Faisalabad car bomb blast causes explosion in a compressed natural gas station

Via Wikipedia Entry 2011 Faisalabad Bombing:

The 2011 Faisalabad bombing occurred on 8 March 2011.  ((Masood, Salman (8 March 2011). “Car Bomb Kills at Least 24 Near Spy Agency in Pakistan”. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/world/asia/09pakistan-blast.html. Retrieved 8 March 2011)).  At least 25 people were killed and over 127 wounded when a car bomb blast occurred in a compressed natural gas station in the Pakistani city of Faisalabad. ((Blast in Faisalabad CNG station, 25 dead”. The Express Tribune. 8 March 2011. http://tribune.com.pk/story/129384/blast-in-faisalabad-injures-12/. Retrieved 8 March 2011.))  The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the explosion. ((Ahmed, Munir (8 March 2011). “Taliban car bombing kills 20 in east Pakistan”. Associated Press. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110308/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_19. Retrieved 8 March 2011.))

This underscores the target value of energy storage to terrorist attacks, which has two aspects:

  1. The increased blast yield – the explosive energy – charge shaping aside – is the sum of the energy of the car bomb and the stored natural gas. This is another example of the problems inherent in centralizing energy storage.
  2. Infrastructure disruption. Again, the more centralized the energy storage, the greater the disruption. This principle, of course, applies not only to energy distribution networks, but to water supplies, sewage systems, and communications networks.