DOE study: Climate change to ravage U.S. energy industry, costing trillions

Dive Summary:

• Climate change, that messy mix of increasing temperatures, droughts and rising sea levels, will cause mass breakdowns in the U.S. energy industry costing companies trillions of dollars, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) study released Thursday and commissioned by the Obama administration?s climate plan initiative, reports.
• The entire energy value chain is under siege: ?Power plants are shutting down or reducing output because of a shortage of cooling water. Barges carrying coal and oil are being delayed by low water levels in major waterways. Floods and storm surges are inundating ports, refineries, pipelines and rail yards. Powerful windstorms and raging wildfires are felling transformers and transmission lines,? the New York Times notes.
• Hurricane Sandy was just a preview of upcoming attractions. The entire U.S. energy infrastructure ? oil wells, hydroelectric dams, nuclear power plants ? will experience severe stressors at unprecedented costs, said Jonathan Pershing, the deputy assistant secretary of energy for climate change policy and technology. "The cost today is measured in the billions. Over the coming decades, it will be in the trillions. You can?t just put your head in the sand anymore.?

Dive Summary:

?The Energy Department?s Argonne National Laboratory found that air conditioning demand in the West will require 34 gigawatts of new electricity generating capacity by 2050, equivalent to the construction of 100 power plants. The cost to consumers will exceed $40 billion, the lab said.?
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Source: http://www.utilitydive.com/news/doe-study-climate-change-to-ravage-us-energy-industry-costing-trillions/150176/

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