Power Plants Threatened as Global Warming Affects Water Supplies

摘要

More than two-thirds of the world's power plants may have trouble running at full capacity as climate change affects water supplies, according to a new study. Reduced stream flows and rising water temperatures could cut monthly generating capacity at nuclear, fossil fuel and biofuel-powered plants by as much as 30 percent by the 2050s, according to research published Jan. 4 in the journal Nature Climate Change. Global hydro-power capacity is expected to drop by as much as 3.6 percent in the 2050s and almost double that amount by the 2080s. "The world's electricity sector strongly depends on the availability and temperature of water resources," wrote the team of scientists led by Michelle T. H. van Vliet of Wageningen University in the Netherlands. "Global warming, with increased climate variability and likelihoods of heat waves and droughts, may have important impacts." The review of about 26,000 power plants found capacities could be reduced by at least 61 percent of hydroelectric plants and 81 percent of those that use nuclear, coal, geothermal and other fuels, the study found, based on current temperature trends.