Supercapacitors have a big internal surface-area that allows a large amount of energy to be delivered rapidly and are used in some electric cars to provide a short burst of power for rapid acceleration and in hybrids to recover energy during braking.

ECONOMIST: Carbon-composite batteries

Their first test in October 2007 was a success: An all-electric car plugged in at the University of Delaware and rigged with communication software responded to a signal from PJM for a sudden burst of power to help balance supply and demand on the grid.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The Kers system gives drivers a burst of extra power at the push of a button in the cockpit.

BBC: Williams opt against new system

Historians have paid relatively little attention to this burst of English power.

ECONOMIST: England's war with France: Once more unto the breach | The

Splits within the party already apparent when Labour was last in power had burst into the open more violently in opposition.

BBC: CONSERVATIVE VICTORY

Unusually heavy seasonal rains have caused rivers to burst their banks, mudslides and power cuts across much of the north and east of the country.

BBC: NEWS | Americas | Rains hamper Bolivia flood aid

As the driver of the world's great opening, America has gained hugely in terms of power and prestige, but the extraordinary burst of growth that globalisation has triggered has also lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty over the past few decades and brought lower prices to consumers everywhere.

ECONOMIST: Barack Obama and free trade

Many power and telephone lines are knocked out, while burst water mains have deluged whole districts.

BBC: New Zealand earthquake: Rescuers work through night

With Spain's housing bubble burst and the economy contracting, Mariano Rajoy's conservative Popular Party swept to power in a landslide general election win in November 2011.

BBC: Spain revises down its economic forecast