In our modern age, the electric grid is the mother of all networks. Without electricity, advanced forms of transportation and communications virtually grind to a halt and nearly all digital and electronic devices are rendered practically useless. When the grid goes down, we lose conveniences like air conditioning, lighting, and other amenities that we often take for granted.
Several days ago, Spain, Portugal, and parts of France and Belgium lost power for an extended period of time, demonstrating just how devastating a total grid collapse can be to our modern way of life.
During this colossal blackout, the largest that Europe has ever experienced, more than 50 million people were left without electricity. Traffic signals did not work, creating utter chaos on the roadways. Subway systems couldn’t function, leaving people stranded far from home. Stores and businesses closed, as payments were limited to cash only. Mobile phone service was spotty, at best. Even some hospitals and medical facilities, which generally have backup generators, were left without power.
As of now, it seems that the sudden, system-wide grid collapse was caused by a malfunction at two solar power plants in southwest Spain.
Spain, like many other nations in Europe, relies heavily on renewable energy sources like solar and wind for a large share of its power production.
The problem with this is that these energy sources are inherently intermittent. The sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow. Therefore, these sources are much more susceptible to power disruptions.
For those interested in reading an in-depth analysis of the specific “causes, consequences, and challenges ahead” vis-à-vis the Spanish and Portuguese blackout, the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University recently produced an excellent comprehensive report.
Now, you may be thinking that enormous, system-wide blackouts could never occur in the United States, the most prosperous nation in human history. That is not only naïve, but dangerous.
As the American Energy Alliance notes, “power outages have increased by 93 percent across the United States over the last 5 years — a time when solar and wind power have increased by 60 percent. Texas, who leads the nation in wind generation, and California, who leads the nation in solar generation, have had the largest number of power outages in the nation over those 5 years.”
Unbeknownst to many Americans, the federal government, in cahoots with state and local governments, has pushed electricity grid operators to build more solar and wind power facilities instead of dependable natural gas plants while prematurely shuttering perfectly operable coal power plants. As is almost always the case, government subsidies, loan guarantees, and tax breaks have created a skewed market in which utility companies are incentivized to build more solar and wind power plants instead of dependable and affordable coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants.
Due to this short-sighted money grab, the long-term reliability of the U.S. grid is being put in peril.
Additionally, it must be noted that we are on the cusp of yet another technological revolution that will require more electricity than anything ever before. Emerging technologies like AI and quantum computing will need abundant, dependable, and affordable energy. Giant data processing centers, too, will necessitate a huge amount of power for years to come.
Given that the United States is obviously the best nation to lead the world into this new technological frontier, as opposed to China or Russia, we must be forward thinking and ensure that we have a reliable grid.
Many years ago, I read a book titled Anti-fragile. Things that Gain from Disorder, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. In the book, Taleb describes how systems that are “anti-fragile” thrive under chaos and adversity because they are robust. He uses the example of the multi-headed hydra in Greek mythology to demonstrate the point. When one head is cut off, two grow back in its place.
The electric grid should operate under the principle of anti-fragility. It should always have constant baseload power available, supplied by coal, natural gas, and nuclear.
Chris Talgo (ctalgo@heartland.org) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.
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Image: Dan Nguyen
This article was originally published at www.americanthinker.com
