La Niña conditions showed higher electricity production costs on average than El Niño or neutral El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions, mainly due to reduced hydropower production in California. Years with the highest grid stress (open circles) occurred during neutral ENSO conditions. Power system operations showed little sensitivity to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

Increasing the number of weather stations used to force PNNL's Building ENergy Demand (BEND) model can reduce simulated load biases, but the computational expense of the simulation rises.

The map shows changes in drought frequency as a fraction of years during 2060-2095 with transition from extreme drought to non-extreme drought induced by water management activities during the irrigation season in areas downstream of reservoirs. Cold colors indicate reduction in drought frequency.

When considering crop spatial distribution pattern changes, empirical models projected total corn yields in the lower 48 United States to decrease 20-40 percent by 2050.  (Original photo/CC-BY-SA 4.0).

PNNL researchers identified regional drought patterns that are associated with higher electric grid vulnerability and estimated the western United States' grid stress distribution as a function of inter-annual variability in regional water availability. 

Scientists at PNNL found that almost half of the USA's lower 48 states are likely to experience significant changes in those assumptions caused by ‘new normals' in surface water systems by the end of the 21^st century. They linked 'hydrologic regimes' directly to global temperature scenarios. 

PNNL researchers demonstrated that dynamically determining fertilization timing and rates in their models can greatly improve the predictive capability for yields of popular bioenergy crops. Crop producers are working to up their game to satisfy an increasing demand for energy and food production for more affluent and growing populations.