World’s Largest Blackout in India: Can the World’s Energy Supply Meet its Growing Demand?

Students study by candlelight in this religious school for Muslim girls. Photo credit: Parivartan Sharma / Reuters

In a time when energy demands to cool buildings and residences during a summer with record heat and drought, energy and utility infrastructures are being pushed to the breaking point–most recently in India, where a blackout earlier this week left 670 million without power for two days.

The power outage is the largest on record and about 670 million people in 11 provinces in the northern and eastern portions of India were affected. The major outages began Monday and quickly spread throughout the country, disrupting power in the capital city of New Dehli, leaving its 20 million-plus residents in the dark.

The outage affected mass transit as well, with over 300 trains canceled due to lack of power. Traffic stranded thousands of travelers that rely on mass transit and roads and highways. India’s prime minister had not indicated the cause of the outages but does admit there are problems with the nation’s power grid. By 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, power had been restored to 95%.

These types of power disruptions are not limited to foreign countries. In 2003, a blackout that affected eight U.S. states in the Northeast and Midwest set off by a power grid failure left people and businesses at a near standstill as everything from airports to businesses were shut down.

With world population on the rise, demand for energy continues to increase. But with concerns about the environmental affects of petroleum products as primary energy sources, governments and businesses are looking for ways to cut their carbon footprint, energy demand and utility bills. Some opt for solar power, bio fuels and/or building upgrades to ease their energy load. While these are viable options for reducing energy use they can be costly, time-consuming transitions.

An alternative that many aren’t aware of is using existing building components and improving their performance. Instead of installing expensive window replacements, organizations like the National Defense University and Department of Commerce are opting for a true “green” option–upgrading existing windows with a supplemental interior window system.

Supplemental windows like the Thermolite Window System work with your existing windows to seal the building envelope so there are no costs to remove, dispose of and upgrade windows, making these systems a real green alternative to new energy windows. With industry leading energy ROI, these systems will also pay for themselves in savings much faster than replacement windows.

To find out more about the utility savings and a green upgrade to your existing window system, contact Thermolite today. Our experts are available to discuss your current energy concerns and develop a plan to help provide a healthy energy cost ROI by adding a supplemental window system.