How talking to air conditioners could help prevent blackouts

An integrated energy grid could monitor power shortfalls, predict demand and respond accordingly, according to experts, although data will need to be shared

For South Australia, it was a cruelly ironic one-two punch - a burst of the extreme heat conditions that are so much more likely because of climate change, and a power cut linked to a simultaneous drop in wind that hobbled the renewable energy systems introduced to minimise global warming in the first place.

On 8 February, South Australians had their air conditioners on full blast while sweltering through temperatures in excess of 46C in some parts of the state, and wind turbines had stopped turning just when energy demand was at its highest. The Australian Energy Market Operator chose not to bring online a standby gas generator and, thanks to an additional computer glitch at SA Power Networks, three times as many houses had their power cut than necessary - a familiar plunge into darkness for the sweat-laced locals of a state that has had more than its fair share of energy problems in recent times.