UConn Office of Sustainability’s Post

The primary source of precipitation frequency estimates in the U.S. — the NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's Atlas 14 — has long relied on the concept of climate stationarity, meaning its data is modeled on the assumption that precipitation events are not changing over time and that future climate conditions can be represented by the past. For city and state builders and planners, underestimating how current and future infrastructure designs will need to be developed against increasingly unpredictable and extreme weather events could have serious consequences. Read how Exponent’s earth and environmental scientists can use sophisticated modeling techniques to assess infrastructure designs and support our clients in developing sound infrastructure for the future: https://hubs.li/Q02dR7vL0 Susan Paulsen, Maryam Pournasiri, Ph.D., P.E., CFM #Exponent #ThoughtLeadership #WhenYouNeedToKnow #ClimateChange #ClimateData #ExtremeWeather #Infrastructure #CivilEngineering #Utilities #NOAA

Storm-Proofing for a Resilient Future A groundbreaking study has shown that protecting just 1% of power lines can dramatically enhance grid resilience against hurricanes, reducing blackout risks by up to 20-fold. This revelation, derived from simulations on a model of the Texas electricity grid, highlights the power of strategic infrastructure investment. At Norden, we recognize the critical importance of building resilient energy systems. This study underscores our commitment to pioneering solutions that safeguard our grids and ensure continuous power supply during extreme weather events. Focusing on key vulnerabilities within our networks can prevent the widespread disruptions often seen during hurricanes. It’s about smarter, not just harder, infrastructure. As we continue to innovate, studies like these inspire us and guide our efforts in storm-proofing and resilience. Let’s work together to light up tomorrow, no matter the weather. https://lnkd.in/gUiVn6SY

Many electric grid systems worldwide haven’t caught up to the climate reality we’re now experiencing globally. As a result, planning for unforeseen weather emergencies and taking steps to ensure the increased resiliency of electric grids has become more essential than ever for utilities and the communities they serve.

Here’s what extreme summer weather means for the grid, and how #PNNL researchers are stepping up to face the challenge.   Heatwaves:  -Higher demand for cooling.  -Reduced efficiency in power generation and transmission.  Wildfires:  -Increased fire risk from dry landscapes.  -Rapid Analytics for Disaster Response (RADR-Fire) model helps track and manage fire risks.  PNNL Solutions:  -Developing materials to improve power conduction in heat.  -Enhancing building energy efficiency.  -Modeling risks to prevent utility infrastructure from sparking fires.  -Extreme weather is intensifying. PNNL’s innovations are vital for a resilient power grid and community safety.  #Heatwave #Wildfires #GridResilience #PNNL #ClimateChange 

The resilience of HV transmission systems is the ability to limit the extent, severity, and duration of system degradation following extreme events. This is achieved by key measures taken before, during, and after events such as heatwaves, storms, and floods. Lessons learned have led to proposed innovative new metrics and countermeasures to better adapt and reinforce the grid for energy demands and environmental stresses. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/exFAaMcH

Today’s energy models are behind the curve on incorporating climate impacts into their forecasts. OnLocation took steps to address this shortfall with its January 2024 report for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The report identifies climate impacts affecting energy systems that need to be addressed along with a path forward for incorporating them in energy-economy models with a focus on the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS). OnLocation’s threefold approach was to: - Identify and prioritize climate variables most relevant to U.S. energy dynamics; - Review existing literature on climate impacts within energy modeling systems; and - Determine the best approach to incorporating these variables into NEMS. Learn more 👉 https://bit.ly/3VGHMHi #energymodeling #cleanenergy #renewableenergy #climateimpact #climatechange

☀️ “While extreme heat is not a direct cause of power grid failures, extreme heat does cause power lines to operate less efficiently,” says Daniel Cohan, faculty scholar at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy CES, in an ABC7 Chicago article. How does extreme weather impact the power grid? Read now:  https://lnkd.in/g8yHFgbt #HeatWave #ElectricalSubstation #ElectricPower #PowerOutage #NationalGrid #Electricity 

In weather like this, it becomes obvious why a topic like power grid resilience is so critical. Thanks to a partnership between University at Albany's The Center of Excellence in Weather & Climate Analytics and the University of Connecticut, researchers will study the resiliency of the power grid with the changing climate and the transition to new clean energy sources.

Bloomberg Markets writes, Texas has been in the news a lot in the last few years for major power outages, but power grids around the country are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change. And a lot of work needs to be done to make them more resilient, as most of the power grid we use today was built more than 50 years ago. “So, we have lots of old power lines, often on wooden poles, lots of old transformers, lots of old equipment,” said Daniel Cohan, an environmental engineering professor at Rice University in Houston. Cohan added many of the old poles and lines are also near trees, and “all of that is at big risk when we have winds that gust up over 80 miles an hour, like they did in this storm.” As climate change makes storms more extreme, Cohan said much of our existing power infrastructure needs to be replaced. “Really, it comes down to building out stronger poles, stronger switches, having systems that can better sense where the outages are, so crews can respond more quickly,” Cohan said. Utilities also need to invest in shoring up the grid so it can handle increased demand when temps soar—or plummet. But Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist at the The University of Texas at Austin, said for now at least, power outages from storm damage are more common. “The vast majority of times when people lose power, it’s because of failure on the transmission or in the distribution system,” Rhodes said, “the small wires and poles that take electricity the last mile to your home or business.” So, Rhodes said, if the goal is to keep the power on, “we really need to focus on hardening the distribution network.” Rhodes said that needs to start in neighborhoods where power goes down the most often, because utilities aren’t going to be able to overhaul the whole system at once. “This is not something that happens in an order of weeks or months,” Rhodes said. “This is something that’s going to take years to develop and potentially, you know, decades to fully roll out.” For one thing, getting regulatory approval for these kinds of projects can take a long time. And they’re also expensive, said Ramteen Sioshansi, an electrical engineering and public policy professor at Carnegie Mellon University. “At the end of the day, someone has to pay for these types of investments to make electricity supply more reliable,” Sioshansi said. “And so, there’s always this trade-off.” A trade off between wanting to make electricity more reliable, he said, and wanting to keep it as affordable as possible. ⚡ 🤔 👀 #electricity #housin #energy

Reading the recent article from my colleagues Dean Gluckman and Rodrigo Chaparro about our work in Sierra Leone reminded me of all the challenges we, in North America were going through. Most recently a with the recently a cold snap that almost brought the grid in Alberta down if Albertan's would have dropped every unnecessary watt. Heat domes last summer, strong winds in the East and floods. Extreme weather events and infrastructure challenges are not only or no longer a problem of the developing world. Not only pose they challenges to the safety and wellbeing of the communities they serve, they can increase the financial risk to utilities. However, enhancing the resilience of existing assets can be expensive. Decision makers struggle to calculate the return on these investments because the impacts are typically realized only when a major event threatens the reliability of service. The integration of climate change considerations into the design of future infrastructure investments can help minimize those financial risks, even when hard to quantify. If you want to assess your organization's climate change risk and build a mitigation roadmap we would be delighted to help.