> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.therisk.global/organization/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.therisk.global/organization/model/sectors/energy.md). # Energy Energy in the Nexus model: power and fuel for every other sector, the strongest relation in the set (energy to infrastructure), and the teaching contexts in which a grid failure cascades. **Where this fits:** energy (E) and the sectors it couples to · Foundry, Nexus Universe and Nexus Standards · GCRI (evidence and methods) · Planning and readiness preparation · model page. **In brief.** Energy powers the operation of every other sector. Its strongest relation in the teaching set runs to infrastructure, through power for transport and telecoms (0.8); it also drives pumping and treatment for water, fertiliser, machinery and cold chains for food, and hospital power for health (0.5 each). Energy depends on cooling water and hydropower (0.6) and on transmission and fuel logistics (0.6). It is hit first in a grid blackout and in a heatwave, when cooling demand peaks the grid while rivers warm. All strengths on this page are **teaching values for a typical city-region, not measurements for any place**. ## What the sector carries Energy is the sector through which a local failure becomes a systemic one fastest. When power fails, water treatment, telecoms, cold chains and hospitals fall back on stored fuel, and the length of that autonomy sets how long the other sectors hold. Interdependency research has long used the power grid as its central case (Rinaldi, Peerenboom and Kelly, [2001](https://doi.org/10.1109/37.969131); Buldyrev et al., [2010](https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08932)). ## What energy gives Read from energy to the sector it supports, strongest first. | To | Strength | Through | | --------------------------------------------------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------- | | [Infrastructure](/organization/model/sectors/infrastructure.md) | 0.8 | power for transport and telecoms | | [Water](/organization/model/sectors/water.md) | 0.5 | pumping and treatment | | [Food](/organization/model/sectors/food.md) | 0.5 | fertiliser, machinery and cold chains | | [Health](/organization/model/sectors/health.md) | 0.5 | hospital power | | [Biodiversity](/organization/model/sectors/biodiversity.md) | 0.2 | pollution from backup fuels | ## What energy depends on Read from the sector it depends on, strongest first. | From | Strength | Through | | --------------------------------------------------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------- | | [Water](/organization/model/sectors/water.md) | 0.6 | cooling water and hydropower | | [Infrastructure](/organization/model/sectors/infrastructure.md) | 0.6 | transmission and fuel logistics | | [Food](/organization/model/sectors/food.md) | 0.2 | bioenergy feedstock | | [Health](/organization/model/sectors/health.md) | 0.2 | grid workforce | | [Biodiversity](/organization/model/sectors/biodiversity.md) | 0.1 | biomass | ## Teaching contexts The contexts in which energy is in play, whether hit first or reached through the coupling, with its stress after four rounds of the teaching cascade. | Context | Role of this sector | Stress after four rounds | How the sectors fail together | | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [Urban flood](/organization/model/scenarios/urban-flood.md) | Reached through the coupling | 0.37 | Flooded streets take out substations, pumping stations and clinic access together; drinking water fails when power does. | | [Hydropower reservoir](/organization/model/scenarios/hydropower.md) | Reached through the coupling | 0.17 | A dam stores water for power and flood control, and reshapes the river's sediment, fish passage and wetlands downstream. | | [Drought](/organization/model/scenarios/drought.md) | Reached through the coupling | 0.19 | Low river flows cut irrigation, cooling water and hydropower at once; food prices, nutrition and ecosystems follow. | | [Heatwave](/organization/model/scenarios/heatwave.md) | Hit first | 0.72 | Cooling demand peaks the grid while rivers warm; heat stress fills hospitals and wilts crops. | | [Grid blackout](/organization/model/scenarios/blackout.md) | Hit first | 0.72 | Without power, water treatment, telecoms, cold chains and hospitals fall back on fuel that runs out. | | [Pandemic](/organization/model/scenarios/pandemic.md) | Reached through the coupling | 0.07 | Workforce absence ripples from clinics into grid operations, logistics and farm labour. | | [Coastal storm surge](/organization/model/scenarios/storm-surge.md) | Reached through the coupling | 0.28 | Mangroves and dunes absorb the surge; where they are gone, ports, substations and water intakes take it. | ## Observing the sector [**Nexus of Observatories**](/organization/systems.md)**.** Every Nexus platform and system includes its own observatory capability, covering remote sensing, in-situ instruments and edge deployments. Across every area where these observatories are implemented, they form the Nexus of Observatories, part of the not-for-profit programme architecture. The GCRI site describes the capability on its [Observatory](https://therisk.global/ecosystem/observatory/) page. What the observatories record about energy, and under what terms, is set for each country in its National Model and its profile scope agreement. Records follow the [Nexus Standards](/organization/institutions/nexus-standards.md) published on [nexustandards.com](https://nexustandards.com/standards/), whose text and status govern. ## International frameworks | Framework | What it governs or shows | Source | | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Lifelines (World Bank) | Power disruption as a leading share of the cost of infrastructure disruption to households and firms | [2019](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/31805) | | OECD, critical infrastructure resilience | Shift from asset protection to system resilience and shared responsibility between governments and operators | [2019](https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/good-governance-for-critical-infrastructure-resilience_02f0e5a0-en.html) | | IRENA, renewable energy in the WEF nexus | Energy use in water and food supply chains | [2015](https://www.irena.org/publications/2015/Jan/Renewable-Energy-in-the-Water-Energy--Food-Nexus) | | ISO 22301 | Continuity of operations for operators of essential services | [2019](https://www.iso.org/standard/75106.html) | ## Deeper reading in this documentation [Energy systems (thesis)](/organization/organization/architecture/i.-thesis/vii.-energy-systems.md) · [Future of Energy (guild)](/organization/cooperation/nexus-guilds/future-of-energy.md) ## Sources * Buldyrev, S. V., Parshani, R., Paul, G., Stanley, H. E. and Havlin, S. (2010). Catastrophic cascade of failures in interdependent networks. Nature 464: 1025–1028. doi:10.1038/nature08932. * IRENA (2015). Renewable Energy in the Water, Energy and GCRI Food. Abu Dhabi: International Renewable Energy Agency. * ISO (2019). ISO 22301:2019 Security and resilience — Business continuity management systems — Requirements. Geneva: ISO. * Hallegatte, S., Rentschler, J. and Rozenberg, J. (2019). Lifelines: The Resilient Infrastructure Opportunity. Sustainable Infrastructure Series. Washington, DC: World Bank. doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-1430-3. * OECD (2019). Good Governance for Critical Infrastructure Resilience. OECD Reviews of Risk Management Policies. Paris: OECD Publishing. doi:10.1787/02f0e5a0-en. * Rinaldi, S. M., Peerenboom, J. P. and Kelly, T. K. (2001). Identifying, understanding, and analyzing critical infrastructure interdependencies. IEEE Control Systems Magazine 21(6): 11–25. doi:10.1109/37.969131. * The model data: the "Coupled risk, applied response" section of the [GCRI home page](https://therisk.global/). --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters: ``` GET https://docs.therisk.global/organization/model/sectors/energy.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. 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