Atmospheric CO2 levels are projected to increase in the future and result in the Earth's warming. A numerical economic model, driven with a climate model calculated on Oak Ridge National Laboratory's IBM Cheetah Supercomputer, has simulated and predicted energy usage and costs in the United States for the time period 2000-2025. David Erickson of ORNL's Computer Science and Mathematics Division reports gradually increasing temperatures will create a greater demand for air-conditioning provided by electrical energy, which will heighten the demand for coal to be burned at fossil fuel power plants. The numerical economics model includes data on building codes and census figures from every county in the United States, along with expected population changes during the time period. This research was conducted by a group of scientists from ORNL's Computing and Computational Sciences, Biological and Environmental Sciences and Energy and Engineering Sciences directorates. The study is funded through ORNL's Laboratory Directed Research and Development program and DOE's Office of Science.
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