Impact of Climate Change on Renewable Energy

The assignment provided is about the impact of climate change on renewable energy sources, including hydropower, solar, wind, and bioenergy. The document requires the student to analyze the effects of climate change on these energy sources, discuss policies to support renewable energy technologies, and explore how geothermal resources can mitigate climate change risks. The assignment also includes references to various reports and studies on climate change and renewable energy.

Running head: ENERGY
Energy
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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The overview of the future climate trends
The chosen country for this paper is United Kingdom. The purpose of this paper is to
evaluate the different scenario regarding the climate change in this country. The climate change
has led to many impacts in this world. The different sectors will be in deep problem indeed.
United Kingdom is a country in Europe so the general climate is obviously like the other
countries in Europe. There have been many protests and controversies about the climate in the
country like UK.1 The climate committee in the country has developed many important policies
and frameworks that will be effective to cope up with the changing climate factors. The
greenhouse gas emissions have been very important in the modern context. It is estimated by
European Union that the emission rates should be reduced to a moderate level so the
environment can be saved from the decay.2 The technical possibilities will have to be increased
properly as well. The UK Government will look to decrease the carbon emissions because it is
very much harmful for the health of the common people. The carbon emission levels will have to
be reduced to a greater level by the end of 2050. As of 2080, they should eye for coping up with
more environmental problems on the whole.3
1 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climate change 2014: mitigation of climate change. Vol. 3.
Cambridge University Press, 2015.
2 Collins, Matthew, et al. "Long-term climate change: projections, commitments and irreversibility." (2013).
3 Bellard, Céline, et al. "Impacts of climate change on the future of biodiversity." Ecology letters 15.4 (2012): 365-
377.

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It has been reported that the carbon emission have been around 35% in the year 1994 and
it rose up to 67% in the year 2004. One of the major reasons for this is the transport facilities.
Some sectors have been affected by the climate changes very badly.4 These are the power and
energy, transport, land transport, agriculture and other things. The Government bodies and their
experts are trying their best to cope up with the degradation in the environment. It has been noted
that the entire world is taking the actions to combat the climate change indeed. As the carbon
prices will likely to rise, the cost of restricting those gases will increase as well. This is why it is
extremely important to begin the process from here on. There are some important things that
have to be taken care of in the coming years. As the year 2080 is to be projected, some major
steps should be taken according to some variables.
The mean air temperature will change in the entire country as a result of the global
warming. The mean temperature in winter can be estimated up to 2 and 3 degrees. The changes
will be maximum in the South East and minor changes will take place in the North West zone in
the country. The mean air temperature in the sea areas will feel its greatest impact indeed. The
emission rates will be higher than ever during that time. The climate changes will be major in the
southern regions and minor in the northern regions as well.5 This will happen because of the
proximity of the open seas and oceans in the south. The natural variability in the climate is very
huge.6 There will be changes in precipitation as well in UK as well. It can be expected by 2080
4 Hansen, James, et al. "Assessing “dangerous climate change”: required reduction of carbon emissions to protect
young people, future generations and nature." PloS one 8.12 (2013): e81648
5 Schuur, E. A. G., et al. "Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback." Nature 520.7546 (2015): 171-179.
6 Mitsch, William J., et al. "Wetlands, carbon, and climate change." Landscape Ecology 28.4 (2013): 583-597.

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that the climate will become wetter indeed. The rates of precipitation can grow up from 10% to
30%. The precipitation will increase in the higher regions for different reasons. It is also
expected that the summer seasons will become drier indeed.7 A southern to northern gradient will
be there and the decrease can be found in South West of England up to 40%. However, the
annual precipitation levels will not change that much indeed. This will be an important factor in
the climate change.8
Discussion of key risks and opportunities
The entire natural environment will feel to be in a great crisis because of the climate
change effects. The climate changes have led a huge impact on the natural systems in many
countries. It has been noted that the changes in the precipitation rates of the melting and snow
and ice have left an indelible mark indeed. It has affected the resources of water in many
countries; the hydrological activities are hampered as well. The seasonal activities in UK will be
hampered as well. Some important issues that can be taken in consideration are the geographic
issues, patterns in migration process, interactions between different species and many other
things. These things indeed are very important because the climate change can be very fatal for
some creatures and the geographic factors. The impact will be negative on various factors like
the seasonal crops in UK. Agriculture will suffer a lot indeed. The sector that should be focused
7 Houghton, Richard A., et al. "Carbon emissions from land use and land-cover change." Biogeosciences 9.12
(2012): 5125-5142.
8 Pindyck, Robert S. "Climate change policy: What do the models tell us?." Journal of Economic
Literature 51.3 (2013): 860-72.

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in this paper is energy. The energy sector and energy supply will be discussed by focusing on the
climate change. It has been reported that United Kingdom is not all prepared properly for the
changes in climate. The impacts are long term so the climate change effects will be discussed on
the basis of long-term effects as well. It has been noted that the temperature of the earth’s surface
will be heated up because of the global warming effects.
The natural climate change is overshadowed by the human climate change indeed. These
things are very much important to combat with. Some human activities are destroying the nature
completely like the burning of the fossil fuels completely.9 The trees are being cut down so the
natural balance is lost. The greenhouse gases are increasing so the heat is getting trapped in the
atmosphere. These are the reasons as to why the energy is not being manufactured properly
indeed. The carbon emission is very much a troublesome thing in the modern natural context. It
has been observed that around 40% carbon emission in UK is caused by the individuals. This is
why the energy consumed at home; driving and air travel would be very much important for the
worsening of the climate.10 The climate change effect is destroying the balance of the nature. The
average temperature of UK has already risen. This is why the experts are planning some way out
to stop this evil indeed.
9 Field, Christopher B., ed. Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change
adaptation: special report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
10 Mach, K., and M. Mastrandrea. Climate change 2014: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. Eds. Christopher B.
Field, and Vicente R. Barros. Vol. 1. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

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The general temperature in UK will rise to the maximum towards the 2080s. United
Kingdom will get hotter with each passing year. It is likely that the cold winters in the country
will become rare indeed. The frequency of rain will change as well. It is also suggested that
drought can also occur in many areas as well. The climate change will put up a huge cloud of
uncertainty in the country. The risks are big in the energy sector as well.11 The solar energy
resource in UK will also be put under jeopardy as well. However at the present time the solar
energy in UK is providing the resources for the heat energy and electricity generation as well.
The solar energy is getting cheaper by the rates indeed. It has been experimented that the energy
resources in the south of UK will likely to be increased indeed. The price of gas and electricity
will rise up as well. The government will have to provide some resources for the consumption of
energy.12
Energy is one of the core aspects or elements of the economic and social activity of a
country. This is why the manufacturing of energy should be treated with much importance
indeed. Energy is a very essential element for the fulfilling all the industrial and commercial
usage. If the climate changes, it will provide a deep impact on the providing of the energy as
well. The production and consumption of energy will have much impact on the environment. The
impact of climate change on precipitation indicates that the production of hydropower will be
11 Chu, Steven, and Arun Majumdar. "Opportunities and challenges for a sustainable energy
future." nature 488.7411 (2012): 294.
12 Hajat, Shakoor, et al. "Climate change effects on human health: projections of temperature-related mortality for
the UK during the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s." J Epidemiol Community Health 68.7 (2014): 641-648.

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increased by around 5%. It is also expected that the decreased rate of precipitation will have a
negative impact on the cooling procedure in the thermal power plants.
Mitigation policy framework
It is, therefore, very important to address the risks and the ways of mitigating the risks
properly. Some important factors can be seen in this issue. These are the climate is changing
continuously, the main reason behind this change is the activity of the people, there are several
serious impacts of this climate change on society and some important policies should be
formulated as per the climate change risk management.13 It has been found from the research that
the carbon emission is one of the most important reasons for this climate change. If this emission
rate is cut down, the society will be benefitted from many angles as well. If the society cannot
cope up with this change, some mitigation policies should be taken indeed. Some important risks
have been identified. As the concerned sector in this paper is the energy sector, the ways of
mitigation will have to be found according to that only. The energy sector is the largest sector in
producing the GHG emissions. This is why the impacts of climate change is higher on this sector
than the other ones. The global target of 2°C for global warming that was agreed unanimously
should be met by this sector. There are some good options that could result in the mitigation of
this problem indeed. The substantial mitigation can be met in this process as well. However,
there is a considerable range of risks as well.14 One of the most wanted ways is the de-
carbonization of the energy sector. At the end of 2080, United Kingdom will look to eradicate
13 Szulczewski, Michael L., et al. "Lifetime of carbon capture and storage as a climate-change mitigation
technology." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109.14 (2012): 5185-5189.
14 Gerber, Pierre J., et al. Tackling climate change through livestock: a global assessment of emissions and
mitigation opportunities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2013

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the chances of the carbon emission that will lead to the heating of the country in great many
ways. They will need to implement some of the technologies that will lead to the absorbance of
CO2. There are other options as well.15
At first, the fossil fuel extraction and conversion will have to be decreased. This will lead
to the emission to be lowered. After that, the companies in energy sector will look to switch to
fuels that do not contain much carbon. An example can also be given like the switching can be
made from coal to gas. Another way of mitigation is energy efficiency will have to be improved
in many ways for transmission and distribution. Other than that, the new technologies related to
renewable energy will have to be increased. The nuclear energy will have to be increased as well.
The new technology of carbon capture and storage (CCS) will have to be introduced and utilized
as well. The CCS plants will have to be extended that will use the bio energy crops (BECCS).
This might be a successful way of achieving the ‘negative emissions’.
The final energy demand will have to be reduced as well. These are the most important
reasons of achieving the mitigation for the climate change impacts on the energy sector. The
renewable energy sources have a deep impact on the climate change. This will probably reduce
the GHG emissions in the environment. This will be highly beneficial for the environment as a
whole. It is a huge matter that renewable energy (RE) supplies almost one fifth of the electric
supply. Hydropower is one of the largest resources of renewable energy. Other than that some
other RE sources are solar, wind and bio energy. Re will go on to substitute the current resources
for power supply around the 2080 in UK. RE technologies will need to have some direct support
15 Urry, John. "Climate change and society." Why the social sciences matter. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2015.
45-59.

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from the government like the RE quota obligations, feed-in tariffs and other things. Geothermal
resources will look to be the major suppliers for the renewable energies. This will also mitigate
the risks for the climate change impacts.16 Thus these policies will help to bring out the best
outcomes.
References
16 Höök, Mikael, and Xu Tang. "Depletion of fossil fuels and anthropogenic climate change—A review." Energy
Policy 52 (2013): 797-809

9ENERGY
Bellard, Céline, et al. "Impacts of climate change on the future of biodiversity." Ecology
letters 15.4 (2012): 365-377.
Chu, Steven, and Arun Majumdar. "Opportunities and challenges for a sustainable energy
future." nature 488.7411 (2012): 294.
Collins, Matthew, et al. "Long-term climate change: projections, commitments and
irreversibility." (2013).
Field, Christopher B., ed. Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate
change adaptation: special report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge
University Press, 2012.
Gerber, Pierre J., et al. Tackling climate change through livestock: a global assessment of
emissions and mitigation opportunities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO), 2013.
Hajat, Shakoor, et al. "Climate change effects on human health: projections of temperature-
related mortality for the UK during the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s." J Epidemiol Community
Health 68.7 (2014): 641-648.
Hansen, James, et al. "Assessing “dangerous climate change”: required reduction of carbon
emissions to protect young people, future generations and nature." PloS one 8.12 (2013): e81648.
Höök, Mikael, and Xu Tang. "Depletion of fossil fuels and anthropogenic climate change—A
review." Energy Policy 52 (2013): 797-809.
Houghton, Richard A., et al. "Carbon emissions from land use and land-cover
change." Biogeosciences 9.12 (2012): 5125-5142.

10ENERGY
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climate change 2014: mitigation of climate
change. Vol. 3. Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Mach, K., and M. Mastrandrea. Climate change 2014: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability.
Eds. Christopher B. Field, and Vicente R. Barros. Vol. 1. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2014.
Mitsch, William J., et al. "Wetlands, carbon, and climate change." Landscape Ecology 28.4
(2013): 583-597.
Pindyck, Robert S. "Climate change policy: What do the models tell us?." Journal of Economic
Literature 51.3 (2013): 860-72.
Schuur, E. A. G., et al. "Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback." Nature 520.7546
(2015): 171-179.
Szulczewski, Michael L., et al. "Lifetime of carbon capture and storage as a climate-change
mitigation technology." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109.14 (2012): 5185-
5189.
Urry, John. "Climate change and society." Why the social sciences matter. Palgrave Macmillan,
London, 2015. 45-59.