Potential Effects of Climate Change to Hydropower Infrastructure

Difference from Mean

High
Mean
Low

Production Increase

Production Decrease

Au th or:Ma tth ewWh ittle

Conta c t:m w0038@u a h .
edu
Da te:1
1/
17/
2015
ESS414-Geospa tia lApplic a tions
Assig nm ent 6-Energ yI
nfra stru c tu re

750 Miles

Wh en m ost peopledisc u ss c lim a tec h a ng e,energ yinfra stru c tu reis a topic often left u ntou c h ed.I
f wea na lyzea sc ena rio involving th ec h a ng ein prec ipita tion for
2080,c onsidera b le th rea ts a nd opportu nities a rise for energ yinfra stru c tu re.Hydroelec tric ityh a s lost its sh ine in rec ent yea rs,espec ia llya s sc ientists h a ve
c onc lu dedth a t da m s destroym a rineh a b ita ts u p a nddownstrea m .Th eUnitedSta tesexisting h ydroelec tric infra stru c tu rewillc ontinu eto provideenerg yfor m a ny
a rea s th rou g h ou t th eendof th is c entu ry;a t lea st u ntilc lim a tec h a ng eh inders its u sefu lness.Atota lof 1392 h ydroelec tric pla nts werec a lc u la tedinto th is Kriging
interpolation.O nlyHUC-4 sites (
su b b a sins of a pproxim a tely2,
200HUC'
s)
,wereinvolvedin th is a na lysis of neg a tivelyindu c edc lim a tec h a ng erisks.Th eb lu e
a rea s a re indic a tive of high precipitation reg ions,a nd red a rea s exem plifylow precipitation reg ions.Th e left ta b le sh ows th e top 10 positivelya ffec ted
h ydroelec tric infra stru c tu res,wh ic h m ost h a ppen to derive from th e drenc h ing Northwestern U.
S.Th e rig h t g ra ph indic a tes th e top 10 neg a tivelya ffec ted
h ydroelec tric infra stru c tu res,a ndth esec oinc identa llya ppea r in th ea ridSouthwestern U.
S.Alth ou g h ,th etop 10positiveinfra stru c tu res m ig h t not nec essa rilyb e
b enefic ia la s inc rea sedprec ipita tion m a yoverloa dth eh ydroelec tric pla nts.
Coordina teSystem :USAContig u ou s Alb ers Equ a lArea Conic

Projec tion:Alb ers

Da tu m :North Am eric a n 1983 Sou rc es:Esri,HERE,DeLorne,Ma pm yI

ndia ,GI
SCom m u nity
,Th eNa tu reConserva nc y
,EI
A,USGS,c ensu s.
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