Theme: 1. Adaptation

Topic Area: 1a. Investing in Climate Resilient Infrastructure

Background/Objectives:

Energy system resilience is inextricably linked with climate resilience, because the transition to a safe and secure grid powered by renewables is central to both adaptation and mitigation efforts. As geopolitical tensions intensify and as it becomes clear how integral supply chains are to our clean energy future, the term energy security has become a central concept, similar to resilience in the climate and energy lexicon. This project seeks to understand the role of energy system resilience within energy security. The key research questions are: How are energy system resilience and energy security related? And what is the role of renewables within both security and resilience? A strong conceptual understanding of these terms will set the stage for accelerating secure and resilient innovations at different scales.

Approach/Activities:

This project combines research being conducted at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with a literature review to understand how energy security and resilience are related and where they diverge. In particular, the literature review answers whether frameworks currently exist for categorizing or quantifying energy security and system resilience. If so, are these frameworks sufficient or do they require iteration to capture the complexity of both concepts and how each can best inform the other?

Results/Lessons Learned:

“Energy security” shares fundamental concepts with resilience, however they are nuanced concepts. Like energy system resilience, energy security is: 1) inherently interdisciplinary and context-dependent, 2) difficult to define and measure, and 3) concerned with critical interdependencies and evolution of vulnerabilities. At the time of presentation, authors expect to have results of their initial literature review and a framing on how energy system resilience and energy security can best inform one another to support global adaptation efforts.

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Heidi Applegate