If you remember the old telegraph lines that actually caught on fire from a large CME ? Its not the electricity from the generators that are the problem (the telegrams were even relatively low amperage) its the CME that causes the current in the lines. I believe that some kind of fuesable link , say every half mile in the lines would solve this. Any engineers here ?

Originally posted by Phage
I'm a bit surprised that Kaku would be using obsolete information. It seems he is relying on a prediction which is almost two years old.

That's because Kaku is a Transhumanist nutter, and whether they know it or not 2012 alarmists help the Transhumanist cause by stirring up 2012 attention, while a good half of them or so make outrageous claims about what 2012 means such as "a transformation of consciousness" and "global "hive mind telepathy", both realities of course will come from, if anything, technology.

Said 2012 claims have no basis in fact whatsoever; no history of the Mayans supports this claim. So what the 2012'ers are doing is setting up self-fulfilling prophecies, which are about to become reality via Strong AI and mind interfaces. How CONvenient!

Don your foil hats, and I'll tell you a tale of what my Bride and I did to mitigate CME/EMP ruining our costly electronics.

In the past six months, we installed a PV solar system, and are at this moment on the cusp of getting our wind genny operational -- I'll do a thread on this once the wind genny is up and running.

So, in the process, there are delicate electronics involved -- charge controllers, inverters, etc. First, there are lightning/surge supressors on both the DC and AC sides, but how to mitigate CME or an EMP? Remember, here on our sleepy little island, I can't just stroll down and buy replacement equipment, even if I could afford it.

I had built exterior weatherproof lockers. They are substantial, and went through Hurricane Paloma without gaining a single drop of visible moisture inside. To comply with NFPA guidelines and regs, I lined the interior of the wooden lockers with hardee board -- which is rated as "nonflammable". Just before I put down the hardee board, I lined all locker spaces with peel n' seal -- an aluminum-backed rubber. I made sure that the aluminum was contiguous, especially in the corners, and I lined the interior of the doors to the lockers such that they made positive contact with the interior aluminum when the doors are closed, which is most of the time.

I can't be postive, without testing that I don't have equipment for doing so, but I believe I've created one 4'X2'X2' and one 4' X 4' X 2' faraday box. We'll see. I hope to never see a situation that tests it out, but it seemed a good thing to do -- only an additional three hours plus $70.00 materials -- for a little peace of mind. Of course, an oversized ground is attached. Even for a foilhead like me this was a no-brainer.

Now what can our communities do? They can protect the delicate circuitry of switching stations, transfers, relays, etc. Many of these areas are metal boxes anyway, requiring possibly only to complete the seal in pentrations into the boxes.

On a larger scale? I think it's a serious threat, but is it a credible enough threat, is the probability such that major urban areas might even take notice, especially in these belt-tightening times? I don't know. I'd guess that most governments will choose to utilize that time-honored method of protection of their electronics: Hope for the best.

Great thread.

A catastrophic CME is something which could happen anytime and our interconnected world will find all of its toys toasted in short order.

I know that batteries would be OK if not connected at the time of the surge, but I'm wondering how an array of solar panels would fare if not protected?

It would also do us well to look backwards at how things such as food preservation were done prior to mass electrification.