New “sun defence” to protect transformers from solar megastorms
US University of Michigan scientists have designed computer model that could offer a 20 min. warning to switch off satellites and power grids in the event of a blast of plasma from the sun.
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US University of Michigan scientists have designed computer model that could offer a 20 min. warning to switch off satellites and power grids in the event of a blast of plasma from the sun.
The new “sun defence” system could buy Earth crucial time to turn off power transformers before the sun burns them out and prevent a blackout that could last for up to five months.
This new system relies on supercomputers being able to accurately predict the sun’s behaviour.
“It would really be a disaster much worse than a major hurricane,” said the University’s Gábor Tóth. According toTóth, burnt out electrical substations can take up to five months to repair, leaving large areas without power.
The last really severe solar storm, known as the Carrington Event, was in 1859 and it hit Earth before it was criss-crossed by powerlines and substations.
A Lloyds study in 2013 predicted that the effects of such solar storm could be devastating on our transport, communication and finance, costing at least £1.67 trillion.
Source: Yahoo News
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