LibGuides: The Power Grid: Media

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How Safe Are Our Power Grids? (51:26) Our well-being is based on highly developed networks and all components have one thing in common: in order to function, they need electricity. We have become used to having access to electricity whenever and wherever we need it. Yet experts have recently pointed out the potential threats to our networks. Energy transition, increasing usage, bad weather and the liberalized energy market push it further and further to the limits of its capacities. On top of this, there is the existing danger of a certain manipulation such as terrorism or cyber-attacks. The list of systems which would also work without electricity is very short. Electricity is the lifeline for countless crucial infrastructures: communication, transport, food, healthcare, security, finance and production would be greatly affected. Peppo Wagner asks leading, international experts, which factors our electrical networks are vulnerable to, what the risks actually comprise, and which solutions could be imagined.
Electric Nation Full Video (54:45) Our modern electric power grid has been called the biggest and most complex machine in the world—delivering electricity over 200,000 miles of high-tension transmission lines. Travel around the country with host Yul Kwon to understand its intricacies, its vulnerabilities, and the remarkable ingenuity required to keep the electricity on every day of the year. At New York State's governing grid control room, learn how a massive blackout cut power to 40 million Americans; to understand how we can protect against this type of colossal failure, join a team who makes daring repairs from the side of a helicopter in flight. Visit the country's largest coal mine, rappel down the side of a wind turbine, take a rare tour of a nuclear plant, and travel on a massive tanker — as Kwon reflects on the challenges and opportunities to keep the power flowing.