The French Blackout And The Byzantium Delusion - Energy Bulletin

[hatrack]

The American press probably hardly noticed but southern France has experienced a major blackout around Christmas and in my own region – Brittany - local authorities have urged people to reduce their power consumption, lest the whole regional grid catastrophically fail. The lights are still on in the small Breton village I am writing this from, but it is probably a matter of time before they go off. No matter what nuclear power fans say on the other side of the Atlantic, French power plants are not aging well. They need more maintenance, and this takes longer. To make things worse, EDF, the French national power company has outsourced most of said maintenance to independent contractors whose employees are less paid and less well treated than its own. The result has been a row of strikes, which paralyzed operations and forced EDF to delay maintenance until the end of the year.

France, which used to be a major power exporter has now become a net importer and since the grid is undersized, this is becoming a real problem for those of us who don't live near a power plant. In Brittany, where the population has refused – and is still refusing – nuclear power, this has become a major political subject – we are nearing a regional election, remember – and local politicians are pushing for the building of a gas power plant on the northern coast. Another – built in a low-lying coastal area - will be put on line in a few days, but everybody agrees it won't be enough and that we are only a cold day away from darkness.

There is more to this than the failure of a short-sighted energy policy, however. It is not unusual, indeed, to see France, and its all-nuclear policy, proposed as a model for a supposedly oil-addicted and oil-starved USA. It is also not unusual to see Europe considered as a kind of new Byzantium, set to survive, because of its sensible energy policy, a doomed America. Needless to say, this has nothing to do with the reality of the European situation. It is true that European economies are more energy efficient than the American one, but there are reasons for that. With the exception of the North Sea, European resources are long exhausted. France, the country I know best, has no oil, almost no uranium and gas, and as for its coal mines, they have all closed down. Moreover, its agriculture is heavily dependent upon fossil fuel... and European subsidies.

EDIT

This fascination with an Europe which is quite likely to collapse quicker and deeper than America, tells in fact more about the delusions of some activists than about the supposed advantages of the European model. Those who feel that the current system doesn't give them what they deserve – and those are often the same as those who wish it to collapse – often look away to some far away country – the farther the better, which, in their eyes, embodies all the virtues their homeland supposedly lacks.

Needless to say, it is not very conducive to community building, something which has to be done with local people holding local values shaped by a long local history. Projecting one's fantasies on some distant country which shares none of this and trying to impose them upon a local community which most likely wants nothing of it is the surest way to failure. Community building is about doing what has to be done here and now, not about dreaming about some fantasy Byzantium, which is nothing more then the projection of our failure to act.

EDIT/END

http://www.energybulletin.net/51208

[reggie the dog]

1. what bullshit

Yes there are problems with our power grid in the south, because we protested and stopped them from putting high tension wires across the gorges de verdun (the grand canyon of europe) but to go so far as to assert that Europe is going to collapse farther and further than the USA is just laughable. First off we would have to fall pretty damn far to end up as bad off as the USA in terms of wealth distribution, access to education, access to health care, and use of natural resources per person. We have nuclear electricty which powers our trains, so even if oil runs very low we can transport goods via rail. EDF still sells electricity to other countries.

US farming is more dependent on fossil fuels simply because you cannot ship the products to markets by electric train. As far as I know farming is heavily subsidized in the USA too.

I live here in the south of France and I heard nothing about a widespread power outage down here. I live in the countryside where the grid is not that well developed. Truly what city was out for a long period of time?????

Also if you want to compare a place to the Roman empire before the fall, look at the USA. It blows a shitload of money on wars which they win less and less often. People are getting lazier and fatter all the time and are lazier and fatter than in any EU country. Hell there was an article I read about the baghdad bulge, soldiers getting fat eating at burger king in Iraq and not going out on mission enough. SOLDIERS GETTING FAT! Bankers run the show in the USA a lot more than in Europe. Working people generally have a better lot over here in France what with national health insurance, and universities that cost our kids between 4 and 300 euros per year depending on income level.

Sorry but I just do not see this article as describing any reality I saw on either side of the Atlantic. I lived in the USA for 24 years and France for nearly 7 years now.

[kristopher]

3. Possible electric blackout in Brittany and in Paca 15 / 12 / 2009

Possible electric blackout in Brittany and in Paca 15 / 12 / 2009
Possible electric blackout in Brittany and in Paca
The Transport network of the electricity ( RTE) warned against the imminent risk of power cuts and called the western inhabitants and of the southeast to master their consumption during the cold spell.

Avoid the use of the household electrical devices between 5 pm and 8 pm, watch to put out(switch off) lamps by leaving a room(part,play), disconnect the hi-fi devices in sleep mode here is some some of the recommendations sent to the inhabitants of regions Paca and Brittany. The cold spell which strikes France this week puts the electricity network under strong tension and the risk of power cut is according to the Transport network of the electricity ( RTE), "real and imminent". Brittany was moreover placed on the alert red and should it stay until Thursday. The region indeed produces only 7 % of the electricity which it consumes and depends very widely for the routing of the remainder, the infrastructures too much sought in particular in the rush hours, in the neighborhood of 19

Record of consumption to plan(foresee) precise RTE that the historic record of January 7th, 2009 - 92.400 megawatts ( MW) - " could be even exceeded at the end of week ", doubtless on Thursday or Friday. Meteo France plans(foresees) temperatures of 6 in 8°C below normal seasonal. " In this period of the year, a decline of 1°C of the temperature pulls(entails) an increase of the consumption of electricity about 2.100 MW, is the equivalent of the double(copy) of the consumption of the city of Marseille ", calls back(reminds) the high-voltage administrator of lines. Now, the electricity which can not be stored, its production must permanently be equal to its consumption. An imbalance between the offer and the request can provoke a collapse of the electricity network.

5.100 megawatt import The situation is tightened(stretched out) all the more this year as the French production of electricity is at present weaker than during the previous winters. Of numerous nuclear reactors 11 on 58 that count

Blackout warning for Brittany January 05, 2010

HOMES in Brittany have been told to cut their electricity usage to a bare minimum tonight due to a "real and imminent" risk of power cuts.

The region has been placed on red alert by electricity supplier EDF and the préfecture - a warning that could last until the end of this month.

Homes and businesses have been sent emails and text messages advising them to reduce their energy consumption particularly during the peak hours of 17.00 to 20.00 this evening.

The region was first put on alert in mid-December, along with Paca, but power cuts then were avoided.

Brittany only produces 8% of the electricity it uses, with the remaining 92% brought in from neighbouring regions.
This is not a problem until a prolonged period of cold weather, when energy use across France increases by about 2,100 megawatts for every 1°C that the temperature drops.

For more information on reducing your power consumption and for power alerts in the Brittany area visit www.ouest-ecowatt.com

France is having to import large amounts of power from overseas this winter for the first time because a number of nuclear reactors are out of action due to maintenance work.

Météo France is expecting snow to affect travel conditions today across Brittany, Basse-Normandie and parts of the Pays de la Loire.

http://www.connexionfrance.com/brittany-power-cuts-electricity-shortage-edf-warning-winter-weather-view-article.html

Key Advantages of Distributed Energy Resources
What are the drivers for Distributed Generation?

The drivers for Distributed Generation (DG) are multiple and symbiotic, however all have their basis in the common concerns to use primary energy as efficiently as possible, with the least possible environmental impact whilst ensuring that energy supply is secure, safe and supplied at an agreed quality universally and at a competitive cost.

What are the key advantages of Distributed Generation?

*DG covers a broad range of technologies, including many renewable technologies that provide small-scale power at sites close to users.

...DG can provide customers with continuity and reliability of supply, when a power outage occurs at home or in the neighborhood, restoring power in a short time. In other words, convenience, security and peace of mind are potential major drivers after the several black outs experiences lately.

More at: http://ec.europa.eu/research/energy/nn/nn_rt/nn_rt_dg/article_1159_en.htm

[reggie the dog]

4. so where was the blackeut then?

they asked us to use less electricity, so cities like Nice turned off their Christmas lights. They asked us to use our washing machines after 8 pm. This was during the worst wave of cold in decades in a country that mostly heats with electricity. Still what city actually was without power for any length of time? I live in PACA, I washed my clothes at night....

[Dead_Parrot]

2. Hmmm

So the good people of Brittany are choosing new fossil fuels over reduced consumption. Well, there's a giant leap forward. Although I like the "There isn't enough nuclear power and we won't let them build any" reasoning: It has a sort of completeness to it.