Word: brazil
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What it will have to do is better manage the energy it has. There was no need for so much of the populous southern and central Brazil to be taking energy from Itaipu at the same time, Schechtman says. "The whole point of the grid system is to provide balance so that all the weight is not hanging from one line," he says. "If you have lots of lines and one breaks, the others pick up the strain. What I want to hear from the government is why so much pressure was on Itaipu." He is not the only...
...power outage affected 18 of Brazil's 27 states and caused havoc, with metros in at least two cities grinding to a halt and blank traffic lights causing road chaos. People got stuck in elevators. Universities sent students home. Bars and restaurants couldn't serve food and drink. The water supply was affected in some areas, and cell-phone calls weren't going through. Furthermore, Brazil is a nation where high crime rates have bred fear and suspicion, and so huge numbers of people stayed home, keeping their distance from the sinister, unlit streets. (Read about Rio's crime problem...
...exact cause of Tuesday's outage is not yet known, but officials and news reports point to problems originating at the Itaipu dam, the huge hydroelectric plant on Brazil's border with Paraguay. "The most probable hypothesis is there was some accident that affected one or more points in the transmission system," a statement from Itaipu said. The area suffered unusually fierce storms on Tuesday, which could have played a part...
What is certain is that Brazil faces huge infrastructure challenges in the coming years. The government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has promised to spend $14 billion preparing for the Olympics and billions more readying for the World Cup. But until now, the priorities were improving atrocious transport systems, providing adequate hotel accommodations and stemming the violence that makes Brazil one of the homicide capitals of the world. (See what becomes of Olympic stadiums...
Experts believe the blackout was an isolated incident rather than a deep-seated defect. It nevertheless puts a spotlight on another issue surrounding Brazilian readiness for the global centerstage. It dents the government's pride in an area in which it has justifiably claimed to be a world leader. Brazil gets about 92% of its energy from hydroelectric sources, an unusually high percentage and one that is natural, renewable and non-polluting. The blackout will not alter that. Brazil has enough gas- and oil-fueled plants to serve as back-ups in case of drought, and it will add another...