The Coming Dark Age [Fritzworth]

Robert Vacca wrote his work The Coming Dark Age back in the eco-70s. His basic premise was that our technological and logistical infrastructure was becoming so complex and inter-dependent that a major failure somewhere would trigger a domino effect, causing civilization to grind to a halt. Vacca underestimated the ability of complex systems -- particularly those with humans involved -- to adapt and work around failures.

But now we face blackouts that are intended, all in the name of "renewable energy". This from England:

Electricity consumers in the UK will need to get used to flicking the switch and finding the power unavailable, according to Steve Holliday, CEO of National Grid, the country’s grid operator. Because of a six-fold increase in wind generation, which won’t be available when the wind doesn’t blow, “The grid is going to be a very different system in 2020, 2030,” he told BBC’s Radio 4. “We keep thinking that we want it to be there and provide power when we need it. It’s going to be much smarter than that.

“We are going to change our own behaviour and consume it when it is available and available cheaply.”

Holliday has for several years been predicting that blackouts could become a feature of power systems that replace reliable coal plants with wind turbines in order to meet greenhouse gas targets. Wind-based power systems are necessary to meet the government’s targets, he has explained, but they will require lifestyle changes.

Under the so-called “smart grid” that the UK is developing, the government-regulated utility will be able to decide when and where power should be delivered, to ensure that it meets the highest social purpose. Governments may, for example, decide that the needs of key industries take precedence over others, or that the needs of industry trump that of residential consumers. Governments would also be able to price power prohibitively if it is used for non-essential purposes.

The sheer idiocy here is breathtaking, as well as the rampant opportunities for abuse, corruption, and social engineering (but I repeat myself). To see a 21st Century world power deliberately embrace aspects of a third-world lifestyle boggles the mind. Let this be a lesson to us all. Hat tip to Climate Depot. ..fritz..

[Cross-posted from And Still I Persist]

posted by Open Blogger at 03:45 PM

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