How practical would it be to turn of the electrical power to major cities and towns for 4 hours per day?

Question

to help in the fight against global warming? I was thinking 0200 - 0600 - Tell me your thoughts, maybe I am just a bampot!

Answer 1

Yup, that would be good except for those who are being raped, shot or just plain attacked in the dimly-lit streets!

Answer 2

What about business that operate at night like hotels, factories, not to mention things like hospitals, police etc that would struggle to maintain power with inefficient generators.

We rely on the national grid and anything that jeopordises that would be dangerous.

Answer 3

NOT AT ALL GET A LIFE, YOU WATCH TOO MUCH TV, YOU STARTING TO BELEAVE THEIR MONEY MAKING SCAMS

Answer 4

global warming what a joke its freezing hear in Scotland

Answer 5

Maybe the gov could make some kind of program where households that sign up to voluntarily cut their own power during the night could get a tax break or something. It would have to be something that individual people could control though because there might be some emergency where people need power and outside lights would probably want to be left on for safety.

Answer 6

Anchor,

I see your environmental concerns, but I am afraid it would not work by a long chalk.

I am a power engineer, once responsible for very large areas in the Mid-East.

Oh, I could shut the whole show down to many a part of the country at any time.

There would have been chaos !

Factories with night shifts told to go home in the darkness to homes with no lighting, cookers.

Car crashes as the street lights pack up.

Supetmarkets that have to throw away rheir good stocks, as the freezers and chillers have sttopped working

Petrol station pumps would stop - no more fuel, so vehicles everywhere. Abandoned.

The world stock exchanges would grind to a halt as the market computers collapsed after an hour of back-up

Oh I could go on, but the implications are enourmous.

I, personally, am quite happy with paraffin lamps and an open fire at home during a short UK power cut, and indeed have made an evening family meal in semi-darkness, using the old log-fired kitchen range.

Great fun for a while for us and the kids, but if it did it every day for four hours, I would have to re-set all the alarm clocks daily, order extra logs and coal, and dear knows what.

Not so bad personaly in my rural community, then, but if I hit the big buttons on the Capital City of Oman, Muscat, being responsible for, and much worse, say, London, then all h**l would break loose.

Looting, shootings and panic.

I would rather throw electrical energy at the job than see all that happening.

Hey Ho, we can't fully win - compromise is the best.

Bob

Answer 7

Many people require medical equipment for health purposes, so it would not be practical for them. As stated above, security would be compromised.

I would bet most people would figure out that if they wanted power during the outage they would have store extra energy when the power is on, for example, battery operated equipment.

Answer 8

Ask anyone who lives in North Korea.  They turn off their electricity 12 hours every day.  And their are getting along just fine, look at the size of their Army.

Answer 9

Yep all those alarms going wheeee wheee wheee...

Answer 10

they will find another source..... (What to do)

Answer 11

I love the idea, but not for the global warming reason. I think that's bunk.

But I do think we need to be more resourceful. We are such a wasteful society. We are depleting the earth, and there's no need for it.

Yes, turn off the power. Because you and I both know that if you turn off the air conditioning to a politician's office, he'll be signing all kinds of legislation for windmills, solar power, etc.

If that's what it takes - I'm all for environmental tough love!

Answer 12

Wouldn't bother me.  Of course I'm not on a life support machine, and I guess I could ignore traffic light like everyone else does, and Maybe night-flights could be avoided in favour of ones that have air traffic control.  I'm sure burglars would have the decency to stay away at the times they knew the alarms would be off, and I wouldn't mind re-setting every electrical appliance I own that involves a clock every single morning for the rest of my life.  Yep, sounds like a good idea to me.  Got any more?

Answer 13

I can one up you on that. We leave the power on im America, but for 12 hours a day all power in every other country is turned off. Ooooh yeaahhhH!!!

Answer 14

Your final statement is correct

Answer 15

I like jeep girls suggestion. Just turn it off to Washington D.C.

Answer 16

Brownouts would be better.   Or even charging higher rates for those who use above a certain amount of power at certain times of the day.

Answer 17

Global warming is a myth to allow Gordon Brown nose to take more taxes from us.

Answer 18

Only in third world countries bro,i have a friend in saudia arabia he told me this summer they only had  four hours of electricity

Answer 19

No it would be awful. How many more rapes and murders do you wanna see on the news? Isnt there enough? Without giving these sickoss a perfect oppurtunity to run away/hide the body without being seen? Its a terrible idea, sorry

Answer 20

I am sure the hospitals might have something to say...as would my insurer when I keep having to claim for the contents of my freezer every week. Multipy this by thirty million claims a week and you have lost what you have gained in expotential paper production

Answer 21

Sounds good to me- people would moan, but they'd cope!

Answer 22

Let me guess ,you dont live where it gets cold do you.

Answer 23

hmm this can't have a simple answer..

in some developing nations, there are already systems in place that cut off electricity to separate blocks of cities throughout the day. This happens in sequence, i.e. on block has no electricity for a number of hours, once it's back on the next block in the city has it turned off.

in countries that exist in states of war or armed conflict this is inevitable, either done intentionally as part of a rationing plan, or as a consequence of the destruction of war.

how practical is it? well, as any other remedy it will have advantages and disadvantages..

it doesn't always seem that practical in developing countries. Major cities are extremely crowded, roads and development are unorganized and there is constant commute throughout.. Many people already struggle greatly in pursuit of their livelihood..

this might not be the best solution for these kinds of conditions..

it might be feasible in cities with efficient civil planning, as well as efficient support services.. but more thought needs to be given to which parts of the day electricity will be turned off, and in which parts of the city.. shutting down an entire major metropolis is not a good idea..

Answer 24

Silly impractical idea and it's not as simple as switching off a switch you know.My son works for the National Grid and says yes you are a bampot,no offence!

Answer 25

I lived at Bolling Air Force Base in the 1980s and they had an energy management system that cut off electricity to base housing during certain hours of the day. It caused too many problems, like alarm clocks had to be reset ect. They finally couldn't justify the program and it was abolished. I experienced it once and don't want to go through it again.

Answer 26

Its a good idea in general but you need to consider the needy, like in hospitals awaiting major surgery, or, those who are recovering in IC units. The werewolves would have a field day though, especially tonight!.

Other considerations would be the enormous amount of power needed to boost everything back up again. For instance, fill a kettle with cold water, switch it on. How long does it take to boil?. Now do it again after 5 mins?.

Answer 27

How about do the opposite of Metamorphosis 1's suggestion - turn the bloody power off in America permanently.  That'd stop most of the global warming and also mean there'd be world peace and something decent on the telly and cinema.

Answer 28

would be a good idea apart from if your on a life support machine

Answer 29

All those on life support machines would probably not like the idea....

Answer 30

Bad idea on every level.

Answer 31

What about people getting up during the night to feed babies?

Would be great for burglars wouldnt it!  Wouldnt be able to phone the police to report them, as no power.

Not practical at all.