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Abstract

Energy consumption in the Southwest United States was 12,500 trillion British thermal units (BTUs) in 2009, equal to 222 million BTUs per person (EIA 2010). Any change or disruption to the supply of energy is likely to have significant impacts. For example, a study found that electrical power blackouts and “sags” cost the United States about $80 billion every year in lost services, industrial capacity, and gross domestic product (LaCommare and Eto 2004).

Chapter citation: Tidwell, V. C., L. Dale, G. Franco, K. Averyt, M. Wei, D. M. Kammen, and J. H. Nelson. 2013. “Energy: Supply, Demand, and Impacts.” In Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States: A Report Prepared for the National Climate Assessment, edited by G. Garfin, A. Jardine, R. Merideth, M. Black, and S. LeRoy, 240–266. A report by the Southwest Climate Alliance. Washington, DC: Island Press.

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Endnotes

  1. i

    Includes biofuel-based transportation fuels and electricity generated with renewable energy (e.g., solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric).

  2. ii

    Several reports have considered potential climate impacts on the energy industry at the national and international levels (e.g., Karl, Melillo, and Peterson 2009; Beard et al. 2010; Ebinger and Vergara 2011). Here we direct attention to the Southwest region of the United States.

  3. iii

    These projections are similar to estimates presented in another recent study of California peak loads and climate change (Miller et al. 2007), which projects 90th percentile peak demand increases of 6.2% to 19.2% under the IPCC’s (2007) high-emissions scenario.

  4. iv

    Non-potable sources are now required in California for new permitting of thermoelectric water use (California Water Code, Section 13552).

  5. v

    An 86 °F (30 °C) ambient temperature approximately corresponds to a 248 °F (120 °C) hot spot conductor temperature at a typical transformer (Swift et al. 2001).

  6. vi

    Caution needs to be taken, however, as the analysis by Sathaye and colleagues (2011) was conducted at a scoping level and site-specific analyses are necessary to determine actual risks.

  7. vii

    The authors caution about the reliability of these reported trends, however, given the potential problems with the wind measurements due to such factors as changes in the location of the monitoring stations, degradation in the performance of the instruments used to measure wind speed, and changes in land use close to the monitoring stations.

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Tidwell, V.C. et al. (2013). Energy: Supply, Demand, and Impacts. In: Garfin, G., Jardine, A., Merideth, R., Black, M., LeRoy, S. (eds) Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States. NCA Regional Input Reports. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-484-0_12

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