A Quick Stab at the Intersection of Renewable Energy and Meteorology

A senior in college working towards his B.S. in meteorology writes:

I’ve always been very intrigued by renewable energy and was curious if there are positions for meteorologists within the field. If there are not I would also be interested in knowing if there are any other positions I would be able to apply for with my degree being in meteorology, something I could apply my knowledge of science towards perhaps. I wasn’t sure how to research this so i figured I would contact a few companies directly. If you have any information on this I would greatly appreciate it if you could email me with some details.

I respond:

Here are a few ideas for you:

• The obvious intersection of renewable energy and meteorology lies in the effects on climate that come from our failure to adopt renewable energy at sufficient scale: droughts, floods, hurricanes and other super-storms, desertification, sea-level rise, etc.  I would think we have an unlimited demand for understanding these phenomena (all of which result from global warming) and predicting their future effects so we can plan for them better.

• On a more specific level, the world needs a better understanding of precipitation.  Not only does it affect agriculture, potable water supply, etc., but it’s also critical to hydro-electricity, which is becoming increasingly important as we develop run-of-river hydrokinetics.  Most of the land mass of Brazil, e.g., is suffering from a drought so massive that their hydro power (far more important to them than it is to us here in the U.S.) will soon be severely affected.

• Climate change has incredibly far-reaching effects, e.g., promoting the growth of pests that threaten to bring great levels of harm to fragile ecosystems.

• Understanding climate change means understanding el nino and la nina years.  As far as I can see, we’re still trying to wrap our wits around exactly what’s happening here.

• We’re also still trying to deepen our understanding on the thermohaline circulation in our oceans; obviously, meteorology plays a big role here.

• We have computer models that help us predict the change in the albedo effect, i.e., the reflection of solar heat back into space, but I’m sure they could stand improvement.

Just a few ideas off the top of my head.  I hope one or more makes sense, and that you don’t wind up like the guy in the picture above.  Seriously, best of luck to you, and thanks for trying to make a difference here.