Hello, this is Cynthia from Think-team! I hope you are doing well wherever you are.
Nowadays, I start thinking more deeply about the climate change impacts on the energy sector because I am preparing for our upcoming collaboration with TigerMOV at the end of this month. Different from a usual topic that I usually explore on how to reduce carbon emission from the energy sector as the mitigation strategy, this upcoming event, I will talk about how the sector shall adapt to the changing climate.
I suppose many of you are already aware that the energy sector is responsible for carbon emissions globally due to intensive fossil fuel combustion to achieve economic growth including in Indonesia. As our energy sector is highly reliant on fossil fuels, this puts the energy system vulnerable. Looking at coal, the locations of coal mining are mainly in Sumatra and Kalimantan island, however, the demand is mainly outside where the mining is (e.g., Java island).
There is a study conducted by the World Bank to assess the vulnerability of the energy sector to climate change. In this study, the World Bank generated the list of climate-induced impacts for several energy sources including fossil fuels the follows.
Given that many coal power plants are located in coastal areas, this infrastructure is perceived vulnerable. For example, coal transportation encountered delays due to extreme weather at the end of last year and the beginning of this year due to high precipitation. Some renewables also cannot avoid the impacts of climate change, like hydropower. In addition to the competition of water use with other sectors (e.g., industry, agriculture), the precipitation change affects the water availability that ultimately influences the operation of hydropower.
This indicates that the energy sector should also adapt to climate change, not only thinking about how to reduce carbon emissions. I will share the potential adaptation strategies in my next blog.
Or perhaps you already thought of some adaptation strategies for this sector? Please share in the comment below 😉
Thank you for reading my blog. See you next time. 🖐🏼
Further reading: https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/580481468331850839/climate-impacts-on-energy-systems-key-issues-for-energy-sector-adaptation