Peak Heat In Midwest, East Coast Also Produces Peak Emissions As Utilities Fire Up To Meet AC Demand
Greenhouse gas emissions will spike today as temperatures along the East Coast approach triple digits and grid operators fire up nearly all of their power plants to help Americans beat the heat. The spike in emissions as temperatures rise is a characteristic of the nation's electric grids. Many of the dirtiest coal- and oil-fired power plants sit idle for most of the year, because it doesn't pay to run them. That changes on hot days. Residents and businesses turn on their air conditioners, pushing electric demand up and prompting grid operators to call on their seldom-used plants.
"As the number of extreme heat days goes up, we're going to need more peak power, and that will create more carbon dioxide unless we have a clean electric system that can handle it," said Constantine Samaras, a professor who studies power-sector emissions at Carnegie Mellon University. The situation highlights a potentially dangerous loop. As the planet warms, heat waves like the one gripping much of the United States will become more common. And as the mercury rises, so do people's reliance on fossil fuels, creating even more pollution.
Extreme weather alone doesn't push greenhouse gases higher. U.S. emissions have trended downward in recent years, even as global temperatures climbed, largely because power plants have generated less pollution during the course of a year. But 2018 underlined the potential dangers of extreme weather. Electricity demand surged on the back of a particularly cold winter and hot summer, pushing overall emissions up for the first time in several years (Climatewire, Jan. 10). Samaras framed the situation like this: "The number of extreme heat days is one factor that will determine how much power we will use in a year."
Temperatures are expected to approach 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Chicago; New York; St. Louis; and Washington, D.C., today, according to the National Weather Service. The extreme heat will linger over the Eastern Seaboard into the weekend. Grid operators were projecting an increase in electricity demand as a result. The PJM Interconnection, which covers Mid-Atlantic states from Virginia to Illinois, said it expected demand to surge to 152 gigawatts. PJM's peak demand last summer was 150 GW. Its all-time peak was recorded in August 2006, when demand hit 165 GW.
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https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2019/07/19/stories/1060758177