Understanding Energy Use During the Cold Season: A Systems Thinking Approach

In ESS we use a systems thinking approach, where ESS students are able to understand how increased energy demands influence our environmental and social systems.

Why Winter Energy Use is a System in ESS

In ESS system approach is very important. We define a system in Topic 1 as a group of interacting parts that work together and make a functional whole. All systems have certain inputs, outputs, flows, and feedback loops. Winter energy use is clearly a system as ESS says it is.

System approach when it comes to Winter energy use:

• Inputs: Fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal ), renewable energy (wind energy, solar energy, Hydro electric power), electricity

• Processes: Generation of energy, energy transmission, systems for heating

• Outputs: Warm homes and offices, GHGs emissions (CO2, Ozone, NOx)

• Feedback loops: Climate change leading to loss of biodiversity, thermal expansion, melting of ice caps.

By seeing winter energy use as a complex system rather than a problem (as ESS students are doing), we can see how one part affect the other and it leads to the entire system changed.

Winter leads to high energy demand

The biggest change in winter is the sudden increase in energy demand due to heating. As atmospheric temperatures fall down, homes use central heating, boilers, heaters, or different kinds of heating in order to maintain good indoor temperatures.

This winter rise in energy demand pictures the ESS key term of our dependence on energy systems. In higher latitudes there are colder temperatures in winter, heating is a necessity which makes heating a social problem as well as an environmental issue. Low income populations and households often find it difficult to afford heating and high energy use. This situation can lead to different social issues like poverty.

From ESS point of view, increased energy demand puts pressure on infrastructure, which leads to power plants working at high capacity during winter.

Fossil Fuel Combustion and Effect on the Environment

Investment in renewable energy sources is growing but world’s winter energy demand is mainly met by the burning of fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, and oil). This is mainly seen at heating systems, which are usually gas-powered.

When it comes to ESS winter energy systems, fossil fuels are the  energy input.  There are also significant outputs:

• GHGs such as CO2

• Air pollution such as NOx and particulate matter

• Global warming that leads to climate change.

This leads to positive feedback mechanism. Fossil fuels combustion in winter for heating leads to greenhouse gas emissions such as CO2, which leads to increased atmospheric temperatures and climate change. This can lead to lower temperatures in winters, which leads to higher heating demand and higher use of fossil fuel sources.

This positive feedback mechanism is a key term in ESS and is often assessed in exam papers such as Paper 1 and Paper 2.

 Winter leads to energy inefficiency

One more important input when it comes to winter energy usage is energy inefficiency. Low insulation, older windows, inefficient heating and heat loss will decrease the efficiency of energy use.

According to ESS, inefficiency is when a large amount of energy is lost as heat. Heat energy is therefore not  transformed into output that we use. The consequences of these are:

• High energy use

• High costs for people

• Negative impact on the environment