Climatic changes and impact of the energy sector of the UK

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Ref No: 3243

Introduction.

1. Overview of Potential Climate Change. 3
2. Risks and opportunities for Energy Sector in the UK.. 5
3. Risk and Mitigation Policy Framework. 6

References. 8

 

Introduction

The main purpose of this assignment is to study the potential climate change and impact of the energy sector on the UK. Firstly, the overview of potential climate change is discussed specifically in the context of UK. Further, the assignment discusses the risk and opportunities for the energy sector in the UK and lastly, risk mitigation policy framework is analyzed in the assignment.

1.Overview of Potential Climate Change

The country that has been chosen for the purpose of theanalysis is the UK. The analysis in this respect has illustrated that the UK is already affected by the continuous rise in the temperatures. The average temperature within the UK is currently 1-degree centigrade higher than what it was around 100 years ago and 0.5-degree centigrade higher than what it was in the 1970s. It is expected that in the future, if the overall level of global emissions is not reduced, then the average temperature in the south east of England is forecasted to increase by over 2-degree centigrade till the 2040s and nearly around 4 degrees centigrade by the year 2080s. The increase in the level of temperature is expected to result in heavier rainfalls which would lead towards anincrease in the level of flooding and increase in the overall level of thesea (Gov.uk, 2014).Moreover, the recent tropical blast is also expected to raise the overall level of temperature in the UK as the blast would probably result in the UK becoming the target of hot winds. Places such as Aberdeen Wattisham and London are all expected to be most affected by the hot temperature (Guardian, 2017).

Apart from that, it has been stated by Pickering, Wells, Horsburgh and Green (2012) that global sea level is rising which is having a detrimental impact on the overall sea level within the UK.

Figure 1 forecasted rise in sea level of the UK

(Source: Department of Communities and Local Government, 2010)

Figure 1 illustrates the amount of rising that is expected to occur in the overall sea level within the UK in the future years.

Furthermore, the rise in the level of thesea has a significant impact on the overall movements of land that is being experienced across different parts of the UK. As a result, the level of sea rises could vary throughout the country. The increase in the level of seal enhances the risk of flooding and erosion of coastal areas especially in the south and east of England which is expected to have a significant impact on the population living in the coastal areas of the country (BBC, 2017).

On the other hand, it has been stated by Cradden (2010) that arguably has the best potential for generation of wind power in the European region but the considerable changes in the patterns of weather that are expected to occur in the coming century is expected to have a detrimental impact on the overall resources of the wind within the UK. This would result in decline in the financial viability of the developments of wind power. Since wind power is currently considered as the most rapidly growing renewable energy source and is expected to cover the large part of the renewable targets of the UK government by 2020, the policy makers of the country need to take significant measures to reduce the impact of climate change on wind resource.

2. Risks and opportunities for Energy Sector in the UK

The discussion in this section is based on the energy sector in the UK. The frequent changes in the climate within the UK are expected to have a significant effect on the energy sector and the overall demand prevailing in this industry. The risks and the opportunities that are present for the energy sector in the UK as a result of climatic changes have been presented below:

Risks

1. The analysis of the current situation indicates that consistent rise in the temperature along with increasing nature of severity of the weather is expected to affect the production and delivery of energy resources within the country. Furthermore, the overall supply of fossil fuels along with thermal and hydropower generation and transmission are also expected to be adversely affected Moreover, the expected rise in the climate would ultimately result in increase in the demand of energy which would be required for cooling purposes (European Climate Foundation, 2017)………………………………….continued