A new study suggests the power industry is underestimating how climate change could affect the long-term demand for electricity in the United States.
A new study suggests the power industry is underestimating how climate change could affect the long-term demand for electricity in the United States.
The research, published today in the journal Risk Analysis, was led by the University at Buffalo and Purdue University.
It describes the limitations of prediction models used by electricity providers and regulators for medium- and long-term energy forecasting. And it outlines a new model that includes key climate predictors — mean dew point temperature and extreme maximum temperature — that researchers say present a more accurate view of how climate change will alter future electricity demands.
“Existing energy demand models haven’t kept pace with our increasing knowledge of how the climate is changing,” says the study’s lead author Sayanti Mukherjee, PhD, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering in UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “This is troublesome because it could lead to supply inadequacy risks that cause more power outages, which can affect everything from national security and the digital economy to public health and the environment.”
Read more at University at Buffalo
Image: This is Sayanti Mukherjee. (Credit: University at Buffalo)
