Darkness Falls: A Timeline of the Blackout of 2003

2 min read

On 12 September, the U.S. Department of Energy released a new timeline of the 14 August blackout, which was prepared by a U.S.-Canadian expert team. It is significantly more detailed and complex than the initial timeline that was prepared by the North American Electricity Council and reproduced by many publications in a number of versions.

The task force cautioned that its report does not presume to explain why the blackout occurred or to "assign fault or culpability." That will be the job of an investigative team managed by the task force.

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This New Breed of Generator Can Run on Almost Any Fuel

Mainspring’s linear generator may speed the transition to a zero-carbon electrical grid

12 min read
This New Breed of Generator Can Run on Almost Any Fuel

Technicians work on the frame of a linear generator core.

CREATIVE SHOT
Yellow

It’s January 2030 and your electric heat pump is warming the house while your electric car charges in the garage, all powered by solar panels on your roof and by wind and solar generators at your local utility. It doesn’t matter that it’s been raining for two weeks because your utility is tapping into ammonia produced with last summer’s sunshine. It’s consuming that ammonia in a linear generator.

The linear generator can quickly switch between different types of green (and not-so-green, if need be) fuel, including biogas, ammonia, and hydrogen. It has the potential to make the decarbonized power system available, reliable, and resilient against the vagaries of weather and of fuel supplies. And it’s not a fantasy; it’s been developed, tested, and deployed commercially.

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