Can we run out of electricity?

[FLaCo]

I was riding down i-75 and got off on an exit ramp and saw so many lights and was wondering if the world ca ever run out of electricity?

[Mr. C]

Not so long as the winds are blowing and rivers keep flowing.

But if that should happen, then we wouldn't get any more spam:D

[Kay]

But by that time the solar power plant will be running

[FLaCo]

I wouldn't consider this spam...i was just curious...and wondered if anyone knew the answer....:)

[Mr. C]

I was in no way inferring that your post was spam.

I was only saying that the good side of running out of electricity was that my Inbox wouldn't be collecting that pile of garbage email on a daily basis.
That is the only positive thing I could come up with on the possibility of running out of electricity.

We depend on electricity for so much in our daily lives, it's horrifying to think that we might have to do without it.
Living in a rather rural area, I can testify that not having electricity can really blow.

The likelihood of running out though is pretty slim I think.
As Kay so kindly pointed out, development of alternate methods of generating electricity is an ever-progressing science.

So unless we are victim of disaster of biblical proportion, I think we are fairly safe for the most part.

Besides, most of the electricity we consume is driven by a huge force - PROFIT.
The profit factor alone will keep our electricity coming for quite some time. Ain't greed wonderful? :D

[FLaCo]

Sry for the misunderstanding there Mr.C...

I know what you mean when you say having no electricity blows...hurricane andrew in 92 was a *****...have no electricity for a week was crap. We played sherades all night and board games under the moon light. That was cool but man...you tend to miss the A/C after a week without it in bed...:D

[Mr. C]

Your question is a good one, and definitely something we all could think about a bit more. We quickly start taking such comforts for granted. It really wasn't so very long ago that most of the world didn't have power lines running by the house. (In fact, a lot of the world doesn't yet.)

No doubt man, you folks had a long rough time. I was living in Sarasota at that time, so I know how messed up it was for you guys on that side of the panhandle.
Fortunately, I was relatively unaffected -- except that the boat I was living on at the time did rock me to sleep a bit more vigorously than normal when Andrew was in the vicinity.:D

[JediAgent]

We could never actually "run out" of electricity as negatively charged electrons are always gonna wanna jump to over-positively-charged molecules. And there will always be a place for them to da that. If there isnt, A/C is not going to be your main concern. Electricity is a part of nature, as is fire, and other crap like that, we simply place our electric devices in the middle of the natural process. Think about what we always call the black wire in a red/black wire power scheme... ground. It'll always be there.

But to answer your question in a more reasonable understanding, electricity is still not available to all the world as Mr. C said, and the way we use it today is a fairly new system. Its quite possible that there could be a storm tomorrow that knocks out your power yet again. But that is most likely just the delivery system (power lines) and not a plant. If a plant went out, you could simply wire in another one from another area, although the need may be too much for it to handle. Electricity is like water. If the pipes are there and the pump works, it comes to your faucet, if not its still there somewhere, just not in the same place you want to brush your teeth...

[Mr. C]

^ and if I interpret that location correctly, this one knows about a lack of adequate electrical supply from first-hand experience:)

[FLaCo]

So the answer is no...so use all you want!

[G Smith]

Summer of 2001 Southern California ran out of electricity. We had planned rotating outages because the states power supply was exhausted..

It was not a lot of fun.

[JediAgent]

So the answer is no...so use all you want!

Well, no. Just cause the natural dynamic in physics we all call electricity is unlimited, will never cease to exist, and happens everywhere, doesnt mean we have unlimited access to it. Like i said, its like water, just cause we got a whole lot of it on the planet doesnt mean you leave the faucet running while your gone. The systems we implement to deliver the resources to us are the middle problem. Part of that problem (and the solution; weird) being that these resources are "sold" and not freely given. But even if you have an unlimited cash supply to buy unlimited electricity/water there is still only so many power plants "producing" (or being middleman to nature's ongoing process) electricity, thus making the system the limiting factor.

and yes Mr. C...

[EDIT]
The "brownouts" as Grey Davis liked to call it were because of our "immense population of office machines" which is a big load of BS for "i cant negotiate with the power companies well, so they are limiting the supply, knowing that ill get blamed, cause they want more cash, because they got screwed 10years ago with deregulation" - which has alot to do with why i didnt vote for Grey Davis. But i say, never again in SoCal!

[G Smith]

Like he's negotiating for us now with the Energy Commision?

*heaven help us all*

[Kay]

Summer over here and shortages can and will occur :mad:

[Oldbugger]

My ex-missus once accused our son of "absorbing" electricity and making the bill higher.....#1son actually came back into the room with a small battery operated light (on and glowing) sticking out of his mouth just to prove she was right...it certainly put the cat amoung the pigeons..... boy am I glad I'm single now...even tho I'm too crook to REALLY enjoy it....