Climate change continues to raise concerns as it takes new shapes every day in the 21st century. Like other economic sectors, the energy sector is also at stake because of the adverse effects that climate change may have on it. In 2012, for example, a hurricane hit the New York City and its adjacent East coast. This hurricane led to a power outage that affected approximately eight million people. Similarly, in India, heat waves led to significant blackouts that were resulting from surged electric demands that affected almost half of its population in the same year. It is with such concerns that the energy sector focused on the adverse effects of the climate change, to come up with best ways to combat this global problem. Research has indicated that the energy sector is among the leading contributors to the worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn increases climate change. In 2010, it was established that approximately 35% of greenhouse gas emissions were as a result of energy production. However, while a substations amount of evidence supports this claim, it is also notable that several hydro-meteorological and climatic aspects can potentially affect the energy sector (Bose 2010).
Studies conducted by IPCC in 2007 showed that hydrological and natural systems like snow, ice, and frozen ground were affected by climate change. Extreme weather temperatures led to the melting of glaciers, which in turn sped up the rising of sea levels to an average of 18cm, that is more compared to the sea levels recorded in the 19th century. It also found out that heavy precipitation events have become frequent and have increased. It was established that there were extreme weather changes that had notably taken place since 1950. Hot days and nights had increased dramatically while cold days and nights had become less frequent. By then Europe and Central Asia showed observable huge inter-annual variations of temperatures. These regions were majorly covered in permafrost, making the energy industries susceptible to these variations in temperatures. Permafrost is a crucial aspect that contains frozen organic matter that if exposed to extreme temperatures and released to the atmosphere, will intensify global warming. Due to this, thawing permafrost may lead to the destruction of buildings, pipelines, roads and power lines. When this occurs, it negatively influences the environment and people. For example, the worlds’ largest oil spill was recorded in 1994 where there was an interruption of the pipeline oil field in Russia led to a spill of approximately 160-tonnes of the oil spill. Oil and gas pipelines, therefore, make the energy transport infrastructure vulnerable to risks and possible harm.
The rise in temperature adversely decreases the thermal difference between the Polar Regions and the production of tropics and mid-latitude winds. Wind turbines are likely to reduce its efficiency when there is a rise in global temperatures. Wind energy is one of the essential renewable energy resources. However, increase in temperatures leads to a decrease in wind power. According to a study conducted in China, the wind power available is likely to decrease to approximately 14 %, due to the temperature differences between the equator and polar regions (Schaeffer et al. 2012).
A rise in global temperatures further leads to storms, which then affect electricity generation by thermal and hydroelectric stations. Power lines and other forms of electricity distribution equipment can be damaged due to intense storms and floods. When there is the breakdown of the electrical systems, other energy systems are likely to be affected. The heavy storms further delay the repair of electric equipment which is essential for electricity generation. Rainfalls and storms that are experienced due to climate change also lead to a wash away of railway bed which then paralyzes transportation.
Due to climate change, solar energy production varies in the peaks, especially in the Eastern part of sub-Saharan Africa. This leads to significant deviation in speeds of near-surface wind in the oceans, particularly in colder seasons. These projections also show the likelihood of a rapid increase in global average mean of evaporation, precipitation, and water vapor. The precipitation, in turn, increases in high latitudes, both in summer and winter seasons in tropical regions, while decreasing in the subtropics. These extreme weather events further affect the oil and gas industries. This means that power plants that are situated in coastal areas will also be affected by these changing sea levels. In accordance to the Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES), their projection shows that the Mediterranean is likely to have a reduced runoff, while it is likely to increase in high latitude regions like South East Asia. Changes regarding the availability of water will aggravate the prevailing challenges in energy production (Ebinger 2011). Due to the constant ever-growing population, the reduced availability of water will also see a rise in demand for water, which then becomes a scarce resource (Barnett et al. 2005). Water is a necessity for the smooth running of various activities. Therefore without its adequate supply, bioenergy crops, which stress water resources and are used to generate biofuels and bioethanol, are also more likely affected by these weather changes.
Climate changes lead to a warmer climate. This means that people, especially in the United States have to use more electricity to enhance air conditioning in their houses (Karl et al. 2009). Further electricity is used more for heating as compared to the use of natural gas, wood, and oil. This means that the increase in the demand for power leads to a shift from the use of natural gas, fuel, and oil to the use of electricity by many people. The increase in the use of power leads to emissions of greenhouse gases, which ultimately leads to global warming. Global warming dramatically influences agricultural production and leads to a substantial reduction in yields due to the extreme weather events, which affects the production of biomass necessary for generation of energy. Warmer climate affects the generation and production of hydropower and bioenergy, some solar systems and thermal plants, which all need water as a component of cooling. This means that whenever there is warm climate, there is a reduction in the efficiency of power production for nuclear power plants and fossil fuels. This occurs because these plants require water for cooling. Therefore, for the systems to be efficient the water needs to be cold. Hence, these systems will become less efficient and unable to operate as expected due to higher water temperatures.
Thermal power plants are evidently among the most affected energy sectors due to the increasing climate change. A variety of options can be undertaken by the energy sector to improve its resilience towards climate change. For example, thermal power plants can adopt technological innovations that will ensure high efficiency. These innovations include those that prevent and protect the power plants from damage by giving options that enable adjustments of the operating systems in extreme conditions. Some technologies, mainly by those in the solar systems and wind turbines have been added to increase their resistance to extreme conditions such as by reducing capacities and shutting down.
Coal mining companies, on the other hand, can mend their drainages and run-off in coal storage sites. They can also find better ways to handle coal to prevent more release of coal. Pipelines should be constructed in a way that they follow new zoning codes and by upgrading their existing infrastructure. Similarly, power transmission lines should be situated away from risky areas that make them vulnerable to weather changes. Authorities should be on the lookout and find solutions that can foresee the use of renewable energy regarding the cooling and heating systems that are electrically powered. The authorities should consult experts on the impact of fossil fuels and other means of energy to make amicable decisions that do not result in more damage to the environment. As expected, the energy sector, which also largely contributes to the highest production of greenhouse gas emissions, should be affected by specific policies that have been implemented to ensure that the earth temperatures be reduced to up to 2°C. These industries, therefore, need to adopt some mitigations such as switching fuels to low-carbon types, using nuclear energy, improving transmission efficiencies and fostering the use of renewable energy among others. Although time is needed for these policies to be fully effective and globally embraced, the determination to get to 2°Celcius is possible. Efforts should be geared towards making the world we live in a better place.
Karl, T. R., Melillo, J. M., Peterson, T. C., & Hassol, S. J. (Eds.). (2009). Global climate change impacts in the United States. Cambridge University Press.
Ebinger, J. O. (2011). Climate impacts on energy systems: key issues for energy sector adaptation. World Bank Publications.
Bose, B. K. (2010). Global warming: Energy, environmental pollution, and the impact of power electronics. IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine, 4(1), 6-17.
Barnett, T. P., Adam, J. C., & Lettenmaier, D. P. (2005). Potential impacts of a warming climate on water availability in snow-dominated regions. Nature, 438(7066), 303.
Schaeffer, R., Szklo, A. S., de Lucena, A. F. P., Borba, B. S. M. C., Nogueira, L. P. P., Fleming, F. P., … & Boulahya, M. S. (2012). Energy sector vulnerability to climate change: a review. Energy, 38(1), 1-12.