Security of energy supply: will it stand the test of climate change—and what will it cost?

Abstract

Energy security is defined as the association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption and is a central component of political action. Since the oil crisis in 1973/1974, energy security is a topic of the general public. Over the years, the perception of energy security changed from reducing the dependency on oil exporting countries to additionally taking into account the decline of fossil fuels, environmental problems caused by conventional energy sources as well as the future electricity supply including renewable energy resources. Climate change increasingly impacts the environment and thus, water availability. That is why already today water availability impacts energy security in parts of Europe. In order to secure electricity supply, renewable energies such as wind turbines and photovoltaics, can be used additionally for electricity generation. Due to high fluctuation within the electricity grid, electricity supply can neither be secured by the conventional and nuclear power plants nor by renewable energies. Obviously, additional measures have to be taken to provide energy security. A system similar to demand-side management systems for electricity distribution can ease the problem and helps regulating the supply for electricity and water to the consumers to sustain energy security. For defining the necessary input data for such a system, it has to be analyzed which stakeholders are directly affected by water scarcity and/or low electricity supply, which data are already available and have additionally to be made available from each stakeholder and how these data will be used within the system.