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National security implications of relying on such a cable strung across an ocean to power your economy seem quite large.
by erentz 5y ago
National security implications of relying on such a cable strung across an ocean to power your economy seem quite large.
- dzhiurgis 5y agoThis is de-risking. Also it’s a minuscule percentage right now.
- chmod775 5y agoThat ship has sailed long ago. I doubt there's a country on earth that could protect all of its critical infrastructure against another nation with modern weaponry and tactics. I wouldn't count on either country having much in the way of an energy grid left after a week or so. Additionally war will disrupt supply chains for a lot of industries, stuff you need for power grids included. This is a popular example to illustrate how little it would take to cripple a nation's power grid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf_sniper_attack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf_sniper_attack Don't even need fancy long range missiles as long as you have clandestine operators in the target country. In a discussion of this (on HN I think) someone pointed out that replacements for these transformers probably has to be ordered from Europe, which can take as long as a year.
- Johnythree 5y agoThe answer is redundancy. Eventually there will be a complex network of cables which reach around the world.