“ i was born in the year of the supersonic, the era of the multistory, multivitamin, multitonic, the highrise time of men with the technologic and women who could be bionic, when jump-jets were Harrier, when QE2 was Cunard, when thirty-eight feet tall the Princess Margaret stood stately in her hoverpad, the annee erotique was only thirty aircushioned minutes away and everything went at twice the speed of sound. i opened my eyes. It was all in colour, it didn’t look like Kansas any more. The students were on the barricades, the mode was maxi, the Beatles were transcendental, they opened shop. It was Britain. It was great.” – Ali Smith, ‘The Accidental.’

One of my favourite authors, Ali Smith, describes the age she was born in, the realisation over the scenery of the sixties seems to fit the description we see when we open our eyes. Even if we’ve never been in Kansas, Toto. We have long since been welcomed to the cyber age, the age of technology, innovation, the greatest spread of ideas since the printing press opened shop. It’s a long way from the sixties but it’s all still psychedelic and transcendental. In most countries, in less than thirty aircushioned seconds and you can have your hands on just about any media or information from anywhere over the internet. It is globalization. It is great. 

The age of information is our universe, expanding at rates, which amount to only a mere glint in the eyes of its users baring those who look it up or study it. Regarding this universe, George Orwell anticipated correctly. We are not alone. There is always someone watching, like the faceless big brother, and for the sake of feminism, sister. Even in the energy industry is not immune. It just seems that some little siblings have been throwing their toys of late.

Unlike the psychedelic sixties our activists are masked, hidden by internet profiles, their placards are their blog posts, tweets and social media faces. Those preparing to riot are fashioned behind anonymous masks trespassing beyond all virtual barricades set up by the police. In the information age, we have hackers who have created a whole new host of shadowy nightmares for officials who fight to keep their sites from being infiltrated or bombed with disruptive and crippling activity. It’s all a bit reminiscent of the Madhatter’s tea party. There is all too much going on to keep track. 

Even in the ‘old-school’ protests not everyone who attended were necessarily there for the cause, and with the virtual masks we wear it’s hard to tell who is who. While the ‘hacktivists’ self-dubbed as ‘Anonymous’ seem to have moral arguments for the anarchy they like to cause there are hackers whose latest endeavours to disrupt the energy industry leave their motives unclear. Hit ‘em where it hurts?

India’s recent collapse of their power grid showed just how much it hurts (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444405804577560413178678898.html). Despite not everyone having access to electricity 680 million people (depending on the source you consult) felt the effects of a messy infrastructure for the second time on July 31, 2012 as it spread through 18 states (again depending on the source you consult), culminating in the world’s biggest blackout (on this fact everyone seems to be in agreement). This proved to be a costly experience for the emerging global power, in the region of hundreds of millions of dollars, not accounting for the effect on human life, such as the miners who were trapped. I’m sure the American’s recall the damage, which ensued from the great North-East blackout of 2003, which cost them around 6billion USD, (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=2003-blackout-five-years-later). Not being a stranger to power outages India was accustomed to using diesel generators, but it highlights our vulnerability of being without power. Our information disappears, hospitals can become compromised, business suffers and those used to having power have a small glance into the world of energy poverty, a reality, which about 1.3 billion face everyday (http://www.iea.org/topics/energypoverty/).

Energy poverty is a real hindrance to development and is considered in modern times a blight on living standards and human health, to put it lightly. However our quest for universal access to energy does not get nearly enough airtime, especially with regards to how we can do this sustainably.  But Cheshire digresses and wants to focus on cyber security in the energy industry as the topic for today’s tea party. It all just seems to highlight the security preoccupation, what do we do if the energy sector should get hit?

A few small punches have been dealt by the latest virus targeting the energy sector. While faceless, the malware has a name, Shamoon. Security firm Symantec reports that Shamoon corrupts files, overwrites the Master Boot record. Data is deleted and replaced with image files to avoid data recovery being possible. The prognosis for which is a possibly unusable computer. (http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240161674/Shamoon-is-latest-malware-to-target-energy-sector) 

Although the casualties are low, the hits on the news are not. On August 16th ‘the guardian’ reported hackers taking responsibility for the virus attack on the oil giant, Saudi Aramco. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/aug/16/saudi-aramco-computer-virus-hacking-claims?newsfeed=true). The virus took the company network offline, but by isolating their computers they were left unharmed. The source of the attack is still uncertain.

Computer weekly reports: “Shamoon is the latest in a line of attacks that have targeted infrastructure. It follows Stuxnet, which was designed to hit nuclear infrastructure in Iran, and Duqu, Flame and Gauss, that have sought to infiltrate networks to steal data.” 

We’ve heard of governments rallying for Cyber Security, which is becoming a number one priority to protect infrastructure from attacks. The Cyber Security Act of 2012 sponsored by Senator Joe Lieberman, is one of the latest attempts at cyber security legislation. However the second of August showed there was no such luck on passing this in the Senate. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-aitel/the-cybersecurity-act-of-_b_1737129.html). The argument against the Act seems to be that the private sector can do this on their own, that costs for businesses will be unsightly and that in an age where private companies in the USA are looking out for the security of the nation, the solution is unprecedented. Although we can imagine just how much it hurts, anything akin to ‘increased government control of information’ is enough to get most people to squirm. Nonetheless America is considering the use of an executive order to pass the bill (http://blogs.federaltimes.com/federal-times-blog/2012/08/14/senator-pushes-for-cybersecurity-via-executive-order/). Arguably the cost of this could be less than that which would possibly be accrued by a successful virus dealing what you may call a ‘sucker-punch.’ 

There is no doubting the potential casualties a successful virus could have on infrastructure wherever the source of infection. It has even resulted in terms such as ‘cybergeddon’ being bandied about. Companies are calling out officials for not doing enough. (http://www.smartgridnews.com/artman/publish/Technologies_Security/DOE-to-utilities-Create-cybersecurity-governance-NOW-5042.html). 

As the energy sector pursues efficiency technology, as countries upgrade their energy infrastructure, we grow increasingly reliant on our networks. This all makes proper protection necessary. But when people want to get over a wall, they tend to find a way. Ask Johannesburg about their experience in having high walls and gated communities, which prove insufficient to keep out robberies in upper class homes. Walls address a symptom and not a cause. In the region of Johannesburg mass inequality is apparent and it is taking a while to get better. We do see improvements but electric fences probably haven’t contributed much towards solving the problem. So then what is the cause driving the hackers, what is the motif? Surely the desire to create anarchy must be a simplification of the problem? After all if they were hit with a power outage they would be just as helpless.

In the interim the question remains, just how high will hackers leap over the barricades to get their point across? What exactly is the point of the nameless and faceless striking fear into the hearts of companies and officials alike by their ability to complete highly complex keystrokes? If we’re not in Kansas anymore Toto, would it be a little dramatic to queue the theme song from the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz? Perhaps. 

Once upon a time there were three little pigs, starts the story by James Orchard Haliwell-Phillipps, each built a house to stop the big bad wolf from eating them. The first little pig built his house of straw, and the second built his house from twigs. Both were very satisfied until the wolf huffed and puffed and blew their house down, they consequently became dinner. The third little pig, reputedly the cleverest of the three, built his house of bricks and as much as the wolf huffed and puffed he could not blow the house down.

As children we learn from fairy tales, the ones we read in picture books, and were left to contemplate in our dreams as we drifted off after bedtime stories. Much like the story of Alice in Wonderland. Lessons are woven through the introduction of imaginary characters, there is always a villain and a hero, together creating some kind of black and white picture lesson ingrained into the minds of youths. As we grow older we see the pictures differently and learn to recognize the shades of grey spreading between the black and white but the image from the lesson remains imprinted into our minds. Reading about the latest developments in sustainable building and Net Zero Energy buildings reminded me of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf.

The lesson seems to come down to building strong foundations. We can choose to translate this literally into how we construct our infrastructure or, more figuratively, our lives. What I have taken from this story is that our brick buildings will need to be sustainable and the cement we use needs to be made of resiliency.

When we hear about climate change, science does not want to say that climate change directly causes adverse weather effects and natural disasters but it recognizes a correlation between climate change and the increased frequency of adverse weather effects and natural disasters (see Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Synthesis Report, 2007). Given the changes in weather and natural disasters across the world this lesson in resiliency seems more important than ever. If the big bad wolf is climate change, in this story, it seems he has been huffing and puffing quite a lot of late.

The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/us/temperatures-soar-as-heat-wave-continues.html) reported a record-setting heat wave spreading from St. Louis to Washington, which has culminated in 36 weather-related deaths, “buckled roadways” and two trains being derailed. Overall this has been reported as the hottest summer recorded for the Northern hemisphere (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/04/climate-changes-extreme-weather-us-heatwave ). I’m sure we’ve heard those words before, if not several times and either we can put that down to the media seeking attention for the weather, or for those less optimistic, perhaps we are the proverbial frogs in the boiling water becoming accustomed to the temperature rising and abnormal weather events becoming the norm. Recent earthquakes in Italy certainly seem different to the norm (http://articles.cnn.com/2012-05-29/world/world_europe_italy-earthquake_1_58-magnitude-earthquake-60-magnitude-quake-quake-response?_s=PM:EUROPE). No one in the region can remember as many earthquakes occurring in such a short time frame. The Royal Society published papers to the effect that climate change could even affect the earth’s crust, which could increase the incidence of earthquakes and volcanic activity (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1267137/Climate-change-spark-volcanoes-earthquakes-tsunamis.html).

One of the most remarkable things about human beings is said to be our ability to adapt. Growing up in South Africa our winters were never as severe as those I encountered in Europe and the USA, but in both I noticed the way they adapted to their weather conditions in a very specific way- building temperature control. I learnt that in winter it is wise to wear something light under the layers I put on to guard me from the cold outside, so as to be able to cope with the heat inside. In summer I learnt it was wise to bring a jersey/sweater if I was going to be inside so that I wouldn’t get cold.

So far we have learnt to adapt to the seasons by equipping our buildings with devices that make the weather inside more favourable than the conditions we experience outside. This has proven to be a short-term fix. Heating and cooling is the most energy intensive characteristic of our buildings, it accounts for half of all the energy used in buildings and one third of global final energy consumption, (http://www.iea.org/publications/free_new_Desc.asp?PUBS_ID=2400 ).

Consequently this is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, but through energy efficiency and low/zero carbon heating and cooling technology we have the potential to reduce around 2gigatons (Gt) of C02 emission by 2050. The good news is that not only is much of this technology commercially available but it is being used. Could this be the new brick house?

One of my favourite blogs Clean Technica (www.cleantechnica.com) reported on the latest developments in Philadelphia as they endeavor to become the greenest city in the USA through “super-green” developments. The Nexus Energyhomes development is developing energy efficient homes in the Northern Liberties community in Philadelphia. By combing efficient air filtration, volatile compound (VOC) building materials, energy recovery and geo-solar technology they are hoping to produce Net Zero Energy homes, with the highest green building standards in line with the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB). The mix of this technology is said not only to be sustainable but will also allow residents to enjoy plummeting utility bills.

A Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB) is a relatively new concept used to describe a building, which produces the same amount of energy per year as it uses. Although there are only a few of these such buildings the advances in technology are making them more feasible. The exact metrics tend to vary but there is an overall consensus according to the National Institute of Building Science in the USA (http://www.wbdg.org/resources/netzeroenergybuildings.php) that the building design minimizes energy requirements and uses renewable energy systems to meet energy demand. 

There are four ways according to the Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to define net zero energy, these are: Net Zero Site Energy, Net Zero Source Energy, Net Zero Energy Costs and Net Zero Energy Emissions. For those more interested in the specifics you may want to look at this: http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy06osti/39833.pdf.

While this seems to work best for smaller buildings and homes, it is increasing in popularity and larger buildings are giving it a try as the communications Director of the New Buildings Institute recently noted: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=net-zero-energy-buildings-in-us. This is a development, which is likely to make the US Green Building Council with all their LEED ratings smile, just like a Cheshire cat.

What is the caveat to all of this? Well to draw on the reminder sent out by Dr. Sandra Knight of FEMA at the first-annual Dupont Green Week this year in Washington DC: in the face of climate change construction also needs to be safe and resilient. Her message is that while powering on in an energy efficient manner we shouldn’t forget to think about resiliency.

In one sense energy efficiency is resilient in itself, but as consumers I imagine that we have to ensure that the buildings are also strong enough to withstand the worst huffing and puffing of the big bad wolf.