Global warming's effects on water availability could hamper electricity production at power plants worldwide in the coming decades.
Michelle van Vliet of Wageningen University in the Netherlands and her colleagues modelled electricity production throughout the twenty-first century at more than 24,000 hydroelectric facilities and at about 1,400 water-cooled thermoelectric plants powered by natural gas, coal or nuclear energy. Decreased stream flow and warmer water temperatures reduced electricity production at mid-latitudes, where most of the world's electricity is generated. Annual usable power capacity decreased by 7–12% for thermoelectric plants and by 1.2–3.6% for hydroelectric plants in the 2050s.
The authors suggest that boosting the efficiency of power plants, along with other adaptation measures, could reduce these impacts.
Nature Clim. Change http://doi.org/bbsp (2016)
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Electricity at risk in a warmer world. Nature 529, 130 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/529130a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/529130a