What is it like living without electricity?

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How is that, if you are sitting in the dark, if the phone is on silent and the kitchen stays cold? In Venezuela, the loss of power to an endless Horror. This would also be possible with us?

Since Thursday afternoon, a gigantic power is shutting down the failure of large parts of Venezuela. Hospitals are chaotic. Most of the clinics do not have generators, according to information provided by non-governmental organizations 15 dialysis-patients died.

To need about four days without electricity to survive, is for the majority of Europeans absolutely unimaginable. Minor interruptions of electricity supplies occur even in Germany. Last weekend, approximately 2300 citizens in Central Germany were due to a storm a few hours in the dark, without a telephone, mobile and Internet. At the end of January had to do in Berlin, even 30,000 households and 2000 businesses without light, heating and telephone for at least 30 hours. But four days, as in Venezuela? Could such a thing happen in Europe?

“Yes,” responds without hesitation, Herbert Saurugg. “I expect even that to happen within the next five years.” The Austrian has worked for many years with the increasing complexity of electricity networks in Europe and their transnational networking. Saurugg warns that the growing interdependencies in the European power grid to make a total Blackout in the future more likely.

Growing fluctuations in large-scale Blackouts more likely

“The probable trigger will be an Overload because the overall system is due to many parallel ongoing fluctuations in the capacity utilization of increasingly unstable,” explains Saurugg. “Then a little something is enough to get a Mega-Blackout trigger.” The cause of the disaster, so Saurugg, sun but not in the individual event, but in a huge chain reaction.

India 2012: 600 million people without electricity.

With smaller power outages, that is, temporally and locally limited interruptions of electricity supplies, people anywhere in the world. Larger Blackouts, so complete failure of the entire power supply in which millions of people, maybe even across countries, over a longer period of time are affected, but also, and often have disastrous consequences.

The growing fluctuations in the mains voltage experts explain, among other things, with the rapid growth of Renewable energy: Wind and solar power, depending on the weather in large quantities, but hardly when it is needed can be created. Conventional power plants could compensate for the so far but. The major electricity failures of the past have to do with the volatile feed-in of new production types.

Blackouts are a worldwide phenomenon

In March 2015, was separated in Turkey due to strong fluctuations due to the failure of several power plants is the coupling with the European electricity network. 76 million people in Turkey remained for nine hours without electricity. Due to the historical Blackouts in 2012, 600 million people had to survive in India for two days without electricity. And also Europe was not spared. In November 2006, it was switched off in Northern Germany, there is a power line over the Ems plan, to allow a ship passage. Due to the Congestion of the alternate line tens of millions of Europeans in Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Austria and Spain had for partially two hours of no electricity.

Provision for the Blackout: “just remember what would you bring to a Camping holiday.”

Are not prepared for the governments and the authorities? “The Problem is, it’s not prepared the company adequately,” says Herbert Saurugg. “The broad masses of the people stores nothing to home. You can run at any time to the supermarket and buy something.” No government or single organization could not control such a Situation, when the citizens prepare themselves well, and a stock manage to hold to 14 days on the water.

The German Federal office for population protection and disaster assistance (BBK) recommends on its website a stock for ten to 14 days. The advice of the authorities, at first glance, scary, and as emergency measures after a nuclear strike. “Many people are not aware of the fact that the water-supply current-dependent”, says Saurugg.

Enlightenment

What modern man is doing, if fridge, and heater to fail, if phone and Internet are dead, the water and the light are missing? Saurugg: “most of The people are not the supply in such a Situation, at the latest after four days in the situation yourself.”

Inventories are important, says Saurugg: “It should be stored, which corresponds to the own nutrition needs”

And how can you prepare a citizens in the best possible way? “That depends on your life style,” says the expert. A good guide would be the answer to the question, what would you take with you on a Camping holiday.

At the top of the recommendation of the German authorities and of the experts water. Three litres per Person per day for Drinking, cooking and Hygiene, you should schedule. Pasta and rice work well for a long storage. Since the kitchen is not operational, would be the purchase of a camping stove is advised. Candles and flashlights with plenty of batteries failure obvious helper in the event of a power. Less obviously, a sufficient supply of cash is, perhaps, as ATMs and card-reading devices without power will not work.

According to Herbert Saurugg you should not be based slavishly on the recommendations of the authorities and, instead, your own needs and keep an eye on: “As a vegetarian I would have to store any canned meat.”