Climate change will damage energy infrastructure, costing trillions
Preface. Climate change and extreme weather will harm oil and gas exploration and production, electric power generation and increase energy demand due to sea level rise, heat, drought, floods, more storms, and blackouts. Extreme heat and drought will force electric power plants to shut down from lack of cooling water. Our continuing exponentially growing population will increase demand on our falling apart energy infrastructure. This report says that climate caused disasters are already costing billions of dollars, and in the future, trillions.
Climate change will makes blackouts and brownouts more common. It already is: Rising heat in the West has driven a steep increase in demand for air conditioning, bringing the electric grid down at times. As have wildfires. And as a preventive measure, utilities in California take the grid down for days if high winds are forecast, leaving millions in the dark. In Texas, an ice storm nearly blacked out the electric grid for months (Douglas 2021).
***
USDOE. July 2013. U.S. Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Extreme Weather. U. S. Department of Energy.
Summary. Natural disasters and climate change are already affecting our ability to produce and deliver energy from oil, natural gas, coal. Climate change will make matters worse:
- Energy infrastructure is at or past its lifetime yet expected to operate in ranges it wasn’t designed for.
- Heat, drought, and floods reduce power output for both fossil fuel and renewable energy generation. Heat increases wildfires, which reduce power output
- Energy infrastructure along the coast is at risk from sea level rise, increasing intensity of storms, and higher storm surge and flooding, potentially disrupting oil and gas production, refining, and distribution, as well as electricity generation and distribution. Sea level rise will flood roads and rail lines, halting receipt or delivery from ships at ports.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
