Journal articles on the topic 'Electric power production Victoria Mathematical models'

The article presents an analysis of the use of correlation-regression analysis, which is based on the methods of mathematical statistics and probability theory in the study of the power consumption of enterprises with equipment of continuous production. On the basis of the annual power consumption schedule of the electric steel-smelting shop in a monthly time section, mathematical models have been developed for the power consumption parameters. And also, on the basis of statistical data with the use of a mathematical method, mathematical expressions were obtained for the electric power consumption and the specific consumption for the main equipment of the electric steel-smelting shop. In order to assess the adequacy of the developed mathematical models, mathematical models of the total and specific consumption of their power consumption are compared with actual data. The comparison results show high reliability of the power consumption modes of the main equipment of the facility in question. The analysis of the values of forecast errors with low error rates determines the adequacy of the developed mathematical models of the parameters of power consumption in terms of power consumption and specific consumption for the main equipment of the electric steel-smelting shop. In this regard, they can be used to determine the predicted values of the parameters of power consumption in electric steelmaking equipment.

The article deals with the issues of determining the optimal modes of electric steelmaking production on the basis of analysis of the graph of changes in the average power and voltage of the arc furnace in one meltdown cycle. In addition, empirical equations for determining the flow rate and specific energy consumption during the operation of process equipment under normal conditions were obtained for the main equipment of the electric arc-furnace shop using the mathematical method.

The mathematical models used in the estimation of GHI on the Earth's surface are inconvenient because they always assume that the sky clarity index is constant. Hence, these models are often confronted with long-period empirical ground measurements that may exceeds 11 years. The impact of cloud cover on an electric power generation site is a very critical parameter for installing a solar power plant and evaluating its productivity. The state of knowledge about the sun influence, the greenhouse effect on climate change, and cloud occurrence can’t be described in a mathematical or numerical model.Therefore, in this paper, we propose the use of Deep-Learning techniques to predict any site’s productivity by analyzing its potential insolation. We also suggest the analysis of the ground and satellite- based measurements collected over 30 years. We propose the estimation of future climate change affecting cloud cover.

An integrated Smart Grid system has been developed for matching the production and consumption of electric power based on a prediction of changes in the battery capacity. Advanced decisions on the change in power transmission capacity have made it possible to regulate voltage in the distribution system by maintaining the power factor of the photoelectric charging station. Voltages at the input to the hybrid inverter and in the distribution system were measured to assess their ratio. Comprehensive mathematical and logical modeling of the photoelectric charging station was performed based on the mathematical substantiation of architecture and operation maintenance. A dynamic subsystem including such components as mains, a photoelectric module, a hybrid inverter, batteries, a two-way counter Smart Meter and a charger formed the basis of the proposed technological system. Time constants and coefficients of mathematical models of dynamics in terms of estimation of changes in the battery capacity and power factor of the photoelectric charging station were determined. A functional estimate of changes in the battery capacity and power factor of the photoelectric charging station was obtained. Maintenance of voltage in the distribution system was realized based on resulting operation data to estimate a change in the battery capacity. Advanced decision-making has made it possible to raise the power factor of the photoelectric charging station up to 40 % due to matching the electric power production and consumption. Maintenance of operation of the photoelectric charging station using the developed Smart Grid technology has enabled prevention of peak loading of the power system due to a 20 % reduction of power consumption from the network.

Abstract. The article considers a set of scientific approaches and technical measures aimed at improving the ef-ficiency of power supply to ferrous metallurgy enterprises, currently being designed by the scientific schools of the Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University together with PJSC “Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works”. The principles of the formation of mathematical models for energy consumption, the basics of their optimization, as well as practical issues of rationing and planning energy consumption and operational management of the energy economy are de-scribed herein. The study offers examples of the implementation of energy-saving measures at own factory power plants, as well as at such energy-intensive facilities as arc steelmaking furnaces and rolling mills. The experience of PJSC “Mag-nitogorsk Iron and Steel Works” with regard to the introduction of modern automation tools in the energy sector and pow-er supply systems within the framework of the promising development program “Industry 4.0” is presented.

Purpose. Research of the influence of modulation of arc processes on characteristics of clad metal with revealing the dependences of chemical composition and geometrical dimensions of the clad metal on the modulation parameters, as well as the development of mathematical models of these dependences with the purpose of predicting the results of modulation to improve the quality of deposited layers. Methods of research. Well-known methods of surfacing metal research were used: spectral analysis of metal composition, metallographic analysis of the obtained samples of cross-sections of the cladding rolls. Special computerized programs were used to measure geometric dimensions of the roll. Methods of regression analysis were used in order to obtain generalized mathematical models of dependencies of chemical elements and geometrical dimensions on modulation parameters. Results. In the process of research with electric-arc cladding of electrode flux-cored self-shielded wire, generalized results of dependences of carbon, chromium and boron content, width, amplification and penetration of cross-sectional area on the frequency and modulation duty cycle of electric-arc process parameters were obtained. Method of mathematical description of modulation effect on chemical composition and shape of the weld bead was developed. Scientific novelty. It was suggested to carry out estimation of the results by applying mathematical models when carrying out the electric arc process with periodic change of power parameters of current surfacing due to controlling the electric drive of the electrode wire feeding mechanism and also with change of voltage when controlling the output voltage of the welding current source. Practical value. A set of studies concerning the effects of modulation of power parameters of the welding process using an original development of the modulator allows, based on relatively simple systems of automatic and mechanized equipmen makes it possible, to obtain a controlled process of influence on the characteristics of the fused metal with their improvement for the implementation in industrial production.

The development and implementation of a strategy for organizational reconfiguration of a digital heat and power super system to streamline the processes of providing structured technological zones with heat makes the basis for creating a coordinated system for optimizing the tariff and price load on heat and electricity consumers in the Russian economy. Providing the industry with a mechanism for regulating the processes of rendering heat energy services based on the transition to the system of Unified Heat-Supply Organizations (ETOs) and ensuring a return on price trend investment in the heat market with the possibility of transferring departmental reporting and analytics to a single regulatory legal basis enables regulating the operation of the power system as a subsystem of the Russian energy sector with a common information technology platform. It is proposed to develop a methodology for constructing mathematical estimates of reliability indicators of provided heat and power services in the form of analytical relationships and simulation models, taking into account the complex nature of the operation of electric power transmission and heat transportation networks as well as information systems that provide processing, storage and distribution of digital data and documents. The key activities are: development of a methodology for constructing mathematical estimates of reliability indicators of provided heat and power services in the form of analytical relationships and simulation models; development of digital methods for detecting hazardous effects; development of algorithms for storing information in the presence of natural and artificial interference; development of digital methods for optimization, modernization and transformation of production chains and processes, control models and planning procedures to neutralize threats to the reliability of provided heat and power services. The result should be the creation of a computer-based information system for modeling impacts on the electric and heat grid facilities.

The goal of this article is to develop a generalized mathematical model for controlling the motion of the spacecraft of a space industrial platform’s distributed power system. Space industrialization is one of the promising lines of industrial development in the world. The development of space industrial technologies will allow one to solve a number of problems in the production of unique products unavailable under terrestrial conditions. The main types of these products include semiconductor materials, materials made by 3D printing in microgravity, space modules of sunshade systems, space metallurgy products, space debris processing products, and high-purity space biology substances. Taking this into account, a certain amount of electricity is required for the manufacture of one or another product. Given that some space industrial processes can consume a significant amount of electricity, a space industrial platform's own power generation may not be sufficient. Because of this, it was proposed to use additional energy resources through the development of a distributed power supply system for a space industrial platform. A group of power spacecraft is envisaged to collect and accumulate electric energy and transmit it in a contactless way to the receivers of the space industrial platform. The article presents mathematical models for the analysis of the orbital, angular, and relative motion of power spacecraft and receiver spacecraft. Algorithms are proposed for calculating the parameters of the power spacecraft orientation and stabilization system. A generalized model is constructed for determining the maximum distance and time interval of power spacecraft to platform electric power transmission using microwave radiation. The model developed allows one to choose the power spacecraft design parameters at the stage of conceptual design of space industrial platform power systems.

Background: A reciprocating direct-drive electric submersible plunger pump (RDD-ESPP) lifting system is an innovative rodless lifting method, which uses a downhole linear motor to directly drive the plunger pump to lift the fluid. This method effectively overcomes the problems encountered in a conventional sucker rod pumping system, such as severe eccentric wear between the sucker rod and the tubing, higher energy consumption and frequent pump maintenance. Objective: In this manuscript, the objective is to propose a methodology on optimizing the working parameters of RDD-ESPP lifting system and validate the theory with field case. Methods and Results: Mathematical models for the wellbore temperature distribution, lifting load, pump efficiency, system efficiency and tubing strength validation are established. A selection process for the optimal working parameters is proposed, and a parameter sensitivity analysis is implemented. The results show that pump efficiency is largely affected by gas and leakage, and there are reasonable pump submergence depths in oil wells for different produced gas-to-oil ratios. A field application test in a low-production well resulted in a 33.5% power savings rate and 41.6% improvement in the pump efficiency. Conclusion: RDD-ESPP lifting system has a promosing potential on power savings and consumption reduction compared with conventional sucker rod pumping system.

This article describes problems related to the operation of a virtual micro power plant at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FEE), Czestochowa University of Technology (CUT). In the era of dynamic development of renewable energy sources, it is necessary to create alternative electricity management systems for existing power systems, including power transmission and distribution systems. Virtual power plants (VPPs) are such an alternative. So far, there has been no unified standard for a VPP operation. The article presents components that make up the VPP at the FEE and describes their physical and logical structure. The presented solution is a combination of several units operating in the internal power grid of the FEE, i.e., wind turbines, energy storage (ES), photovoltaic panels (PV) and car charging stations. Their operation is coordinated by a common control system. One of the research goals described in the article is to optimize the operation of these components to minimize consumption of the electric energy from the external supply network. An analysis of data from the VPP management system was carried out to create mathematical models for prediction of the consumed power and the power produced by the PVs. These models allowed us to achieve the assumed objective. The article also presents the VPP data processing results in terms of detecting outliers and missing values. In addition to the issues discussed above, the authors also proposed to apply the Prophet model for short-term forecasting of the PV farm electricity production. It is a statistical model that has so far been used for social and business research. The authors implemented it effectively for technical analysis purposes. It was shown that the results of the PV energy production forecasting using the Prophet model are acceptable despite occurrences of missing data in the investigated time series.

Since in Ukraine there are fines for imbalances in solar power generation in the “day-ahead” energy market, the forecasting of electricity generation is an important component of the solar power plant operation. To forecast the active power generation of photovoltaic panels, a mathematical model should be developed, which considers the main factors affecting the volume of energy generation. In this article, the main factors affecting the performance of solar panels were analysed using correlation analysis. The data sets for the construction of the forecasting model were obtained from the solar power plant in the Kyiv region. Two types of data sets were used for the analysis of factors and model building: 10-minute time interval data and daily data. For each data set, the input parameters were selected using correlation analysis. Considering the determining factors, the models of finding the function of reflecting meteorological factors in the volume of electricity generation are built. It is established that through models with a lower discreteness of climatic parameters forecast it is possible to determine the potential volume of electricity production by the solar power plant for the day-ahead with a lower mean absolute error. The best accuracy of the model for predicting electric power generation over the 10-minute interval is obtained in the ensemble random of a forest model. It is determined that models without solar radiation intensity parameters on the input have an unsatisfactory coefficient of determination. Therefore, further research will focus on combining a model of forecasting the day-ahead solar radiation with 10-minutes discreteness with a model for determining the amount of electricity generation. The determined predicted values of solar radiation will be the input parameter of the forecasting model described in the article

For the mining industry, the key problem is to ensure maximum energy efficiency at each technological stage of mining production, therefore this article is devoted to assessing the results of modeling two different electric drive systems of the main fan unit of the mine from the point of view of ensuring the energy efficiency of the most energy-intensive unit equipment. In 2017, the main fan units were replaced at one of the mines for the extraction of diamond-bearing raw materials. The main reason for the replacement was the depletion of their resource, as well as an increase in the resistance of the mine network, which required an increase in the depression created by the fan. Comparison of the actual operating parameters of the existing electric drive system and the newly installed one can give an idea of the real scale and directions of development of technologies in the field of electric drive. Collection, processing, analysis and comparison of real data on two fans and electric drive systems of domestic and foreign production can contribute to the disclosure and solution of the problems of import substitution of such equipment. To analyze energy efficiency, methods were applied that involve the creation of mathematical models of two systems in the MatLab/Simulink software package, as well as a technical and economic comparison of the two options in terms of energy consumption. Based on the data obtained as a result of modeling for the TAF-36/21.5-1 and VOD-50 fans, graphical dependencies of static pressure, supply and power on the angular speed were built, and the annual electricity consumption was calculated for each option.

Analysis of recent research and publications. The spread of electric current in the ore bath has been the subject of study for many years. Many scientists have performed mathematical modeling of electric fields of three-phase ore thermal furnaces, and also developed a method for conducting theoretical research using conformal mappings to determine the physical fields in the ore thermal melting furnace. Known mathematical models of energy distribution in the volume of the bath of the latter are based on the method of secondary sources, which has a number of disadvantages, in particular, complex integral equations that affect the volume of computational operations. Qualitatively, the electric field of the furnace is sufficiently illuminated, but the available information is not enough to accurately calculate the power, electrical transformations and temperatures at each point in the volume of the bath. The aim of the study. The above-mentioned mathematical models of the operation of the ore-thermal furnace describe only one process that takes place in it. Therefore, in complex modeling it is necessary to take into account all the processes and the relationship between them to obtain complete information about the power consumption of the furnace, the formation of melt and slag throughout the smelting of ferroalloys. Presentation of the main research material. The elements of the dynamic algorithmic model of operation of a round three-electrode ore thermal furnace are considered, which takes into account the specifics of electrical, thermal and chemical processes that are directly interconnected in the production of ferroalloys. Shows the complete generalized structure of such a model. The main purpose of its creation is the ability to control and influence the technological process to reduce the specific cost of electricity per unit of finished product. The algorithm is divided into basic blocks: input of initial parameters; division of the inner region of the furnace into elementary volumes (for calculations in them); determination of current flow paths; calculation of energy released in elementary volumes due to the passage of current through the charge; calculation of the temperature field of the bath; determination of the moment of self-ignition of coke; recalculation of the temperature field of the bath due to heat transfer processes; determining the amount of melt formed; calculation of the amount of charge that must be poured into the bath; output parameters of the furnace. The universality of this algorithm is the ability to interrupt the cycle of calculations under various conditions, such as: the value of the amount of electricity consumed (with time); the value of the formed melt (with time); and other. Conclusions. The model allows to stop melting and start draining of ferroalloys according to the predicted amount of formed melt, which in turn can reduce the melting time and the amount of electric energy consumed.

The technical and economic processes of the Local Grid, regional electricity system comprising small modular reactor nuclear power plants, renewable electricity generators, and electricity storage systems are investigated. Smart grid technologies are used in the management of such a system. In relation to the electricity system, the Local Grid acts as a consumer or producer of electricity depending on the price situation in the wholesale market and its own ability to balance the volume of electricity generation-consumption. The Local Grid market is considered to be perfect, otherwise the wholesale electricity market is characterized by imperfect competition. The mathematical model of the Local Grid is offered. The presented model adequately reproduces the characteristics of the interaction between the local market and the wholesale market. The mathematical model is generated in the form of the commitment problem for small modular reactors and electricity storage systems. The model reflects the technological limitations for the loading modes of small modular reactors and units of the energy storage system, which operate in the modes of direct and reverse energy conversion. In particular, the model reflects the shunting modes and start-shutdown modes of small modular reactors and charge-discharge modes of energy storage system units, which together determine flexibility of the operation modes for the entire power system. The commitment problem of small modular reactors of a nuclear power plant, units of the electricity storage system, and transmission lines connecting the Local Grid with the power system is a mixed integer programming problem with an objective function of minimized system costs. Cluster integer functions are used to reduce the dimensionality of the problems of mathematical modeling the loading modes of the Local Grid in the descriptions for the sets of the same type small modular reactors, as well as the same type energy storage units. The Local Grid model reproduces the modes of its disconnection from the system operator's network to increase nuclear safety in the event of a natural disaster or hostilities. The results of computational experiments on modeling the commitment modes of the local electrical grid are presented. The experiments used standard data on the volume of electricity consumption and its production from renewable energy sources. The results of the computational experiment confirm the adequacy of the suggested mathematical model for the Local Grid. The presented model is suitable for the use both independently – to analyze Local Grid functioning - and in combination with the models of electric power industry - to determine the impact of the Local Grids on the electricity system. The article is developed based on the results of the research carried out under target program “Support of State-Priority Research and Scientific and Technical (Experimental) Solutions of the Department of Physical and Technical Problems of Energy of the NAS of Ukraine for 2022 – 2023” with program expenditure classification code 6541230 (applied research).

The global trend is constantly increasing investments in strategic sectors of the economy, for example the electric power industry, which, in many countries, is becoming diversified and dispersed due to the multitude of entities investing in energy production and renewable resources, which leads to an increase in the heterogeneity of investment decisions. There is an urgent need to control the movement of investments, budget funds, as well as their development in the process of implementing investment programs of energy companies. The control of the movement of investments is the most promising direction of studying the subject of finance and audit. The increasing volume of public and private targeted investments in the energy sector and the lack of control over the effectiveness of investment projects (since each program contains several thousand lists of projects) necessitated the introduction of additional regulation of budget spending. The development of a mathematical apparatus for such regulation led to the creation in the Russian Federation of an institute of an independent public technological and price audit (TPA). The TPA is seen as a mechanism to ensure an effective project evaluation and selection process. This article describes methodological improvements using power system optimization models. The Integrated MARKAL-EFOM System (TIMES) was developed as part of the Energy Technology Systems Analysis Program of the IEA-ETSAP, an international community that uses long-term energy scenarios to conduct in-depth energy and environmental analyzes. This approach includes two different but complementary systematic approaches to energy modeling: an engineering approach and an economic approach. The same approach is used when conducting a TSA, when an investment object is evaluated as a set of technological and price parameters. The article considers a model of resource allocation in the energy sector and a mechanism for using TPA for investment projects with state participation in a natural monopoly. An approach to the financial and long-term distribution of investments of electric power companies based on the search for a balance of interests of the supplier and consumer and available energy sources is proposed. A model has been developed to find the optimal plan of technical solutions, taking into account the balance of the possibilities of the electric power industry and the needs of the economy. The relevance of the article is due to the requirements of investment efficiency, since the prevailing share in the costs is occupied by the costs of equipment and the construction of power plants.

Today, energy consumption in the world is growing and it is becoming urgent to solve the problem of replacing traditional energy sources with alternative ones. The solution to this problem is impossible without a preliminary data analysis and further forecasting of energy production by alternative sources. However, the use of alternative energy sources in the conditions of the wholesale electricity and capacity market currently operating on the territory of the Russian Federation is impossible without the use of short-term predictive “day ahead” models. In this article, the authors perform a brief analysis of the existing methods of short-term forecasting which are used when making forecasts for the generation of electricity by solar power plants. Currently, there are already a fairly large number of predictive models built within each of the selected methods of short-term forecasting, and they all differ in their characteristics. Therefore, in order to identify the most promising method of short-term forecasting for further use and development, the authors used a previously developed classification. In the course of the study, a preliminary processing of initial data obtained from the existing solar power plants using spectral analysis was carried out. Further, to build a predictive model, a correlation analysis of the initial data was carried out, which showed the absence of a linear relationship between the components in the retrospective data. Based on the results of the correlation analysis the authors made a decision to select parameters empirically in order to build a predictive model. As a result of the study, a mathematical model based on an artificial neural network was proposed and a learning sample was generated for it. In addition, the architecture of an artificial neural network was determined, the result of which is a short-term forecast of electric power generation in the "day ahead" mode, and calculations were performed to obtain numerical values of the forecast. From the results of the study, it follows that the developed predictive model in the predicted interval has a mean absolute error of about 13.5 MW. However, at some intervals, the peak discrepancies can reach up to 200 MW. The root mean square error of the model is 27.8 MW.

The actual mathematical models describing global climate closely link the detected increase in global temperature to anthropogenic activity. The only energy source we can rely on in a long perspective is solar irradiation which is in the order of 10,000 kW/inhabitant. The actual primary power consumption (mainly based on fossil resources) in the developed countries is in the range of 5 to 10 kW/inhabitant. The total power contained in our nutrition is in the range of 0.11 kW/inhabitant. The organic pollution of domestic waste water corresponds to ∼0.018 kW/inhabitant. The nutrients contained in the waste water can also be converted into energy equivalents replacing market fertiliser production. This energy equivalent is in the range of 0.009 kW/inhabitant. Hence waste water will never be a relevant source of energy as long as our primary energy consumption is in the range of several kW/inhabitant. The annual mean primary power demand of conventional municipal waste water treatment with nutrient removal is in the range of 0.003–0.015 kW/inhabitant. In principle it is already possible to reduce this value for external energy supply to zero. Such plants should be connected to an electrical grid in order to keep investment costs low. Peak energy demand will be supported from the grid and surplus electric energy from the plant can be is fed to the grid. Zero ‘carbon footprint’ will not be affected by this solution. Energy minimisation must never negatively affect treatment efficiency because water quality conservation is more important for sustainable development than the possible reduction in energy demand. This argument is strongly supported by economical considerations as the fixed costs for waste water infrastructure are dominant.

A power plant converts energy from a non-electric form to an electric one. Depending on the energy conversion, power plants are classified as minerals, nuclear, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, and so on. The main goal is to perform this transformation as best as possible. Criteria of safety, efficiency, reliability and affordability are taken into account as benchmarks. The station consists of several units that generate and work together to meet electricity needs. For a fossil fuel power plant, each unit consists of three main components: a boiler, a turbine and a generator. The complexity of the operation is due to the variability of the load and high efficiency required in a wide range of operations. The main difficulties for the management task then arise due to the strong link between process variables and process nonlinearity. The purpose of this article is to analyze and develop a proposal for the introduction of artificial intelligence in the power industry of Ukraine. To achieve this goal, we will offer the following tasks: - analyze existing systems for the use of artificial intelligence in industry; - develop proposals for the introduction of artificial intelligence in the electricity system of Ukraine. In this study, methods of statistical, factorial, historical, comparative, logical, economic-mathematical and systems analysis, the method of expert assessments were used, which allowed to formulate proposals for the introduction of artificial intelligence in the power industry. Artificial neural networks are the first step towards a fundamentally new system of information analysis. They are mathematical and computer models that simulate the work of biological neurons, ie a system of interacting processes, built on the principle of connecting nerve cells of the human brain. It should be noted that they differ from conventional machine algorithms in the ability to learn, memorize and reproduce images, determine patterns, memorize and analyze information and obtain results. Output signals that arrive at the next processor and continue to be converted. Thus, artificial neurons form networks and layers in which connections are created, restored, maintained and destroyed by special signals. With regard to artificial intelligence, there is no generally accepted definition of artificial intelligence, therefore, by artificial intelligence we mean a machine system capable of learning using objective knowledge and experience, to solve creative problems like the human brain and inventive tasks, not going through options, build strategies and apply abstract concepts. Digitalization and artificial intelligence are penetrating most sectors of the economy, including the electricity sector. The digitalization of energy requires the development and widespread use of end-to-end technologies, including industrial Internet, components of robotics, wireless communications, artificial intelligence and others. Thus, artificial intelligence technologies have prospects for development. Of course, significant targeted funding is needed to achieve significant results. The interaction of research institutes and universities with business is very important, where artificial intelligence technologies are also being developed. Attention of the authorities and society, their understanding of the importance of the tasks facing countries to achieve the goal of implementing artificial intelligence. With regard to electricity, the integration of artificial intelligence into the industry will help optimize and increase efficiency in all aspects of energy production, transmission and consumption. It should be noted that the development of electricity is a step towards the development of other industries. That is why the transition to the digital industry is impossible without the digitalization and intellectualization of the power industry

The features of the location and functioning of renewable energy sources in the Northern Black Sea region in the context of political and economic transformations are considered. The strategic importance and expediency of using alternative energy power with the use of a “green” tariff and the implementation of a new electricity market have been proved. Analyzed the main factors of development and operation of renewable energy sources, among ecology-geographical, socio-geographical, economic and geopolitical. The ecology-geographical factor makes assess first of all the natural and ecological conditions on the territory, which can be used to create new renewable energy power complexes with huge economic efficiency. For the Ukrainian Black Sea region, the prospects for the development of renewable energy power are primarily related to the use of wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy. The Northern Black Sea that is part of Ukraine, which receives the largest amount of solar radiation and has a lower relief, which facilitates the movement of winds from the coast of the Black and Azov seas deeper into the territory. In the system of socio-geographical factors, the population density, the pattern of settlements, the level of infrastructure development, the availability of skilled labour forces and the availability of energy consumers will be estimated. An economic factor has allowed evaluating and analyzing the cost of electricity generation from renewable energy power. The assessment of the geopolitical factor enabled the possibility and prospects of cooperation with investors from Norway, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Taking into account advanced international experience in the study of renewable energy capacity. Improved scientific methods for the investigation of renewable energy sources from the standpoint of social geography, not just within technological, engineering and economic areas. The principles of localization of alternative energy power are highlighted, which take into account the socio-geographical features of the Northern Black Sea Region: spatial distribution, labour resource potential, production infrastructure, economic attractiveness, regional competitiveness, etc. Identified functional and sectorial types of the regions of the Northern Black Sea region, which depending on the prevailing types of generation and the volume of production of electric energy. According to the results of the research, four functional-branch types have been identified: solar power – Odesa Region, wind – Donetsk, wind and solar – Kherson and Zaporizhzhia and wind and solar + small hydropower + bioenergy – Mykolaiv Region. By 2026, we predicted changes of those types for the following: wind – Donetsk (without changes), solar + wind – Kherson, Zaporizhzhia (without changes) and Odessa regions and wind + solar + small hydropower + bioenergy – Mykolaiv Region (without changes).Reflected energy- deficient and energy-surplus areas within the Northern Black Sea region, taking into account the balance of renewable energy power and total electricity generation. Investigated the potential of using alternative energy power using three-dimensional mathematical models. Spatial analysis of the most favourable spaces and areas for the development of new capacities of renewable energy power, taking into account the above factors and determinants, has been carried out. The further development of renewable energy power was adjusted according to the United Energy Network Development Plan until 2026 and the flow of foreign direct investment from the countries of the European Union. Presented trend in the dynamics of the distribution of renewable energy power.

Electric power is a branch of the power industry, which includes the production, transmission and sale of electricity. Electric power is the most important branch of the power industry, which is explained by such advantages of electricity over the other types of energy as the relative ease of transmission over long distances. Activity of "IDGC of the South - Astrakhanenergo", PJCS is organized to supply electricity to the consumer. One of the important factors of electricity supply is timely testing and inspecting the cable. The subject of research are cable lines. There have been considered different types of cables (designation, specifications) that are put into operation in four districts in Astrakhan. The statistics data obtained during 2001-2017 demonstrate the change in insulation resistance over the time. There has been found the influence of the environment and ground characteristics on soundness of the cable line insulation. Assessment of the impact of soil parameters on the cable line in the Sovetsky district in Astrakhan has been carried out. When modelling dependence of insulation from external factors there were studied models of two types: linear and logarithmic. It has been stated that the logarithmic model is more suitable for mathematical modelling due to its adequate evaluation of dependence of resistance on the ground characteristics. Mathematical calculations done and the choice of logarithmic models helped to propose a method of predicting the continuous working time of the cable line without involvement of electrical personnel in testing and visual inspection, which in future will significantly reduce the number of emergency situations in the facilities and save the budget.

There’s always this never-ending discussion about the curator who imposes meaning or imposes the concept of art, of what art is. I think this is the wrong opposition. Every artwork produces its concept, or a concept of what art is. And the role of the curator is not to produce a concept of art but to invent, to fabricate, elaborate reading grids or coexistence grids between them.(Nicolas Bourriaud quoted in Bourriaud, Lunghi, O’Neill, and Ruf 91–92)In 2010 at a conference in Rotterdam, Nicolas Bourriaud, Enrico Lunghi, Paul O’Neill, and Beatrix Ruf discussed the question, “Is the curator per definition a political animal?” This paper draws on their discussion when posing the reverse scenario—is the political animal per definition a curator in the context of the development of large-scale public policy? In exploring this question, I suggest that recent conceptual discussions centring on “the curatorial turn” in the arena of the creative arts provide a useful framework for understanding and managing opportunities and pitfalls in policymaking that is influenced by news media. Such a conceptual understanding is important. My empirical research has identified a transport policy arena that is changing due to news media scrutiny in Sydney, Australia. My findings are that the discourses arising and circulating in the public and the news media wield considerable influence. I posit in this paper the view that recent academic discussion of curatorial practices could identify more effective and successful approaches to policy development and implementation. I also question whether some of the key problems highlighted by commentary on the curatorial turn, such as the silencing of the voice of the artist, find parallels in policy as the influence of the bureaucrat or technical expert is diminished by the rise of the politician as curator in mediatised policy. The Political AnimalPaul O’Neill defines a political animal: “to be a passionate and human visionary—someone who bridges gaps, negotiates the impossible in order to generate change, even slight change, movements, a shivering” (Bourriaud et al. 90). O’Neill’s definition is a different definition from Aristotle’s famous assertion that humans (collectively) are the “political animal” because they are the only animals to possess speech (Danta and Vardoulakis 3). The essence of O’Neill’s definition shifts from the Aristotelian view that all humans are political, towards what Chris Danta and Dimitris Vardoulakis (4) refer to as “the consumption of the political by politics,” where the domain of the political is the realm of the elite few rather than innately human as Aristotle suggests. Moreover, there is a suggestion in O’Neill’s definition that the “political animal” is the consummate politician, creating change against great opposition. I suggest that this idea of struggle and adversity in O’Neill’s definition echoes policy development’s own “turn” of the early 1990s, “the argumentative turn in policy analysis and planning” (Fischer and Forester 43). The Argumentative Turn The argumentative turn in policy analysis and planning is premised on the assertion that “policy is made of language” (Majone 1). It represents a seismic shift in previously championed academic conceptions of policy analysis—decisionism, rationality, the economic model of choice, and other models that advocate measured, rational, and objective policy development processes. The argumentative turn highlights the importance of communication in policy development. Prior to this turn, policy analysts considered formal communication to be something that happened after policy elites had completed the scientific, objective, analytical, and rational work. Communication was perceived as being the process of “seducing” or the “‘mere words’ that add gloss to the important stuff” (Throgmorton 117–19). Communication had meant selling or “spinning” the policy—a task often left to the devices of the public relations industry by the “less scrupulous” policymaker (Dryzek 227).The new line of inquiry posits the alternative view that, far from communication being peripheral, “the policy process is constituted by and mediated through communicative practices” (Fischer and Gottweis 2). Thanks largely to the work of Deborah Stone and Giandomenico Majone, academics began to ask, “What if our language does not simply mirror or picture the world but instead profoundly shapes our view of it in the first place?” (Fischer and Forester 1). The importance of this turn to the argument, I posit in this paper, is illustrated by Stone when she contends that the communication of conflicting views and interests create a world where paradoxical positions on policy are inevitable. Stone states, “Ask a politician to define a problem and he will probably draw a battlefield and tell you who stands on which side. The analytical language of politics includes ‘for and against,’ ‘supporters and enemies,’ ‘our side and their side’” (166). Stone describes a policymaking process that is inherently difficult. Her ideas echo O’Neill’s intonation that in order for movement or even infinitesimal change it is the negotiation of the impossible that makes a political animal. The Mediatisation of Sydney Transport Stone and Majone speak only cursorily of the media in policy development. However, in recent years academics have increasingly contended that “mediatisation” be recognised as referring to the increasing influence of media in social, cultural, and political spheres (Deacon and Stanyer; Strömbäck and Esser; Shehata and Strömbäck). My own research into the influence of mediatisation on transport policy and projects in Sydney has centred more specifically on the influence of news media. My focus has been a trend towards news media influence in Australian politics and policy that has been observed by academics for more than a decade (Craig; Young; Ward, PR State; Ward, Public Affair; Ward, Power). My research entailed two case study projects, the failed Sydney CBD Metro (SCM) rail line and a North West Rail Link (NWR) currently under construction. Data-gathering included a news media study of 180 relevant print articles; 30 expert interviews with respondents from politics, the bureaucracy, transport planning, news media, and public relations, whose work related to transport (with a number working on the case study projects); and surveys, interviews, and focus groups with 149 public respondents. The research identified projects whose contrasting fortunes tell a significant story in relation to the influence of news media. The SCM, despite being a project deemed to be of considerable merit by the majority of expert respondents, was, as stated by a transport planner who worked on the project, “poorly sold,” which “turned it into a project that was very easy to ridicule.” Following a resulting period of intense news media criticism, the SCM was abandoned. As a transport reporter for a daily newspaper asserts in an interview, the prevailing view in the news media is that the project “was done on the back of an envelope.” According to experts with knowledge of the SCM, that years of planning had been undertaken was not properly presented to the public. Conversely, the experts I interviewed deem the NWR to be a low-priority project for Sydney. As a former chief of staff within both federal and state government departments including transport states, “if you are going to put money into anything in Sydney it would not be the NWR.” However, in the project’s favour is an overwhelming dominant public and media discourse that I label The north-west of Sydney is overdue rail transport. A communications respondent contends in an interview that because the NWR has “been talked about for so long” it holds “the right sighting, if you like, in people’s minds,” in other words, the media and the public have become used to the idea of the project.Ultimately, my findings, dealt with in more detail elsewhere (Richardson), suggest that powerful news media and public discourses, if not managed effectively, can be highly problematic for policymaking. This was found to be the case for the failure of the SCM. It is with this finding that I assert that the concept of curating the discourses surrounding a policy arena could hold considerable merit as a conceptual framework for discourse management. The Curatorial Turn in Policy Development? I was alerted to the idea of curating mediatised policy development during an expert interview for my empirical research. The respondent, chief editor of a Sydney newspaper, stated that, with an overwhelming mountain of information, news, views, and commentary being generated daily through the likes of the Internet and social media, the public needs curators to sift and sort the most important themes and arguments. The expert suggested this is now part of a journalist’s role. The idea of journalists as curators is far from new (Bakker 596). Nor is it the purpose of this paper. However, what struck me in this notion of curating was the critical role of sifting, sorting and ultimately selecting which themes, ideas, or pieces of information are privileged in myriad choices. My own empirical research was indicating that the management of highly influential news media and public discourses surrounding transport infrastructure also involved a considerable level of selection. Therefore, I hypothesised that the concept of curating might aid the managing of discourses when it comes to communicating for successful policy and project development that is subject to news media scrutiny. Research into scholarship has indicated that the concept of “the curatorial turn” is significant to this hypothesis. Since the 1960s the role of curator in art exhibition has shifted from that of “caretaker” for a collection to the shaper of an exhibition (O’Neill, “Turn”; O’Neill, Culture). Central to this shift is “the changing perception of the curator as carer to a curator who has a more creative and active part to play within the production of art itself” (O’Neill, Turn 243). Some commentators go so far as to suggest that curators have become cultural agents that “participate in the production of cultural value” (244). The curator’s role in exhibition design has also been equated to that of an author or auteur that drives an exhibition’s meaning (251–52). Why is this important for policy development? It is my view that there is certainly merit to viewing a significant part of the role of the political animal in policymaking as the curator of public and media discourse. As Beatrix Ruf suggests, the role of the curator is to create a “freedom for things to happen” within “a societal context” that not only takes into account the needs of the “artist” but also the “audience” (Bourriaud et al. 91). If we were to substitute bureaucrat for artist and media/public for audience then Ruf’s suggestion seems particularly relevant for the communication of policy. To return to Bourriaud’s quote that began this paper, perhaps the role of the curator/policymaker is not solely to produce a policy “but to invent, to fabricate, elaborate reading grids or coexistence grids,” to manage the discourses that influence the policy arena (Bourriaud et al. 92). Furthermore, the answer to why the concept of the curatorial turn seems relevant to policy development requires consideration not only of the rise of the voice and influence of the curator/policymaker but also of those at whose expense this shift has occurred. Through the rise of the curator the voice of the artist has dimmed. As the exhibition is elevated to “the status of quasi-artwork,” individual artworks themselves become simply “a useful fragment” (O’Neill, “Turn” 253). One of the underlying tensions of the curatorial turn is the rise of actors that are not practicing artists themselves. In other words, the producers of art, the artists, have less influence over their own practice. In New South Wales (NSW), we have witnessed a similar scenario with the steady rise of the voice and influence of the politician (and political adviser), at the expense of the public service. This loss of bureaucratic power was embedded structurally in the mid-1970s when Premier Neville Wran established the Ministerial Advisory Unit (MAU) to oversee NSW state government decisions. A respondent for my research states that when he began his career as a public servant: politicians didn’t really have a lot of ideas about things … the public service really ran the place … [Premier Wran] said, ‘this isn’t good enough. I’m being manipulated by the government departments. I’m going to set up something called the MAU which is politically appointed as a countervailing force to the bureaucracy to get the advice that I want.’The respondent infers a power grab by political actors to stymie the influence of the bureaucracy. This view is shared by several expert respondents for my research, as well as being substantiated by historian John Gunn (503). One of the clear results of the structural change has been that a politically driven media focus is now embedded in the structure of government policy and project decision-making. Instead of taking its lead from priorities emanating from the community, the bureaucracy is instead left with little choice but to look to the minister for guidance. As a project management consultant to government states in an interview:I think today the bureaucrat who makes the hard administrative decisions, the management decisions, is basically outweighed by communications, public relations, media relations director … the politicians are poll driven not policy driven. The respondent makes a point with which former politician Lindsay Tanner (Tanner) and academic Ian Ward (Ward, Power) agree—Australian politicians are increasingly structuring their operations around news media. The bureaucracy has become less relevant to policymaking as a result. My empirical research indicates this. The SCM and the NWR were highly publicised projects where the views of transport experts were largely ignored. They represent cases where the voice of the experts/artists had been completely suppressed by the voice of the politician/curator. I contend that this is where key questions of the role of the politician and the curator converge. Experts interviewed for my research express concerns that policymaking has been altered by structural changes to the bureaucracy. Similarly, some academics concerned with the rise of the curator question whether the shift will change the very nature of art (O’Neill, Cultures). A shared concern of the art world and those witnessing the policy arena in NSW is that the thoughts and ideas of those that do are being overshadowed by the views of those who talk. In terms of curatorial practice, O’Neill (Cultures) cites the views of Mick Wilson, who speaks of the rise of the “Foucauldian moment” and the “ubiquitous appeal of the term ‘discourse’ as a word to conjure and perform power,” where “even talking is doing something.” As O’Neill contends, “at this extreme, the discursive stands in the place of ‘doing’ within discourses on curatorial practice” (43). O’Neill submits Wilson’s point as an extreme view within the curatorial turn. However, the concern for the art world should be similar to the one experienced in the policy arena. Technical advice from the bureaucracy (doers) to ministers (talkers) has changed. In an interview with me, a partner in one of Australia’s leading architectural and planning practices contends that the technical advice of the bureaucracy to ministers is not as “fearless and robust” as it once was. Furthermore, he is concerned that planners have lost their influence as ministers now look to political advisers rather than technical advisers for direction. He states, “now what happens is most advisors to ministers are political advisers and they will give political advice … the planning advice hasn’t come from the planners.” The ultimate concern is that, through a silencing of the technical expert, policymaking is losing a vital layer of experience and knowledge that can only be to the detriment of the practice and its beneficiaries, the public. The closer one looks, the more evident the similarities between curating and policy development become. Acute budgetary limitations exist. There is an increased reliance on public funding. Large-scale curating, like policy development, involves “a negotiation of the relationship between public and private interests” (Ruf in Bourriaud et al. 90). There is also a tension between short- and long-term outlooks as well as local and global perspectives (Lunghi in Bourriaud et al. 97). And, significantly for my argument for the privileging of the concept of curating of discourse in policy, curating has also been called “a battlefield of ideas in which the public (or audience) has become ‘the big Other’” in that “everything that cannot find its audience, its public, is highly suspicious or very problematic” (Bourriaud in Bourriaud et al. 96–97). The closer the inspection, the starker the similarities of each pursuit. Lessons, Ramifications and Conclusions What can policymakers learn from the curatorial turn? For policymaking, it seems that the argumentative turn, the rise of news mediatisation, the strengthening of power and influence of the politician, and the “Foucauldian moment” have seen the rise of the discursive in place of doing that some quarters identify as being the case with the curatorial turn (O’Neill, Cultures). Therefore, it would be pertinent for policymakers to heed Bourriaud’s statement that began this paper: “the role of the curator is not to produce a concept of art (or policy) but to invent, to fabricate, elaborate reading grids or coexistence grids between them” (Bourriaud et al. 92). Is such a method of curating discourse the way forward for the political animal that seeks to achieve the politically “impossible” in policymaking? Perhaps for policymaking the importance of the concept of curating holds both opportunity and a warning. The opportunity, exemplified by the success of the NWR and the failure of the SCM projects in Sydney, is in accepting the role of media and public discourses in policy development so that they may be more thoroughly investigated and understood before being more effectively folded into the policymaking process. The warning lies in the concerns the curatorial turn has raised over the demise of the artist in light of the rise of discourse. The voice of the technical expert appears to be fading. How do we effectively curate discourses as well as restore the bureaucrat to former levels of robust fearlessness? I dare say it will take a political animal to do either. ReferencesBakker, Piet. “Mr Gates Returns.” Journalism Studies 15.5 (2014): 596–606.Bourriaud, Nicolas, Enrico Lunghi, Paul O’Neill, and Beatrix Ruf. “Is the Curator per Definition a Political Animal?” Rotterdam Dialogues: The Critics, the Curators, the Artists. Eds. 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Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1988.Strömbäck, Jesper, and Frank Esser. “Mediatization of Politics: Towards a Theoretical Framework.” Mediatization of Politics: Understanding the Transformation of Western Democracies. Eds. Frank Esser and Jesper Strömbäck. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 3–28.Tanner, Lindsay. Sideshow: Dumbing Down Democracy. Carlton North, Victoria: Scribe, 2011.Throgmorton, James A. “Survey Research as Rhetorical Trope: Electric Power Planning in Chicago.” The Argumentative Turn in Policy Analysis and Planning. Eds. Frank Fischer and John Forester. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1993. 117–44.Ward, Ian. “An Australian PR State?” Australian Journal of Communication 30.1 (2003): 25–42. ———. “Lobbying as a Public Affair: PR and Politics in Australia.” Communication, Creativity and Global Citizenship. ANZCA: Brisbane, 2009. 1039–56. ‹http://www.anzca.net/documents/anzca-09-1/refereed-proceedings-2009-1/79-lobbying-as-a-public-affair-pr-and-politics-in-australia-1/file.html›.———. “The New and Old Media, Power and Politics.” Government, Politics, Power and Policy in Australia. Eds. Dennis Woodward, Andrew Parkin, and John Summers. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson, 2010. 374–93.Young, Sally. “Killing Competition: Restricting Access to Political Communication Channels in Australia.” AQ: Journal of Contemporary Analysis 75.3 (2003): 9–15.

'He did what the cipher could not, he rescued himself.' -- Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination (23) On many levels, the new Nine Inch Nails album The Fragile is a gritty meditation about different types of End: the eternal relationship cycle of 'fragility, tension, ordeal, fragmentation' (adapted, with apologies to Wilhelm Reich); fin-de-siècle anxiety; post-millennium foreboding; a spectre of the alien discontinuity that heralds an on-rushing future vastly different from the one envisaged by Enlightenment Project architects. In retrospect, it's easy for this perspective to be dismissed as jargon-filled cyber-crit hyperbole. Cyber-crit has always been at its best too when it invents pre-histories and finds hidden connections between different phenomena (like the work of Greil Marcus and early Mark Dery), and not when it is closer to Chinese Water Torture, name-checking the canon's icons (the 'Deleuze/Guattari' tag-team), texts and key terms. "The organization of sound is interpreted historically, politically, socially ... . It subdues music's ambition, reins it in, restores it to its proper place, reconciles it to its naturally belated fate", comments imagineer Kodwo Eshun (4) on how cyber-crit destroys albums and the innocence of the listening experience. This is how official histories are constructed a priori and freeze-dried according to personal tastes and prior memes: sometimes the most interesting experiments are Darwinian dead-ends that fail to make the canon, or don't register on the radar. Anyone approaching The Fragile must also contend with the music industry's harsh realities. For every 10 000 Goth fans who moshed to the primal 'kill-fuck-dance' rhythms of the hit single "Closer" (heeding its siren-call to fulfil basic physiological needs and build niche-space), maybe 20 noted that the same riff returned with a darker edge in the title track to The Downward Spiral, undermining the glorification of Indulgent hedonism. "The problem with such alternative audiences," notes Disinformation Creative Director Richard Metzger, "is that they are trying to be different -- just like everyone else." According to author Don Webb, "some mature Chaos and Black Magicians reject their earlier Nine Inch Nails-inspired Goth beginnings and are extremely critical towards new adopters because they are uncomfortable with the subculture's growing popularity, which threatens to taint their meticulously constructed 'mysterious' worlds. But by doing so, they are also rejecting their symbolic imprinting and some powerful Keys to unlocking their personal history." It is also difficult to separate Nine Inch Nails from the commercialisation and colossal money-making machine that inevitably ensued on the MTV tour circuit: do we blame Michael Trent Reznor because most of his audience are unlikely to be familiar with 'first-wave' industrial bands including Cabaret Voltaire and the experiments of Genesis P. Orridge in Throbbing Gristle? Do we accuse Reznor of being a plagiarist just because he wears some of his influences -- Dr. Dre, Daft Punk, Atari Teenage Riot, Pink Floyd's The Wall (1979), Tom Waits's Bone Machine (1992), David Bowie's Low (1977) -- on his sleeve? And do we accept no-brain rock critic album reviews who quote lines like 'All the pieces didn't fit/Though I really didn't give a shit' ("Where Is Everybody?") or 'And when I suck you off/Not a drop will go to waste' ("Starfuckers Inc") as representative of his true personality? Reznor evidently has his own thoughts on this subject, but we should let the music speak for itself. The album's epic production and technical complexity turned into a post-modern studio Vision Quest, assisted by producer Alan Moulder, eleventh-hour saviour Bob Ezrin (brought in by Reznor to 'block-out' conceptual and sonic continuity), and a group of assault-technicians. The fruit of these collaborations is an album where Reznor is playing with our organism's time-binding sense, modulating strange emotions through deeply embedded tonal angularities. During his five-year absence, Trent Reznor fought diverse forms of repetitious trauma, from endogenous depression caused by endless touring to the death of his beloved grandmother (who raised him throughout childhood). An end signals a new beginning, a spiral is an open-ended and ever-shifting structure, and so Reznor sought to re-discover the Elder Gods within, a shamanic approach to renewal and secular salvation utilised most effectively by music PR luminary and scientist Howard Bloom. Concerned with healing the human animal through Ordeals that hard-wire the physiological baselines of Love, Hate and Fear, Reznor also focusses on what happens when 'meaning-making' collapses and hope for the future cannot easily be found. He accurately captures the confusion that such dissolution of meaning and decline of social institutions brings to the world -- Francis Fukuyama calls this bifurcation 'The Great Disruption'. For a generation who experienced their late childhood and early adolescence in Reagan's America, Reznor and his influences (Marilyn Manson and Filter) capture the Dark Side of recent history, unleashed at Altamont and mutating into the Apocalyptic style of American politics (evident in the 'Star Wars'/SDI fascination). The personal 'psychotic core' that was crystallised by the collapse of the nuclear family unit and supportive social institutions has returned to haunt us with dystopian fantasies that are played out across Internet streaming media and visceral MTV film-clips. That such cathartic releases are useful -- and even necessary (to those whose lives have been formed by socio-economic 'life conditions') is a point that escapes critics like Roger Scruton, some Christian Evangelists and the New Right. The 'escapist' quality of early 1980s 'Rapture' and 'Cosmocide' (Hal Lindsey) prophecies has yielded strange fruit for the Children of Ezekiel, whom Reznor and Marilyn Manson are unofficial spokes-persons for. From a macro perspective, Reznor's post-human evolutionary nexus lies, like J.G. Ballard's tales, in a mythical near-future built upon past memory-shards. It is the kind of worldview that fuses organic and morphogenetic structures with industrial machines run amok, thus The Fragile is an artefact that captures the subjective contents of the different mind produced by different times. Sonic events are in-synch but out of phase. Samples subtly trigger and then scramble kinaesthetic-visceral and kinaesthetic-tactile memories, suggestive of dissociated affective states or body memories that are incapable of being retrieved (van der Kolk 294). Perhaps this is why after a Century of Identity Confusion some fans find it impossible to listen to a 102-minute album in one sitting. No wonder then that the double album is divided into 'left' and 'right' discs (a reference to split-brain research?). The real-time track-by-track interpretation below is necessarily subjective, and is intended to serve as a provisional listener's guide to the aural ur-text of 1999. The Fragile is full of encrypted tones and garbled frequencies that capture a world where the future is always bleeding into a non-recoverable past. Turbulent wave-forms fight for the listener's attention with prolonged static lulls. This does not make for comfortable or even 'nice' listening. The music's mind is a snapshot, a critical indicator, of the deep structures brewing within the Weltanschauung that could erupt at any moment. "Somewhat Damaged" opens the album's 'Left' disc with an oscillating acoustic strum that anchor's the listener's attention. Offset by pulsing beats and mallet percussion, Reznor builds up sound layers that contrast with lyrical epitaphs like 'Everything that swore it wouldn't change is different now'. Icarus iconography is invoked, but perhaps a more fitting mythopoeic symbol of the journey that lies ahead would be Nietzsche's pursuit of his Ariadne through the labyrinth of life, during which the hero is steadily consumed by his numbing psychosis. Reznor fittingly comments: 'Didn't quite/Fell Apart/Where were you?' If we consider that Reznor has been repeating the same cycle with different variations throughout all of his music to date, retro-fitting each new album into a seamless tapestry, then this track signals that he has begun to finally climb out of self-imposed exile in the Underworld. "The Day the World Went Away" has a tremendously eerie opening, with plucked mandolin effects entering at 0:40. The main slashing guitar riff was interpreted by some critics as Reznor's attempt to parody himself. For some reason, the eerie backdrop and fragmented acoustic guitar strums recalls to my mind civil defence nuclear war films. Reznor, like William S. Burroughs, has some powerful obsessions. The track builds up in intensity, with a 'Chorus of the Damned' singing 'na na nah' over apocalyptic end-times imagery. At 4:22 the track ends with an echo that loops and repeats. "The Frail" signals a shift to mournful introspectiveness with piano: a soundtrack to faded 8 mm films and dying memories. The piano builds up slowly with background echo, holds and segues into ... "The Wretched", beginning with a savage downbeat that recalls earlier material from Pretty Hate Machine. 'The Far Aways/Forget It' intones Reznor -- it's becoming clear that despite some claims to the contrary, there is redemption in this album, but it is one borne out of a relentless move forward, a strive-drive. 'You're finally free/You could be' suggest Reznor studied Existentialism during his psychotherapy visits. This song contains perhaps the ultimate post-relationship line: 'It didn't turn out the way you wanted it to, did it?' It's over, just not the way you wanted; you can always leave the partner you're with, but the ones you have already left will always stain your memories. The lines 'Back at the beginning/Sinking/Spinning' recall the claustrophobic trapped world and 'eternal Now' dislocation of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder victims. At 3:44 a plucked cello riff, filtered, segues into a sludge buzz-saw guitar solo. At 5:18 the cello riff loops and repeats. "We're in This Together Now" uses static as percussion, highlighting the influence of electricity flows instead of traditional rock instrument configurations. At 0:34 vocals enter, at 1:15 Reznor wails 'I'm impossible', showing he is the heir to Roger Waters's self-reflective rock-star angst. 'Until the very end of me, until the very end of you' reverts the traditional marriage vow, whilst 'You're the Queen and I'm the King' quotes David Bowie's "Heroes". Unlike earlier tracks like "Reptile", this track is far more positive about relationships, which have previously resembled toxic-dyads. Reznor signals a delta surge (breaking through barriers at any cost), despite a time-line morphing between present-past-future. At 5:30 synths and piano signal a shift, at 5:49 the outgoing piano riff begins. The film-clip is filled with redemptive water imagery. The soundtrack gradually gets more murky and at 7:05 a subterranean note signals closure. "The Fragile" is even more hopeful and life-affirming (some may even interpret it as devotional), but this love -- representative of the End-Times, alludes to the 'Glamour of Evil' (Nico) in the line 'Fragile/She doesn't see her beauty'. The fusion of synths and atonal guitars beginning at 2:13 summons forth film-clip imagery -- mazes, pageants, bald eagles, found sounds, cloaked figures, ruined statues, enveloping darkness. "Just like You Imagined" opens with Soundscapes worthy of Robert Fripp, doubled by piano and guitar at 0:39. Drums and muffled voices enter at 0:54 -- are we seeing a pattern to Reznor's writing here? Sonic debris guitar enters at 1:08, bringing forth intensities from white noise. This track is full of subtle joys like the 1:23-1:36 solo by David Bowie pianist Mike Garson and guitarist Adrian Belew's outgoing guitar solo at 2:43, shifting back to the underlying soundscapes at 3:07. The sounds are always on the dissipative edge of chaos. "Just like You Imagined" opens with Soundscapes worthy of Robert Fripp, doubled by piano and guitar at 0:39. Drums and muffled voices enter at 0:54 -- are we seeing a pattern to Reznor's writing here? Sonic debris guitar enters at 1:08, bringing forth intensities from white noise. This track is full of subtle joys like the 1:23-1:36 solo by David Bowie pianist Mike Garson and guitarist Adrian Belew's outgoing guitar solo at 2:43, shifting back to the underlying soundscapes at 3:07. The sounds are always on the dissipative edge of chaos. "Pilgrimage" utilises a persistent ostinato and beat, with a driving guitar overlay at 0:18. This is perhaps the most familiar track, using Reznor motifs like the doubling of the riff with acoustic guitars between 1:12-1:20, march cries, and pitch-shift effects on a 3:18 drumbeat/cymbal. Or at least I could claim it was familiar, if it were not that legendary hip-hop producer and 'edge-of-panic' tactilist Dr. Dre helped assemble the final track mix. "No, You Don't" has been interpreted as an attack on Marilyn Manson and Hole's Courntey Love, particularly the 0:47 line 'Got to keep it all on the outside/Because everything is dead on the inside' and the 2:33 final verse 'Just so you know, I did not believe you could sink so low'. The song's structure is familiar: a basic beat at 0:16, guitars building from 0:31 to sneering vocals, a 2:03 counter-riff that merges at 2:19 with vocals and ascending to the final verse and 3:26 final distortion... "La Mer" is the first major surprise, a beautiful and sweeping fusion of piano, keyboard and cello, reminiscent of Symbolist composer Debussy. At 1:07 Denise Milfort whispers, setting the stage for sometime Ministry drummer Bill Reiflin's jazz drumming at 1:22, and a funky 1:32 guitar/bass line. The pulsing synth guitar at 2:04 serves as anchoring percussion for a cinematic electronica mindscape, filtered through new layers of sonic chiaroscuro at 2:51. 3:06 phase shifting, 3:22 layer doubling, 3:37 outgoing solo, 3:50-3:54 more swirling vocal fragments, seguing into a fading cello quartet as shadows creep. David Carson's moody film-clip captures the end more ominously, depicting the beauty of drowning. This track contains the line 'Nothing can stop me now', which appears to be Reznor's personal mantra. This track rivals 'Hurt' and 'A Warm Place' from The Downward Spiral and 'Something I Can Never Have' from Pretty Hate Machine as perhaps the most emotionally revealing and delicate material that Reznor has written. "The Great Below" ends the first disc with more multi-layered textures fusing nostalgia and reverie: a twelve-second cello riff is counter-pointed by a plucked overlay, which builds to a 0:43 washed pulse effect, transformed by six second pulses between 1:04-1:19 and a further effects layer at 1:24. E-bow effects underscore lyrics like 'Currents have their say' (2:33) and 'Washes me away' (2:44), which a 3:33 sitar riff answers. These complexities are further transmuted by seemingly random events -- a 4:06 doubling of the sitar riff which 'glitches' and a 4:32 backbeat echo that drifts for four bars. While Reznor's lyrics suggest that he is unable to control subjective time-states (like The Joker in the Batman: Dark Knight series of Kali-yuga comic-books), the track constructions show that the Key to his hold over the listener is very carefully constructed songs whose spaces resemble Pythagorean mathematical formulas. Misdirecting the audience is the secret of many magicians. "The Way Out Is Through" opens the 'Right' disc with an industrial riff that builds at 0:19 to click-track and rhythm, the equivalent of a weaving spiral. Whispering 'All I've undergone/I will keep on' at 1:24, Reznor is backed at 1:38 by synths and drums coalescing into guitars, which take shape at 1:46 and turn into a torrential electrical current. The models are clearly natural morphogenetic structures. The track twists through inner storms and torments from 2:42 to 2:48, mirrored by vocal shards at 2:59 and soundscapes at 3:45, before piano fades in and out at 4:12. The title references peri-natal theories of development (particularly those of Stanislav Grof), which is the source of much of the album's imagery. "Into the Void" is not the Black Sabbath song of the same name, but a catchy track that uses the same unfolding formula (opening static, cello at 0:18, guitars at 0:31, drums and backbeat at 1:02, trademark industrial vocals and synth at 1:02, verse at 1:23), and would not appear out of place in a Survival Research Laboratories exhibition. At 3:42 Reznor plays with the edge of synth soundscapes, merging vocals at 4:02 and ending the track nicely at 4:44 alone. "Where Is Everybody?" emulates earlier structures, but relies from 2:01 on whirring effects and organic rhythms, including a flurry of eight beat pulses between 2:40-2:46 and a 3:33 spiralling guitar solo. The 4:26 guitar solo is pure Adrian Belew, and is suddenly ended by spluttering static and white noise at 5:13. "The Mark Has Been Made" signals another downshift into introspectiveness with 0:32 ghostly synth shimmers, echoed by cello at 1:04 which is the doubled at 1:55 by guitar. At 2:08 industrial riffs suddenly build up, weaving between 3:28 distorted guitars and the return of the repressed original layer at 4:16. The surprise is a mystery 32 second soundscape at the end with Reznor crooning 'I'm getting closer, all the time' like a zombie devil Elvis. "Please" highlights spacious noise at 0:48, and signals a central album motif at 1:04 with the line 'Time starts slowing down/Sink until I drown'. The psychic mood of the album shifts with the discovery of Imagination as a liberating force against oppression. The synth sound again is remarkably organic for an industrial album. "Starfuckers Inc" is the now infamous sneering attack on rock-stardom, perhaps at Marilyn Manson (at 3:08 Reznor quotes Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain'). Jungle beats and pulsing synths open the track, which features the sound-sculpting talent of Pop Will Eat Itself member Clint Mansell. Beginning at 0:26, Reznor's vocals appear to have been sampled, looped and cut up (apologies to Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs). The lines 'I have arrived and this time you should believe the hype/I listened to everyone now I know everyone was right' is a very savage and funny exposure of Manson's constant references to Friedrich Nietzsche's Herd-mentality: the Herd needs a bogey-man to whip it into submission, and Manson comes dangerous close to fulfilling this potential, thus becoming trapped by a 'Stacked Deck' paradox. The 4:08 lyric line 'Now I belong I'm one of the Chosen Ones/Now I belong I'm one of the Beautiful Ones' highlights the problem of being Elect and becoming intertwined with institutionalised group-think. The album version ditches the closing sample of Gene Simmons screaming "Thankyou and goodnight!" to an enraptured audience on the single from KISS Alive (1975), which was appropriately over-the-top (the alternate quiet version is worth hearing also). "The danger Marilyn Manson faces", notes Don Webb (current High Priest of the Temple of Set), "is that he may end up in twenty years time on the 'Tonight Show' safely singing our favourite songs like a Goth Frank Sinatra, and will have gradually lost his antinomian power. It's much harder to maintain the enigmatic aura of an Evil villain than it is to play the clown with society". Reznor's superior musicianship and sense of irony should keep him from falling into the same trap. "Complication" juggernauts in at 0:57 with screaming vocals and a barrage of white noise at 1:56. It's clear by now that Reznor has read his psychological operations (PSYOP) manuals pertaining to blasting the hell out of his audiences' psyche by any means necessary. Computer blip noise and black light flotation tank memories. Dislocating pauses and time-bends. The aural equivalent of Klein bottles. "Complication" juggernauts in at 0:57 with screaming vocals and a barrage of white noise at 1:56. It's clear by now that Reznor has read his psychological operations (PSYOP) manuals pertaining to blasting the hell out of his audiences' psyche by any means necessary. Computer blip noise and black light flotation tank memories. Dislocating pauses and time-bends. The aural equivalent of Klein bottles. "The Big Come Down" begins with a four-second synth/static intro that is smashed apart by a hard beat at 0:05 and kaleidoscope guitars at 0:16. Critics refer to the song's lyrics in an attempt to project a narcissistic Reznor personality, but don't comment on stylistic tweaks like the AM radio influenced backing vocals at 1:02 and 1:19, or the use of guitars as a percussion layer at 1:51. A further intriguing element is the return of the fly samples at 2:38, an effect heard on previous releases and a possible post-human sub-text. The alien mythos will eventually reign over the banal and empty human. At 3:07 the synths return with static, a further overlay adds more synths at 3:45 as the track spirals to its peak, before dissipating at 3:1 in a mesh of percussion and guitars. "Underneath It All" opens with a riff that signals we have reached the album's climatic turning point, with the recurring theme of fragmenting body-memories returning at 0:23 with the line 'All I can do/I can still feel you', and being echoed by pulsing static at 0:42 as electric percussion. A 'Messiah Complex' appears at 1:34 with the line 'Crucify/After all I've died/After all I've tried/You are still inside', or at least it appears to be that on the surface. This is the kind of line that typical rock critics will quote, but a careful re-reading suggests that Reznor is pointing to the painful nature of remanifesting. Our past shapes us more than we would like to admit particularly our first relationships. "Ripe (With Decay)" is the album's final statement, a complex weaving of passages over a repetitive mesh of guitars, pulsing echoes, back-beats, soundscapes, and a powerful Mike Garson piano solo (2:26). Earlier motifs including fly samples (3:00), mournful funeral violas (3:36) and slowing time effects (4:28) recur throughout the track. Having finally reached the psychotic core, Reznor is not content to let us rest, mixing funk bass riffs (4:46), vocal snatches (5:23) and oscillating guitars (5:39) that drag the listener forever onwards towards the edge of the abyss (5:58). The final sequence begins at 6:22, loses fidelity at 6:28, and ends abruptly at 6:35. At millennium's end there is a common-held perception that the world is in an irreversible state of decay, and that Culture is just a wafer-thin veneer over anarchy. Music like The Fragile suggests that we are still trying to assimilate into popular culture the 'war-on-Self' worldviews unleashed by the nineteenth-century 'Masters of Suspicion' (Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche). This 'assimilation gap' is evident in industrial music, which in the late 1970s was struggling to capture the mood of the Industrial Revolution and Charles Dickens, so the genre is ripe for further exploration of the scarred psyche. What the self-appointed moral guardians of the Herd fail to appreciate is that as the imprint baseline rises (reflective of socio-political realities), the kind of imagery prevalent throughout The Fragile and in films like Strange Days (1995), The Matrix (1999) and eXistenZ (1999) is going to get even darker. The solution is not censorship or repression in the name of pleasing an all-saving surrogate god-figure. No, these things have to be faced and embraced somehow. Such a process can only occur if there is space within for the Sadeian aesthetic that Nine Inch Nails embodies, and not a denial of Dark Eros. "We need a second Renaissance", notes Don Webb, "a rejuvenation of Culture on a significant scale". In other words, a global culture-shift of quantum (aeon or epoch-changing) proportions. The tools required will probably not come just from the over-wordy criticism of Cyber-culture and Cultural Studies or the logical-negative feeding frenzy of most Music Journalism. They will come from a dynamic synthesis of disciplines striving toward a unity of knowledge -- what socio-biologist Edward O. Wilson has described as 'Consilience'. Liberating tools and ideas will be conveyed to a wider public audience unfamiliar with such principles through predominantly science fiction visual imagery and industrial/electronica music. The Fragile serves as an invaluable model for how such artefacts could transmit their dreams and propagate their messages. For the hyper-alert listener, it will be the first step on a new journey. But sadly for the majority, it will be just another hysterical industrial album promoted as selection of the month. References Bester, Alfred. The Stars My Destination. London: Millennium Books, 1999. Eshun, Kodwo. More Brilliant than the Sun: Adventures in Sonic Fiction. London: Quartet Books, 1998. Van der Kolk, Bessel A. "Trauma and Memory." Traumatic Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body, and Society. Eds. Bessel A. van der Kolk et al. New York: Guilford Press, 1996. Nine Inch Nails. Downward Spiral. Nothing/Interscope, 1994. ---. The Fragile. Nothing, 1999. ---. Pretty Hate Machine. TVT, 1989. Citation reference for this article MLA style: Alex Burns. "'This Machine Is Obsolete': A Listeners' Guide to Nine Inch Nails' The Fragile." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2.8 (1999). [your date of access] <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9912/nine.php>. Chicago style: Alex Burns, "'This Machine Is Obsolete': A Listeners' Guide to Nine Inch Nails' The Fragile," M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2, no. 8 (1999), <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9912/nine.php> ([your date of access]). APA style: Alex Burns. (1999) 'This machine is obsolete': a listeners' guide to Nine Inch Nails' The fragile. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 2(8). <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9912/nine.php> ([your date of access]).