The United States is currently experiencing record heat waves with some states like Oklahoma and Texas expected to reach a high of 115℉. The cause of this heat wave has largely been blamed on climate change. The IPCC has reported that since 1970, global temperatures have been rising at 1.7℃ (~3.06℉) a century due in large part to greenhouse gas emissions. A major contributor to greenhouse emissions is the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and gas for energy production.
As a way to reduce emissions, countries started to invest in more carbon-neutral solutions such as wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and nuclear. Among the five, nuclear and hydroelectric are the most abundant supplies of carbon free energy (see pie chart below). Additionally, nuclear and hydroelectric power are among the most reliable sources that are not influenced strongly by changing weather patterns. They are however, very susceptible to strong changes in drought and heat waves.
Hydroelectric power, for obvious reasons, cannot function in drought conditions and is less productive when there is less water turning the turbine. Nuclear power also relies on nearby rivers and lakes for its cooling (see diagram above). When the lake is low due to drought or the water is already hot, the power plant becomes less efficient and therefore not as energy productive. Such an issue is right now occurring in France where nuclear power is down 50% due to the heat wave.
When energy plants are not as productive, demand for the energy does not go down. The amount of energy consumed has to exactly equal the amount of energy produced. Therefore, when power plants do not supply enough energy to match the amount demanded, a short term power plant opens temporarily. That power plant is most of the time operated by coal or natural gas.
These short-term power plants are easy to turn on and off in order to start or stop power supply quickly compared to hydroelectric or nuclear power plants. The issue is that they are enormously pollutants of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses. So, when there is a heat wave diminishing the efficiency of nuclear and hydroelectric, the main cause of the heat wave is what has to be used, hurting our climate situation further in the future.
Exacerbating the situation even more is that during the heatwave, the general public tends to use more electricity, primarily for fans and air-conditioning. This air conditioning requires even more electricity at a higher cost because most of the additional electricity will be coming from fossil fueled short term power plants. These plants, because they operate for a short period of time, generally charge more for the electricity. As we have an increase of 4% to energy bills across the nation this summer compared to last and this current heat wave sent natural gas prices soaring. These rising costs that are continually paid will only increase our carbon footprint.
Unfortunately, there is no current solution to the problem. There have been advancements in wind and solar power but they are not where they need to be in order to fully take up the slack in energy production. If they are at least able to take over the short term power stations, this would be acceptable in places where weather patterns are more constant, we may hope to not have as hard heat in the future
This blog post is part of the CIMA Law Group blog. If you are located in Arizona and are seeking legal services, CIMA Law Group specializes in Immigration Law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.
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