Rising Temperatures, Rising Costs: The Increasing Global Energy Needs that Come with a Changing Climate

By mid-century, climate change will significantly increase the demand for energy, driven in large part by electricity needed for cooling. According to a comprehensive new study by researchers from Boston University, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), and the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice published in Nature Communications, energy demand by 2050 will increase by 11-27 percent in a modest warming scenario, and 25-58 percent in a high warming scenario. These findings were the result of a global analysis using temperature projections from 21 climate models and population and economy projections for five socioeconomic scenarios to calculate changes in demand for three fuels and in four economic sectors. Join the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and the Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE) for a seminar with study co-author and Pardee Center Faculty Research Fellow Prof. Ian Sue Wing, where he will present the study’s methodology, findings, and implications for the future. He will be joined by ISE Associate Director Prof. Cutler Cleveland as a discussant. The seminar will take place on Wednesday, September 25 from 3:00 – 4:30 pm at the Pardee Center, 67 Bay State Road. This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP below.