A select group of companies from the energy and manufacturing sectors met with officials from the International Energy Agency (IEA) today for the first time for an exploratory discussion on the threats to energy systems from climate change.
The meeting, which had been scheduled for several months, comes a week after Hurricane Sandy caused tens of billions of dollars’ worth of damage along the East Coast of the United States. The storm’s aftermath highlighted the vulnerability of even the most well-developed economies and energy systems to environmental impacts.
Such extreme weather events threaten electricity transmission, delivery of gasoline, as well as heat, transport and communication systems that rely on energy. Climate change may affect how energy is produced and consumed in the future. Warmer regions may be exposed to rising electricity demand for cooling in the summer. Warming can also affect electricity supply as plants that need water and air for cooling face new challenges. At the same time, sea level rise and flooding pose challenges for energy infrastructure and the transport of energy goods.
See full Press Release: http://www.iea.org/newsroomandevents/pressreleases/2012/november/name,33311,en.html
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