Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-6 (section)

=== Box 6.6 | Energy Resilience ===

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In February 2021, the state of Texas was hit by three major storms and suffered significant scale power outages. More than 4.5 million homes and businesses on the Texas electric grid were left without electricity for days, limiting the ability to heat homes during dangerously low temperatures and leading to food and clean water shortages ( [[#Busby--2021|Busby et al. 2021]] ). The Texas and other events – for example, Typhoon Haiyan in Southeast Asia in 2013; the Australian bush fires in 2019–2020; forest fires in 2018 in California; water shortages in Cape Town, South Africa in 2018 and the western USA during 2021 – raise the question of whether future low-carbon energy systems will be more or less resilient than those of today.

Some characteristics of low-carbon energy systems will make them less resilient. Droughts reduce hydroelectric electricity generation ( [[#Gleick--2016|Gleick 2016]] ; [[#van%20Vliet--2016c|van Vliet et al. 2016c]] ); wind farms do not produce electricity in calm conditions or shut down in very strong winds ( [[#Petersen--2012|Petersen and Troen 2012]] ); solar PV generation is reduced by clouds and is less efficient under extreme heat, dust storms, and wildfires ( [[#Perry--2015|Perry and Troccoli 2015]] ; [[#Jackson--2021|Jackson and Gunda 2021]] ). In addition, the electrification of heating will increase the weather dependence of electricity consumption ( [[#Staffell--2018|Staffell and Pfenninger 2018]] ; [[#Gea-Bermúdez--2021|Gea-Bermúdez et al. 2021]] ). Non-renewable generation, for example, from nuclear and fossil power plants, are also vulnerable to high temperatures and droughts as they depend on water for cooling ( [[#Cronin--2018|Cronin et al. 2018]] ; [[#Ahmad--2021|Ahmad 2021]] ).

But some aspects of low-carbon energy systems will make them more resilient. Wind and solar farms are often spread geographically, which reduces the chances of being affected by the same extreme weather event ( [[#Perera--2020|Perera et al. 2020]] ). The diversification of energy sources, in which each component has different vulnerabilities, increases resilience. Less reliance on thermal electricity generation technologies will reduce the risks of curtailment or efficiency losses from droughts and heat waves ( [[#Lohrmann--2019|Lohrmann et al. 2019]] ). More generally, increased electricity system integration and flexibility ( [[#6.4.3|Section 6.4.3]] ) and weatherisation of generators increases electricity system resilience ( [[#Busby--2021|Busby et al. 2021]] ; [[#Heffron--2021|Heffron et al. 2021]] ). Likewise, local district micro-grids with appropriate enabling technologies (e.g., distributed generation, energy storage, greater demand-side participation, electric vehicles) may ensure access to electricity during major long-duration power outage events and radically enhance the resilience of supply of essential demand ( [[#Stout--2019|Stout et al. 2019]] ).

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