Joule
Volume 6, Issue 7, 20 July 2022, Pages 1405-1417
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Perspective
Overcoming the disconnect between energy system and climate modeling

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2022.05.010Get rights and content
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Context & scale

An emerging body of literature highlights diverse threats that climate change might pose to reliable, resilient, affordable, and clean energy provision. The potential consequences of these threats are underscored by recent real-world events, like rolling blackouts in California and Texas. In recognition of these threats, a community of practice in energy-climate modeling has started to form that aims to better coordinate two types of models: (1) energy system models and (2) weather and climate models. Several disconnects between these two modeling communities hinder the use of the full potential of climate expertise and information in energy system modeling.

To overcome these disconnects, we propose a research agenda consisting of near-term interdisciplinary activities and long-term transdisciplinary activities among the energy and climate modeling communities. In the near-term, our proposed interdisciplinary activities aim to expedite the use of climate data in energy system modeling, generating much-needed insights for decision-makers. In the long-term, our proposed transdisciplinary activities aim to enable two developments: energy-system-tailored climate datasets for historical and future meteorological conditions and energy system models that can effectively leverage those datasets. Achieving this research agenda will require global energy and climate modeling communities and their funders to reframe and reconsider their methods and processes.

Summary

Energy system models underpin decisions by energy system planners and operators. Energy system modeling faces a transformation: accounting for changing meteorological conditions imposed by climate change. To enable that transformation, a community of practice in energy-climate modeling has started to form that aims to better integrate energy system models with weather and climate models. Here, we evaluate the disconnects between the energy system and climate modeling communities, then lay out a research agenda to bridge those disconnects. In the near-term, we propose interdisciplinary activities for expediting uptake of future climate data in energy system modeling. In the long-term, we propose a transdisciplinary approach to enable development of (1) energy-system-tailored climate datasets for historical and future meteorological conditions and (2) energy system models that can effectively leverage those datasets. This agenda increases the odds of meeting ambitious climate mitigation goals by systematically capturing and mitigating climate risk in energy sector decision-making.

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These authors contributed equally