Seems like an intesting way to get an "internet culture" snapshot about what it finds interesting at the moment. I particularily found the graphs of searches over time interesting. Following a trendy search as it waxed and waned.....interesting
All five of the major grid control regions in the USA have the same basic curve shape. The high and low of the three major peaks in a day may differ in magnitude but they are there. Also, it's well known in the UK that at TV commercial breaks in the evening, the electric load spikes due to several hundred thousand electric teakettles being turned on at the same time. Heh.
Isn't there also the theory about where petroleum comes from? The old standby is that ancient organic material decayed into it (the dinosaur theory). I've read (somewhere - I'm trying to track down a link right now) that a new theory is that there is an enormously rich biosphere of micro-organisms in the rock of the mantle, and these organisms may explain why our known petroleum reserves are not going down as fast as we thought they should be, taking into account all know production and discovery etc... Petroleum may be being created much faster than previously thought.
The one overstatement that immediately jumps out at me is the 30% figure. I don't think it's anywhere NEAR that high. The highest I've ever seen to date is 15%. For a large manufacturing run that is. Not an R&D unit.
The other part is that manufacturing plants of all types use a LOT of power. So if you are an industrialised nation you need much much more power per capita than undeveloped countries. The typical number you always see is about 1.0KW/hr per household here for residential use. Industrial use, well forget it.
Industrialized nations power consumption does indeed change significantly at night. It doesn't go to zero obviously, but it does change according to a known cycle. If you would like to see what a real load cycle looks like you can go to the CalISO page and look at the current grid load graph for most of the State of California, or click here.
The main argument for 120V is it's extremely simple to split out three phase 480V power from that pole mounted transformer to all teh homes on your street. Two phases to every house, and maintaining equal load on each phase over the whole block. Then you can have 220v across the two phases sent to your home, or 120v to ground from each phase. The main point of having 220V is much lower running amps for motors for the same horsepower. Lower amps mean lower heat and less resistance to current flow, so more efficient.
BTW, local distribution is usually 4300V - 12000V. So those pole mounted transformers would be 4300V to 480V three phase step downs. Medium distances would be 66000V - 230000V and really long distances would be 230KV to 1000KV.
One of thing I got out of this very interresting essay was that unless a journalist can spin something to make it melodramatic, or somehow get a pithy catch phrase out of it, they are just not interested. They won't take the time to do the job properly. Are they afraid of their readership/viewers moving on? I think they should give the public more credit and take the time to do a proper writeup of these complex issues. This isn't limited to genetics, you can see this problem in many areas of science and engineering. After all how many people are out there looking for well written and researched information? And how do you tell when you've been "snookered" by a journalistic hack on a subject you are interested, in but have no formal education or training?
There is a difference between real time grid *data* display systems and grid *control* systems. I don't believe it's possible to generate control signals by breaking into a remote internet data display PC. If that's what happened. Looks like only grid operating data could be compromised. If that lead to control actions by grid operators based on false inserted data then I could see a negative effect. I just don't see how a person could *directly* insert control *signals* (as opposed to data display info) on their own from the internet. Allthough I have some experience in this area, I am *not* a grid operator, so I'm just going from my experience and educated guesswork.
I can't speak to number (1) except to say that it's my impression that the vitual private networks are over their own network not the general internet. The replacement of really old non-networked stations I believe was done with an internal network that (again my impression) uses a proprietary protocol. And (3) I think you are confusing the system that remotely controls power output of some of the (usually smaller) power generators to match load moment by moment (frequency and VAR loading) with a separate system that controls grid switching. Also, all the really critical stations (switching centers) are all manned stations, with manual switching controls (usually). And these stations can remotely operate the smaller stations near them. I don't believe you can operate power circuit breakers from some anonymous PC on the internet. I believe it would be done from a control board at a switching center with a direct link to equipment at a smaller unmanned station it is responsible for. Not using a conventional PC. And except for emergencies, under the direct orders of the grid control center/grid operation center (Cal-ISO).
They do indeed have their own fiberoptic capacity. Plus there are indeed methods and equipment to carry control signals on the lines themselves. All the data that you mention is available from servers specifically setup to supply it, these servers have no ability to generate control signals, that (AFAIK) is done with separate equipment. So other than the compromise of operating data, I don't see what else could have happened. I admit I'm probably ignorant. But I'm looking at a grid display right now, and I'm an authorized person, and *I* can't cause anything to actuate even if I wanted to. The data display stuff is simply not set up to do that. But like I said I'm most likely ignorant of all the clever ways to get around stuff. Sigh.
Actually, they have their own internal networks for grid control, they needed this ability years ago, and since at that time there wasn't an "internet" yet, they were forced to build their own.
They're most likely not. It is very handy to have the ability to *display* grid information to selected authorized PC's, but the actual control network is something totally different. Usually the control network is mostly run on the high power lines themselves or selected microwave links. A lot of this pre-dates the internet as we know it. If you know what DDSMS stands for, then you know what I'm talking about. I seriously doubt anyone could control equipment on the grid remotely through an internet connection. But maybe I'm just ignorant.
Slashdot Mirror
Did I just say interesting four times? Sheesh, I must be tired. Time for sleep.
Seems like an intesting way to get an "internet culture" snapshot about what it finds interesting at the moment. I particularily found the graphs of searches over time interesting. Following a trendy search as it waxed and waned.....interesting
Well, there goes the best way to get some space on the subway/bus. No more three weeks+ old B.O.
All five of the major grid control regions in the USA have the same basic curve shape. The high and low of the three major peaks in a day may differ in magnitude but they are there. Also, it's well known in the UK that at TV commercial breaks in the evening, the electric load spikes due to several hundred thousand electric teakettles being turned on at the same time. Heh.
Isn't there also the theory about where petroleum comes from? The old standby is that ancient organic material decayed into it (the dinosaur theory). I've read (somewhere - I'm trying to track down a link right now) that a new theory is that there is an enormously rich biosphere of micro-organisms in the rock of the mantle, and these organisms may explain why our known petroleum reserves are not going down as fast as we thought they should be, taking into account all know production and discovery etc... Petroleum may be being created much faster than previously thought.
The one overstatement that immediately jumps out at me is the 30% figure. I don't think it's anywhere NEAR that high. The highest I've ever seen to date is 15%. For a large manufacturing run that is. Not an R&D unit.
The other part is that manufacturing plants of all types use a LOT of power. So if you are an industrialised nation you need much much more power per capita than undeveloped countries. The typical number you always see is about 1.0KW/hr per household here for residential use. Industrial use, well forget it.
Industrialized nations power consumption does indeed change significantly at night. It doesn't go to zero obviously, but it does change according to a known cycle. If you would like to see what a real load cycle looks like you can go to the CalISO page and look at the current grid load graph for most of the State of California, or click here.
The main argument for 120V is it's extremely simple to split out three phase 480V power from that pole mounted transformer to all teh homes on your street. Two phases to every house, and maintaining equal load on each phase over the whole block. Then you can have 220v across the two phases sent to your home, or 120v to ground from each phase. The main point of having 220V is much lower running amps for motors for the same horsepower. Lower amps mean lower heat and less resistance to current flow, so more efficient.
BTW, local distribution is usually 4300V - 12000V. So those pole mounted transformers would be 4300V to 480V three phase step downs. Medium distances would be 66000V - 230000V and really long distances would be 230KV to 1000KV.
One of thing I got out of this very interresting essay was that unless a journalist can spin something to make it melodramatic, or somehow get a pithy catch phrase out of it, they are just not interested. They won't take the time to do the job properly. Are they afraid of their readership/viewers moving on? I think they should give the public more credit and take the time to do a proper writeup of these complex issues. This isn't limited to genetics, you can see this problem in many areas of science and engineering. After all how many people are out there looking for well written and researched information? And how do you tell when you've been "snookered" by a journalistic hack on a subject you are interested, in but have no formal education or training?
DOD discovers data destruction disk dimension "dd" Duh.
There is a difference between real time grid *data* display systems and grid *control* systems. I don't believe it's possible to generate control signals by breaking into a remote internet data display PC. If that's what happened. Looks like only grid operating data could be compromised. If that lead to control actions by grid operators based on false inserted data then I could see a negative effect. I just don't see how a person could *directly* insert control *signals* (as opposed to data display info) on their own from the internet. Allthough I have some experience in this area, I am *not* a grid operator, so I'm just going from my experience and educated guesswork.
I just hate when I drop a dognut on the control boards... that powdery white stuff makes the lights and buttons make a funny fzzzzzzap sound.... ;)
I can't speak to number (1) except to say that it's my impression that the vitual private networks are over their own network not the general internet. The replacement of really old non-networked stations I believe was done with an internal network that (again my impression) uses a proprietary protocol. And (3) I think you are confusing the system that remotely controls power output of some of the (usually smaller) power generators to match load moment by moment (frequency and VAR loading) with a separate system that controls grid switching. Also, all the really critical stations (switching centers) are all manned stations, with manual switching controls (usually). And these stations can remotely operate the smaller stations near them. I don't believe you can operate power circuit breakers from some anonymous PC on the internet. I believe it would be done from a control board at a switching center with a direct link to equipment at a smaller unmanned station it is responsible for. Not using a conventional PC. And except for emergencies, under the direct orders of the grid control center/grid operation center (Cal-ISO).
They do indeed have their own fiberoptic capacity. Plus there are indeed methods and equipment to carry control signals on the lines themselves. All the data that you mention is available from servers specifically setup to supply it, these servers have no ability to generate control signals, that (AFAIK) is done with separate equipment. So other than the compromise of operating data, I don't see what else could have happened. I admit I'm probably ignorant. But I'm looking at a grid display right now, and I'm an authorized person, and *I* can't cause anything to actuate even if I wanted to. The data display stuff is simply not set up to do that. But like I said I'm most likely ignorant of all the clever ways to get around stuff. Sigh.
Actually, they have their own internal networks for grid control, they needed this ability years ago, and since at that time there wasn't an "internet" yet, they were forced to build their own.
They're most likely not. It is very handy to have the ability to *display* grid information to selected authorized PC's, but the actual control network is something totally different. Usually the control network is mostly run on the high power lines themselves or selected microwave links. A lot of this pre-dates the internet as we know it. If you know what DDSMS stands for, then you know what I'm talking about. I seriously doubt anyone could control equipment on the grid remotely through an internet connection. But maybe I'm just ignorant.