Electricity and water systems are inextricably linked through water demands for energy generation, and through energy demands for using, moving, and treating water and wastewater. Climate change may stress these interdependencies, together referred to as the energy-water nexus, by reducing water availability for hydropower generation and by increasing irrigation and electricity demand for groundwater pumping, among other feedbacks. Further, many climate adaptation measures to augment water supplies—such as water recycling and desalination—are energy-intensive. However, water and electricity system climate vulnerabilities and adaptations are often studied in isolation, without considering how multiple interactive risks may compound. This paper reviews the fragmented literature and develops a generalized framework for understanding these implications of climate change on the energy-water nexus. We apply this framework in a case study to quantify end-century direct climate impacts on California’s water and electricity resources and estimate the magnitude of the indirect cross-sectoral feedback of electricity demand from various water adaptation strategies. Our results show that increased space cooling demand and decreased hydropower generation are the most significant direct climate change impacts on California’s electricity sector by end-century. In California’s water sector, climate change impacts directly on surface water availability exceed demand changes, but have considerable uncertainty, both in direction and magnitude. Additionally, we find that the energy demands of water sector climate adaptations could significantly affect California’s future electricity system needs. If the worst-case water shortage occurs under climate change, water-conserving adaptation measures can provide large energy savings co-benefits, but other energy-intensive water adaptations may double the direct impacts of climate change on the state’s electricity resource requirement. These results highlight the value of coordinated adaptation planning between the energy and water sectors to achieve mutually beneficial solutions for climate resilience.
In this paper we present an alternative approach to addressing the problem of energy poverty. The private and community ownership in electricity factors of production, economic calculation, and the incentive for innovation through the price mechanism are discussed. A brief analysis on how this new approach can be used to address energy access problems in energy poor communities is done. Cases studies of the Nigerian off-grid mini-grid industry and the Ecoblock pilot project in California in the United States are discussed.
Dan Kammen will lead the RAEL lunch this week where we will focus on both materials science and operational innovations in energy storage, both focused on l0ng-term energy storage (a project we are doing with Prof. Sarah Kurtz at UC Merced, Prof. Noah Kittner at U. of North Carolina, and Prof. Patricia Hidalgo-Gonzalez of UC San Diego).
We will also focus on the interactions of storage technology designs and markets, as highlighted in the reading for this session, the report we just issues with Accenture:
You can read the report summary and download it here: click here.
and for references the link is:
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/utilities/energy-storage-net-zero-path
Dan Kammen is the Founding Director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, and a professor in the Energy and Resources Group, the Goldman School, and the Department of Nuclear Engineering. He served as Science Envoy in the Obama Administration, and previously served as Chief Technical Specialist for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the World Bank.
Jeremy Harrell is the Managing Director for Policy at ClearPath, whose mission is to develop and advance conservative policies that accelerate clean energy innovation. To advance that mission, we develop cutting-edge policy and collaborate with academics and industry. An entrepreneurial, young, strategic nonprofit, ClearPath (501(c)(3)) partners with in-house and external experts on nuclear, carbon capture, hydropower, natural gas, geothermal, energy storage and energy innovation to advance our mission.
To register: click here.
In looking ahead to entirely decarbonizing the electric generation system, there is a debate about the use of nuclear generation. One school of thought argues that nuclear will be essential to successful decarbonization, while the other feels that this can be done entirely using renewable technologies, essentially wind and solar. This research investigates the role and value of using nuclear generation in decarbonizing the electric generation system. Along with generation, however, storage technologies will be needed. This study also compares the value of using batteries (expensive but efficient) to the use of ammonia (quite inefficient, but very cheap per unit of energy). Based on the Capacity Expansion Model, the study develops an analytical function to evaluate the marginal cost of carbon reduction under various scenarios of primary generation (with and without nuclear) and storage technologies (with batteries or with ammonia). The behaviors of the generators and storage determine the different components of this equation. Illustrating these behaviors gives us insight as to the role of nuclear and different types of storage in decarbonizing the system.
Biography:
Alan graduated from Stanford University in 1970 with a Master’s degree in geotechnical engineering. As a civil engineer he worked in heavy construction in Alaska and Vietnam, Peace Corps in Venezuela in dam design, and in the Bay Area in earthquake analysis. He returned to Stanford and completed a PhD in Engineering Economic systems in 1983. He joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1987, working energy system economics, developing and applying modeling platforms to evaluate policies and technologies for energy generation and storage. He was also active in risk analyses for nuclear materials production and waste disposal. He is currently retired, but continues to work in energy systems economics to better understand strategies for reducing carbon emissions from the energy system.
Watch the video, click here.
Host: Melissa Lott
Presenters (Guests):
Dr. Daniel Kammen, Professor of Energy, University of California, Berkeley and Former Science Envoy, US Department of State
Dr. Maria Neira, Director, Public Health, Environment, and Social Detriments of Health Department (PHE), World Health Organisation
Dr. Nick Watts, Executive Director, The Lancet Countdown
Climate Week NYC Virtual Event | Environmental Justice: Climate, Health, and Energy
Upcoming September 24, 2020 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM EDT
DESCRIPTION: Please register using the "Event Website" link to the right.Climate change is already impacting the health of people around the world. At the heart of the challenge—and its solution—is the energy system, which currently produces not only the majority of human-produced greenhouse gas emissions but also the vast majority of key air pollutants that harm the health of communities around the world. While these health impacts are felt by everyone, the burden is not evenly shared, with poor and marginalized communities often experiencing a disproportionate share of these ill effects.The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia SIPA will host a discussion on understanding the impacts of climate change and air pollution on our health as well as how the energy transition can help to protect and improve human health moving forward.
