is a Must, Too

Adviser thinks Obama should open power grids, fund innovation

(Newser) - Google CEO Eric Schmidt thinks the government needs to fund a massive reinvention of America’s energy infrastructure, opening up the grid to startups and funding innovation, Information Week reports. It’s crucial “that small startups with funny names get founded and funded in the new regime,” said...

Gore: 5 Steps to Save Planet
 Gore: 5 Steps to Save Planet 

OPINION
Nov 9, 2008 12:11 PM CST

Gore: 5 Steps to Save Planet

Nobel laureate calls on Obama, new Congress to act now

(Newser) - The road to energy efficiency is paved with the same solutions needed to fix the economic crisis, Al Gore writes in a New York Times op-ed. Dismissing proposals for domestic drilling, the climate crusader says, “We simply cannot any longer base the strategy for human survival on a cynical...

Outdated Power Grid Blowing Wind Energy Hopes: Experts

Creaky infrastructure not able to deliver alternative energy to consumers

(Newser) - The nation's outdated and congested power grid is putting a damper on plans to expand renewable energy programs, the New York Times reports. Generating power from the wind and sun is becoming easier—but getting the power to consumers who live far from the country's windiest and sunniest places remains...

African Sun Could Power EU
  African Sun Could Power EU 
Jul 23, 2008 1:50 PM CDT

African Sun Could Power EU

Scientists propose African solar farms for Europe's power

(Newser) - All of the European continent’s electrical needs could be generated by massive solar farms in Africa, scientists posited today, unveiling a plan to do just that, the Guardian reports. The proposal, which would require an area the size of Wales—insignificant in the vast expanse of the Sahara Desert,...

GM, Utilities Join to Speed Plug-Ins

Three-dozen utilities agree to help integrate electric cars with their grids

(Newser) - General Motors and three dozen electric utilities in nearly 40 states have agreed to work together on the transition to plug-in electric vehicles that are expected to begin rolling out within 2 years, the Wall Street Journal reports. With GM’s Chevy Volt and Saturn Vue  expected to hit the...

Cybercrooks Hacking Power Grid
Cybercrooks Hacking Power Grid
Jan 20, 2008 8:38 AM CST

Cybercrooks Hacking Power Grid

In cities outside the US, hackers shut down grid for blackmail

(Newser) - Foreign extortionists have managed to hack into US power grids and shut them down, PC World reports, citing a CIA analyst speaking at a security conference this week. "In at least one case, the disruption caused a power outage affecting multiple cities. We do not know who executed these...

Feds Prepare for Cyberwar
Feds Prepare
for Cyberwar
Sep 27, 2007 7:57 AM CDT

Feds Prepare for Cyberwar

Attack by hackers, likely from China, could cut communications, power, banking

(Newser) - Readying for a new cyber doomsday in which Americans wake to find the power off, cell phones dead, and no access to cash, the Bush administration is considering creating an agency to protect critical public and private computers. Experts say that any attack, which would likely originate in China, would...

Iraq Electric Grid Seized by Militias
Iraq Electric Grid Seized
by Militias
Aug 23, 2007 11:31 AM CDT

Iraq Electric Grid Seized by Militias

Baghdad increasingly in darkness as armed bands horde power

(Newser) - Large swaths of Iraq's power grid have fallen under the control of armed militias, the New York Times reports. The balkanization of power stations worsens an already fragile situation in which insurgents blow up power lines and leave Baghdad without power at the height of a 110-degree summer.

Iraq's Power Grid Is Near Collapse
Iraq's Power Grid Is Near Collapse
Aug 4, 2007 7:01 PM CDT

Iraq's Power Grid Is Near Collapse

Insurgents target plants, and provinces are disconnecting from the system

(Newser) - Iraq’s power grid is teetering on the edge of collapse as insurgents destroy almost any attempt to restore power and the country’s fractured government is stalled, the AP reports. With enough power for only half of demand, there have been four nationwide blackouts in the last two days....

Booming India Is Starved for Power
Booming India Is
Starved for Power
May 21, 2007 8:35 AM CDT

Booming India Is Starved for Power

Chronic electricity shortages belie booming economy

(Newser) - India's economy is growing so fast it has outstripped its electrical capacity, leaving burgeoning businesses, industries and homes to generate their own power with soot-belching diesel-powered generators for hours every day. Half of India's populace has no connection to the grid at all, and new construction often goes up without...

Plug-In Has Power to Spare
Plug-In Has Power to Spare
Apr 10, 2007 12:22 PM CDT

Plug-In Has Power to Spare

Higher-Capacity Batteries Open PossibilitiesMay Make Motorists Into Energy Traders

(Newser) - A souped-up plug-in hybrid unveiled yesterday has excited talk of a future in which  cleaner-running cars are also profitable. With a new lithium-ion battery that can store up to nine kilowatt/hours of electricity, a hybrid owner could buy electricity at night, store it in the battery, and then sell it...

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