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Diversity exchange
An exchange of capacity or energy, or both, between systems whose peak loads
occur at different times.
DOE
The U.S. Department of Energy. DOE manages the United States' nuclear
infrastructure and administers the country's energy policy. It also funds scientific
research.
Double dividend
The extent to which revenue is generated by policy instruments, such as carbon
taxes or tradable emission permits can either 1) contribute to mitigation and 2) offset
part of the potential welfare losses of climate policy through recycling the revenue
back into the economy by reducing other taxes.
E
El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
The El Niño Southern Oscillation is an atmospheric–oceanic phenomenon that can be
broken down into two parts, EL Niño and La Niña. El Niño is a climate pattern that is
characterized by warming of the ocean's surface in the eastern tropical Pacific; it only
occurs periodically every two to seven years and is considered the "warm phase" of
ENSO. During an ENSO period, trade winds (winds that constantly blow east to west
below and above the equator) weaken, changing ocean currents resulting in warming
of the sea surface temperature. El Niño eventually fluctuates to La Niña, which is
considered the "cool phase." During La Niña, water temperatures cool as trade winds
speed back up. However, it tends to occur less often than El Niño. ENSO patterns are
important to understand because they can have global impacts on everything from
weather to economies. Furthermore, there is preliminary evidence that climate
change is increasing the frequency of extreme ENSO events, with worsening impacts
on a multitude of factors like floods and droughts, for example.
