Something must do to stop climate change.

Image:  Olkiluoto 3 Nuclear plant (YLE)

The new threat is attacks against energy infrastructure. 

Something must do to stop climate change. But the problem is where we are taking replacement energy. And the second question is: what is the power supply architecture in the future? If we want to make some new solutions that guarantee energy supply in crisis. We must make investments in those solutions. Energy infrastructure is a good target for strikes. 

Everything in modern society is running on electricity. Also, things like air-defense radars need electricity. And that's why energy infrastructure is a good target for attacks. And a hostile actor can make those attacks. 

* By using weapons like drones.

* Or they can just shut down gas and oil deliveries. 

We are facing a problem with climate change. The problem is that we still have a cheap energy source called natural gas. If we start to use biogas, which is forming in landfills and wastewater refineries, that gas doesn't remove the problem called carbon dioxide. So biofuel is not a synonym for carbon-free fuel. 

And if we want to remove carbon dioxide we must use something else, than hydrocarbon-based fuel. But if we want to use something new energy like wind, geothermal energy, or solar power, we must make investments in that kind of technology. And that means we must pay money for it. 

There are two main versions of the energy supply architecture. 

*One centralized solution. In this version, only a couple of power units produce energy for the network. The problem is that this kind of solution is vulnerable to attacks. 

*Networked solutions where a large number of smaller units are producing energy. In that case, the need to shut down one unit has not so a big effect as in a centralized solution.

Things like portable nuclear reactors are still on the desk. They are based on the same technology that is created for nuclear submarines. But the fact is that nuclear waste is always a very big problem. So nuclear power can be a short-term solution. But we must also notice one threat that we can see in Ukraine. That is a purposeful attack against energy infrastructure. 

Energy infrastructure is a good target for attacks. And that's why we must not put all eggs in the same basket. If somebody attacks against nuclear power plant or its critical infrastructure like transformers there must be something that guarantees the energy supply also in cases that somebody attacks a power supply like nuclear plants. 

We can make one single energy production platform, but in the cases, where there is some problem we must have a backup solution. The networked power-supply solution is less vulnerable to attacks. If some power-supply units must shut down in a networked solution, some other units can take their place. 

https://yle.fi/a/74-20008660