Dysfunction – May 4

May 4, 2008

Click on the headline (link) for the full text.

Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage


India feels the heat as thousands riot over power cuts

Jeremy Page, The Times (UK)
Thousands of people, many wearing only underwear, rioted across northern India yesterday over power cuts that have left millions without electricity or water, highlighting the yawning gap between the country’s superpower aspirations and realities on the ground.

The violence underlined growing public frustration at the Government’s failure to improve the basic infrastructure, especially electricity and water supplies, despite an unprecedented economic boom.

The Government has pledged to provide “power for all” by 2012, but analysts say that it will struggle to keep up with demand as the middle class sates its appetite for electronic goods and larger homes.

… Yesterday riots spread across the country’s most populous state, raising fears of repeated protests throughout India’s long, sweltering summer, as 24-hour blackouts deprived thousands of air-conditioning, fans and even drinking water in temperatures above 40C (104F).
(3 May 2008)
Contributor Norman writes:
This just shows what can happen, very quickly, when electricity, the ‘king pin’ of modern society is lost….

Is the government of Pakistan sincere about solving the energy shortage?
“Poor Pakistani”, Energy Bulletin
If illegal air conditioners are removed forcefully from the WAPDA network, we will have only 50% of the existing demand, hence no shortage of electricity in the country! If you don’t agree, just try it for one week ! Is there any one in the country who will take this legal step to stop illegal usage of Pakistani resources ?

All defaulters will be recovered forcefully, without regard to status. Anyone found guilty, must be punished equally !

Sorry, what i have wrote above is not today’s story. Since the birth of our beloved country, it has been a paradise for illegal users of Pakistani resources. No one can control them, because they are in the positions supposed to control such ghost users. No one will arrest himself or his family members for misusing the country’s resources.

May Allah encourage ALL of us to think about stopping such misuse of all resources!!!

– Poor Pakistani
(3 May 2008)
Submitted anonymously. Probably reflects a growing sentiment in Pakistan and elsewhere.

Pakistan is one of many countries experiences electric power shortages. More background. -BA


Harley ad campaign heaps biker scorn on doomsayers

James B. Kelleher, Reuters
“Screw it. Let’s Ride.” That’s the advice that Harley-Davidson Inc, the motorcycle maker whose sales have been dragged down by the U.S. economic slowdown, has for customers fearful of falling home values, rising gas prices and a stagnant job market.

In a rare national newspaper and magazine advertising campaign called “We Don’t Do Fear,” the company invokes its long history to make pessimism — and watching the news — seem downright unpatriotic.

“Over the last 105 years in the saddle, we’ve seen wars, conflicts, depression, recession, resistance and revolution,” reads the ad, which shows a helmeted rider on a Harley chopper silhouetted against what appears to be the red and white stripes of a slightly tattered American flag.

“We’ve watched a thousand hand-wringing pundits disappear in our rear-view mirror. But every time this country has come out stronger than before …. If 105 years have proved one thing, it’s that fear sucks and it doesn’t last long. So screw it, let’s ride.”
(2 May 2008)
Contributor Scott Chisholm Lamont writes:
I wonder how they will feel when gas prices double and their favourite coastal highways are underwater?


Tags: Consumption & Demand, Electricity, Media & Communications, Transportation