Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Water, energy and climate change are inextricably linked, as energy
production and use are sensitive to changes in the climate. Increasing
temperatures will reduce consumption of energy for heating but increase
energy used for cooling buildings. Global primary energy demand is
projected to increase by over 50% by 2030. Freshwater withdrawals are
predicted to increase by 50% in developing countries, and 18% in developed
countries (UNEP 2007). The implications of climate change for energy
supply are less clear than for energy demand. Mountains provide cheap
and CO
2
-neutral energy by their hydro-electrical potential, but also by other
renewable energy production opportunities (solar, wind and geothermic
energy). For example, in December 2008, the US Environmental Protection
Agency announced an inter-agency agreement between the offi ces of Air
and Water to collaborate on energy and climate efforts at water utilities.
Hydroenergy is by far the largest renewable source of electricity.
Hydropower in mountainous regions is mostly dedicated to provide
energy in times of high demand (pump storage plants). So there is a strong
difference in hydroenergy production between different seasons (winter,
summer, rainy and dry season). More and more hydropower serve as
a storage facility for those energy sources having a weather dependent
component (solar and wind energy).
Reservoirs store both water and energy and are becoming increasingly
important for the management of climate change effects. Twenty nine
percent of dams worldwide are used for hydropower and only 10% have
hydropower as their main use (WBCSD 2006). Most of them are used for
fl ood control, freshwater supply, irrigation, recreation or other purposes.
Thus, water supply depends to a high degree on artifi cial water storage
in mountains.
Impacts form climate change on regional and global hydrological
systems is increasing, bringer higher levels of uncertainty and risk. Climate
alteration has a signifi cant impact on hydropower generation. However,
the effects of solar radiation, evaporation, glacier retreat, run-off variations
are not yet analyzed suffi ciently (Borsdorf 2010).
Climate change effects on water and energy supply and demand will
depend not only on climatic factors, but also on patterns of economic
growth, land use, population growth and distribution, technological change
and social and cultural trends that shape individual and institutional actions.
Urban habitat
A considerable proportion of the population in mountain regions is
concentrated in large cities or even megacities. The causes of this dramatic
growth can be traced back to overseas immigrations from the end of the 19th
century, migration movements from nearby rural areas or even from other
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