Brittle Power- PARTS 1-3 (+Notes) - Natural Capitalism Solutions

42Brittle Powerkeep different kinds of loads separated.So, surprisingly, can pipelines. For example, the Colonial system, thelargest and probably the most complex in the world, accepts minimum batchesof seventy-five thousand barrels, occupying a twelve-mile length of pipe (anamount which takes an hour and a half to pass a fixed point). 31 Each batch isseparated from adjacent batches of different composition by inflating betweenthem a water-filled rubber “batching sphere” that fits the inside pipe diameter.Constant monitoring of the specific gravity of transmitted product enablesoperators to divert the “interface”—the small mixing zone formed by leakagearound the batching sphere—into holding vessels for reseparation or blendinginto products of saleable purity. The order of batching is carefully defined tominimize contact between incompatible products, and a full product sequencerequires ten days. For products more viscous than the lighter heating oils,pipeline shipment is impractical.Reversibility Oil and gas transmission pipelines now in operation are generallyunidirectional. 32 They can be reversed, and have been, by modifyingvalves and compressors. 33 Oil tanks are even more easily reversible, requiringonly appropriate loading/unloading equipment. 34 Electrical grids are usuallyreversible without modification, subject to requirements of safety, metering,and stability (Chapter Ten).In contrast, the 1978 coal strike showed that coal generally flowed only oneway. The federal government had extensive authority to protect coal distribution,to require emergency electric interties, and to mandate allocations andsales of coal, but not physically to move coal. 35 Regardless of what the lawallowed, most of the coal was sitting in power plant depots where foresightedutility managers had stockpiled it. And most of the depots had equipmentonly for unloading coal onto piles, not for reloading it for shipment to someplaceelse. 36 Such inflexibility in redistributing scarce fuel supplies can greatlyhamper the response to an energy emergency.In summary, then, the systems which transport fuels and power around theUnited Stated are not infinitely flexible. The transportation patterns havesome slack, but not enough to accommodate all foreseeable disruptions.Major changes in how much of which fuel travels where may require manyyears to accomplish. The loss of particular fuel transport arteries could indeedcause energy shortages in the midst of surplus, simply because there may notbe enough alternative pathways to get the energy to the people who need it.Interactions between energy systemsMost of today’s systems for supplying energy, and many for using it,