The impacts of climate changes in the renewable energy resources in the Caribbean region

Journal Article · Mon Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 2010 · Journal of Solar Energy Engineering

OSTI ID:982155

Erickson, III, David J ^[1]

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1. ORNL

Assessment of renewable energy resources such as surface solar radiation and wind current has great relevance in the development of local and regional energy policies. This paper examines the variability and availability of these resources as a function of possible climate changes for the Caribbean region. Global climate changes have been reported in the last decades, causing changes in the atmospheric dynamics, which affects the net solar radiation balance at the surface and the wind strength and direction. For this investigation, the future climate changes for the Caribbean are predicted using the parallel climate model (PCM) and it is coupled with the numerical model regional atmospheric modeling system (RAMS) to simulate the solar and wind energy spatial patterns changes for the specific case of the island of Puerto Rico. Numerical results from PCM indicate that the Caribbean basin from 2041 to 2055 will experience a slight decrease in the net surface solar radiation (with respect to the years 1996-2010), which is more pronounced in the western Caribbean sea. Results also indicate that the easterly winds have a tendency to increase in its magnitude, especially from the years 2070 to 2098. The regional model showed that important areas to collect solar energy are located in the eastern side of Puerto Rico, while the more intense wind speed is placed around the coast. A future climate change is expected in the Caribbean that will result in higher energy demands, but both renewable energy sources will have enough intensity to be used in the future as alternative energy resources to mitigate future climate changes.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 982155
• Journal Information: Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Journal Name: Journal of Solar Energy Engineering Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 132; ISSN JSEEDO; ISSN 0199-6231
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
AVAILABILITY
CARIBBEAN SEA
CLIMATE MODELS
CLIMATES
CLIMATIC CHANGE
ENERGY DEMAND
PUERTO RICO
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SIMULATION
SOLAR ENERGY
SOLAR RADIATION
VELOCITY