Let’s just say he excelled at being “Real” 
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I suspect this is just preparing for the worst case scenario. Starting a system from a black start is a hellish situation. Remember the blackout in north eastern USA during our youth, I think it took three days to get power back.
When I worked in an inner city power station we used to rehearse a black start. The problem is that you need power to start the boiler, to run the fans and auxiliary equipment, to raise steam pressure, to start a turbine, bring it up to speed, start generating and then maintaining 50Hz. The BIG problem is that the fans are direct on line start which means a 7 MW fan requires a source to provide 49Mw just to start the first fan.
The power station I worked at used to use a hydro station to get the power to start the boiler - from an electrical perspective the further the power source under no load the bigger the difficulties (I won’t bore you with things like line capacitance and inductive loads etc)
Hence when there is power shortage the quicker you react the better, hence localised black outs which save the whole system from failing, hence the need to prepare. Usually the whole thing is based on frequency, when the frequency drops to 49.8hz cut power to this area, if it drops to 49.6hz cut that area. From memory the electric feed pumps at the last power station I worked at could no longer supply enough water to the boiler at full load if the frequency dropped to 49.2hz so you can see it is a compounding problem.
A week long blackout is the very worst case scenario and very unlikely while you still can get power from France. BUT worth planning for.
Don’t think it will be a week, folks over here just seem to be talking about “Black Fridays”.
It has, indeed, been in progress … 
The Guardian has seen documents, marked “official sensitive”, which warn that in a “reasonable worst-case scenario” all sectors including transport, food and water supply, communications and energy could be “severely disrupted” for up to a week.
They show that ministers will prioritise getting food, water and shelter to the young and elderly people, as well as those with caring responsibilities, if the country experiences blackouts, with the Met Office warning that Britain faces a higher risk of a cold winter.
Whitehall officials are currently stress-testing Programme Yarrow, the confidential plan for coping in the event of a power outage, and have held a series of exercises with government departments and councils across the country in recent days.
The type of technical fault envisaged by government planners includes flood damage or a lightning strike on a substation, but could also cover an attack by a hostile state on sub-sea power cables, following Russian attacks against the Nord Stream energy pipelines.
The Guardian revealed last month that the BBC has prepared secret scripts that could be read on air if energy shortages cause blackouts or the loss of gas supplies this winter.
Programme Yarrow prepares for a situation where power is unavailable, without any pre-warning, to all premises without backup generators during winter. It envisages that 60% of electricity demand will be met “between day 2 and day 7” when households and businesses will be given “intermittent access” to ration supply.
Better safe than sorry … the government’s previous lack of planning for a pandemic led to tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths.
How long will food last in a freezer without power? | Bosch UK.
- Food can remain fresh up to four hours in a refrigerator, 48 hours in a full freezer, and 24 hours in a half freezer.
- Meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, soft cheeses, shredded cheeses, and milk should all be tossed if their temperature is at 4 °C or above for more than two hours.
I’m looking forward to the power cuts. It’ll be just like a scene from ‘Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. People are going to have to be adaptable and resourceful.
Most people on the forum will have survived in the fifties just using electric for lighting and probably a wireless.
I don’t think this will be just for Christmas either, this is just going to be the dry run for the future…We had better get used to it when everyone plugs their EV into the mains. Its a case of supply and demand. Too many people and not enough supply. Either cut down the population, or increase the supply.
I’m using an old bike on a stand, and am connecting as many dynamo’s as possible to run off the back wheel. I’ll be able to get fit, work up some sweat and get warm, and power a light up and maybe charge my phone at the same time. Everyone’s a winner!
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Mobile phone not essential, and certainly not a smartphone, but landline for emergencies.
Never listen to the radio except rarely, in car…
Laptop will charge in car.
Could quite happily do without TV, but I can’t say the same for Mrs Fox…
It might surprise you how little power you generate from your hand cranker. James Watt very generously estimated the Horse Power to be Clydesdale. Your hand cranker is nothing like that rating…
Excellent. What else is there to do with one’s free time and idle hands? Take up knitting??? Not on your nelly. Keep on cranking, that’s what I say!!
Nonsense,
I don’t believe that the likes of Mozart, Thomas Tallis etc were a bunch of crankers… candlelight was good enough for them.
I shall be tuning in to smooth classics at seven after several rounds of toasted bacon sarnies and a generous glass of red .
Night lights and wax melts are already on the go!
Well, they didn’t have electric lights in their days!
Precisely, they didn’t have Specsavers either.
Must have been quite taxing on the eyes, driven people I’d imagine.
Actually, some classical composers did have glasses. Dmitri Shostakovich was one.
Absolutely Besoeker. As Dex is a Mathematician I was going suggest that by converting calories into electrical energy (Watts) he would see how little electrical energy the body can actually produce.
Quote:
Doing the math: n hour on the bike generates around 0.11 kWh (more or less, depending on how fast you cycle, but probably not much more), and the average North American house uses 30 kWh per day. So, an hour on the bike provides only 0.37% of the energy needed for 24 hours, or approximately enough for five minutes. *Oops - that looks like a debunk to us, right there!
My school physic teacher said the overage power per hour was about 100W. That’s just to warm body up.
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Oi!! Taking my name in vain!!
I said I’d use my bike to power a light (1.5V one), and perhaps charge my phone.
I don’t recall saying I’d power my house, largely because I didn’t actually say it.
This is exactly how the MSM operates foxy. How very dare you employ the same tactics? 
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I just thought I’d fill in the blanks Dex…Just like the BBC does… 
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The BBC was good enough for Sir Terry, so, it’s good enough for me.
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It’s everyone’s Auntie.