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If all the power in Ireland went out for two months

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Comments

  • #32
    looksee
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 31,696 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    thee glitz wrote: »
    Many a fine rant about how good we have it today starts with this.
    I heard there was a tp shortage and all.

    I don't think I was doing any ranting? In fact I did say that in spite of all the hassle, it only seemed like an inconvenience, rather than a major issue. In this particular case the 'how good we have it' would make a similar situation seem much more significant. Tbh I am not sure what point you are making?

    (tp shortage?)


  • #33
    hansfrei
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 915 ✭✭✭hansfrei


    Basin of cold water for a wash in the morning. Good aul days


  • #34
    Ruu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,622 ✭✭✭Ruu


    Could still go for a dance at the crossroads!


  • #35
    dr.bollocko
    Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 35,948 Mod ✭✭✭✭dr.bollocko


    Solar powered iPhone charger.

    I might actually read all those free ibooks I downloaded to make myself look smarter.


  • #36
    Manach
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators, Paid Member Posts: 9,904 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    Well, the Greens would get there environmental pollution targets met.


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  • #37
    DanWall
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 509 ✭✭✭DanWall


    Why would we not have food if the electric went off? delivery vans would still deliver etc, we would not have any oil or gas heating. If we lost our fuel supplies that would be worse because there would be no transport, if you need your car to get to the shops, buses and trains would stop.


  • #38
    Rho b
    Closed Accounts Posts: 412 ✭✭Rho b


    As a child I remember the fuel crises in the 70's, lots of arguments in queues outside petrol stations. We had no electricity at home for nearly 2 weeks during the big snow in the 80's and we survived. My mam is in her mid eighties and every autumn she still stocks up on flour, porridge, tinned rice, fish etc. Also makes sure there is a full bottle of gas on standby.
    Having an open hearth fire is also an advantage even if you seldom use it.
    I think water supply would be most peoples problem unless you live near an open well.


  • #39
    razorgil
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,880 ✭✭✭razorgil


    time to break out all the old mb games...downfall, operation, guess who, the game of life, twister, only in daylight you understand...


  • #40
    _Kaiser_
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 29,965 ✭✭✭✭_Kaiser_


    I remember this happening in the late 80s/early 90s.

    Candles everywhere and was great craic out on the road/estate. Simpler times!


  • #41
    LordSutch
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,069 ✭✭✭✭LordSutch


    Dean0088 wrote: »
    If all the power in Ireland went out for two months

    Candels/matches, oil lamps, gas lights, solar power, coal fires, gas fires, peat briquettes, extra duvets, AGA stoves, hot water bottles, layers of clothes, coats indoors, wind up radios, reading books, playing board games, monopoly by candle light, kettle with a whistle :))

    Two months is a long time without 'lecci' in the winter.


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  • #42
    Dry Hopped
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 10 ✭Dry Hopped


    I have fond memories of the days in the 80's when the power would be cut. I don't remember any nights where the power was gone, but always remember the mornings where my Dad would boil a kettle of water on a gas stove out in the garage so we could make tea. School was more exciting those days as well. If the day was particularly dark and overcast then the teacher would put candles on the desk so we could continue to work. And a fire would be lit (yes, a small country school) as the electric radiators weren't working. We didn't even have twitter so there was no online outlet to post pithy updates on the plight.

    Now we have deregulation of generation and an interconnector to the UK. So this almost certainly won't happen again. A book on the history of electricity supply and generation in this country, and the power of the ESB unions, would be an interesting one.


  • #43
    The Glass Key
    Closed Accounts Posts: 987 ✭✭✭The Glass Key


    Imagine living on the top story of a block of flats with no lift!


  • #44
    fasttalkerchat
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,652 ✭✭✭fasttalkerchat


    LordSutch wrote: »
    wind up radios

    Long Wave?


  • #45
    SpaceTime
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,085 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    Thankfully, power grids are actually not that high tech and water services, gas etc are pretty low tech too at least in terms of IT and computers. A lot of things can be done manually. Mostly you'd be talking about computer systems that are about as online as your washing machine.
    The technicians would be busy, but the whole grid could be kept alive easily enough.

    The risk of major transaction networks failing or the telecommunications network being taken out would be far more worrying as that would result in financial turmoil as money is all virtual and totally dependent on them.


  • #46
    The Glass Key
    Closed Accounts Posts: 987 ✭✭✭The Glass Key


    fasttalkerchat wrote: »
    Long Wave?

    BBC Radio 4 :pac:


  • #47
    Tiddlypeeps
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,103 ✭✭✭Tiddlypeeps


    I'm finding it hard to imagine a scenario that would lead to a 2 month long power outage. Bar some sort of catastrophe that kills off most of the population and even then people would still find ways around it using generators and stuff.


  • #48
    LordSutch
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,069 ✭✭✭✭LordSutch


    fasttalkerchat wrote: »
    Long Wave?

    FM/AM/LW I guess?


  • #49
    The Glass Key
    Closed Accounts Posts: 987 ✭✭✭The Glass Key


    LordSutch wrote: »
    FM/AM/LW I guess?

    No power so no broadcasts on AM or FM you'd get from anywhere in Ireland?

    So I hope you like BBC Radio 4.


  • #50
    LordSutch
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,069 ✭✭✭✭LordSutch


    The Glass Key wrote: »
    No power so no broadcasts on AM or FM you'd get from anywhere in Ireland?

    Oil powered generator?


  • #51
    The Glass Key
    Closed Accounts Posts: 987 ✭✭✭The Glass Key


    LordSutch wrote: »
    Oil powered generator?

    Very possibly but we are so reliant on electricity I'm not sure they'd even be able to get (pump) enough fuel for anything other than essentials what ever they are deemed to be.


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  • #52
    SpaceTime
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,085 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    Most major transmission sites have generator back up as do all telephone exchanges and key data centre nodes.

    So, you'd still have a lot of services online even if there was a power outage.

    Things like telephone exchanges were planned with the cold war in mind! So they've quite serious amounts of long term self-sufficient power.


  • #53
    P_1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,681 ✭✭✭✭P_1


    Cedrus wrote: »
    In Cork (and maybe elsewhere) the strikers were throwing chains over the high voltage lines to short them out, nothing as fancy as a cyber attack :(

    Well that's just a little bit scummy, one thing starting a picket line, another thing sabotaging the customer's supply


  • #54
    moy83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,701 ✭✭✭moy83


    Would we be charged the standing charge for the two months I wonder ?


  • #55
    SpaceTime
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,085 ✭✭✭SpaceTime


    P_1 wrote: »
    Well that's just a little bit scummy, one thing starting a picket line, another thing sabotaging the customer's supply

    I think if that were to happen in this day and age, ESB would be privatised immediately afterwards. I don't think they'd want to push it too far, especially in this economic and political climate.

    Any kind of outage of power will put lots of people's jobs at risk and frighten off inward investors. Ireland's hugely dependent on high tech companies these days. It's not a minor inconvenience to have no power.


  • #56
    P_1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,681 ✭✭✭✭P_1


    SpaceTime wrote: »
    I think if that were to happen in this day and age, ESB would be privatised immediately afterwards. I don't think they'd want to push it too far, especially in this economic and political climate.

    Any kind of outage of power will put lots of people's jobs at risk and frighten off inward investors. Ireland's hugely dependent on high tech companies these days. It's not a minor inconvenience to have no power.

    True, at least by doing that they wouldn't have to put up with much online vitriol mind ;)


  • #57
    Zen65
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,630 ✭✭✭Zen65


    DanWall wrote: »
    Why would we not have food if the electric went off? delivery vans would still deliver etc, we would not have any oil or gas heating. If we lost our fuel supplies that would be worse because there would be no transport, if you need your car to get to the shops, buses and trains would stop.

    No electricity would mean that pumps in petrol stations would not work. In any event, pumps nowadays are so digitised that it would not be possible to meter and charge for the fuel even if you operated the pump part using a donkey and a wooden wheel. Without those fuel pumps vehicles would eventually stop running and that would limit food deliveries severely.

    No electricity would also mean no DART, no LUAS, no airports.

    Of course, the circumstances that would cause such a catastrophic loss of electric power might be difficult to imagine . . . . perhaps if a tsunami affected all or most of our coastal generation stations (which is about 90% of them). Wind generators cannot operate without conventional generators providing stability to the grid.

    It's an interesting idea, perhaps alternatively somebody would make a movie about an Ireland without electricity?

    Z


  • #58
    looksee
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 31,696 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    DanWall wrote: »
    Why would we not have food if the electric went off? delivery vans would still deliver etc, we would not have any oil or gas heating. If we lost our fuel supplies that would be worse because there would be no transport, if you need your car to get to the shops, buses and trains would stop.

    If the electricity went off bakeries would not be able to bake, supermarkets would not be able to order goods, or use check outs, it would be possible to do the checkout manually, but you would have long queues! Frozen and chilled food would not be available after a few days, milking machines and processing would be limited, delivery vehicles would have limited fuel (hand-pump it out of the tanks?), and maintenance that required computerised equipment would not be available. Imports would be difficult to unload - probably impossible - without automation on the docks, and local produce would be very limited without automated processes.

    Meanwhile we would be limited to using money that was actually in circulation, it would be cash for everything, and as happened before (during the bank strike), people would be paying by cheques that could not be cashed until a non-computerised system of handling money was reintroduced.


  • #59
    seenitall
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,766 ✭✭✭seenitall


    Disappointed in ye, AHers...

    ... 4 pages and no mention of a very probable huge birth rate surge approximately 9 months later?? :pac:


  • #60
    Voodoomelon
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,653 ✭✭✭Voodoomelon


    I guess we'd all be watching TV by candlelight.


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  • #61
    aaabbbb
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,674 ✭✭✭aaabbbb


    The Glass Key wrote: »
    Imagine living on the top story of a block of flats with no lift!

    It'd replace the treadmill at least....


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