Robustness of trans-European gas networks.
Here, we uncover the load and fault-tolerant backbones of the trans-European gas pipeline network. Combining topological data with information on intercountry flows, we estimate the global load of the network and its tolerance to failures. To do this, we apply two complementary methods generalized from the betweenness centrality and the maximum flow. We find that the gas pipeline network has grown to satisfy a dual purpose. On one hand, the major pipelines are crossed by a large number of shortest paths thereby increasing the efficiency of the network; on the other hand, a nonoperational pipeline causes only a minimal impact on network capacity, implying that the network is error tolerant. These findings suggest that the trans-European gas pipeline network is robust, i.e., error tolerant to failures of high load links.
Carvalho
Rui
R
School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, London E1 4NS, UK. rui@maths.qmul.ac.uk
Buzna
Lubos
L
Bono
Flavio
F
Gutiérrez
Eugenio
E
Just
Wolfram
W
Arrowsmith
David
D