According to a December report from the World Meteorological Organization, 2020 was one of the hottest years yet
This year, Ethan Koffel, an assistant professor of geography and the environment at the Maxwell School, conducted a study and published the results in a scientific journalEnvironmental Research Letters... The aim of the work is to understand how warming temperatures will affect every part of humanity's energy infrastructure.
Thermal power plants that are nowgenerate most of the electricity, already forced to cut their generation on hot days due to cooling constraints. On the hottest days, the capacity of the power plant can be reduced by at least 10%. This loss of generating capacity leads to problems. Indeed, it is on hot days that electricity is most needed for the operation of air conditioners.
As global warming makes wavesheat more frequent, intense and prolonged, the negative effect of heat on power plants will become more pronounced. With a global warming of 2 ° C - the top target agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement - the frequency of power outages on hot days could almost double from today's levels.
New research shows harmfulinteraction between human adaptation and infrastructure vulnerability in a warming environment. As hot days become more frequent, more and more people use air conditioners for their comfort. But cooling systems require electricity, which further increases greenhouse gas emissions that are causing global warming. In addition, an increase in the number of air conditioners will increase the demand for electricity, while heat reduces the generation of power plants, potentially placing a strain on the grid in some places. It turns out to be a vicious circle.
Heat production will be indisadvantaged in a warmer world. By mid-century, it may take 100-200 additional medium-sized power plants around the world to compensate for the loss of generating capacity due to the hotter climate. Switching the power industry to renewable energy sources, especially wind and solar, will not only reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases that cause climate change, but also reduce the negative impact of global warming on our energy infrastructure, scientists conclude.
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