nexustandards.com/energy-infrastructure · 9 taught
Energy and Critical Infrastructure
NRS-H48 Utility and communication network outage; NRS-H84 Energy system instability and shortfall
9standards1discipline
Illustrative: a truss under a moving load with members coloured by stress, a lattice tower swaying, or a geodesic dome
Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Infrastructure, Energy and Industry · Department of Cities and Infrastructure Systems
Electricity, water, transport, telecommunications, health and emergency services
Critical infrastructure and lifelines
Critical infrastructure and lifelines covers the systems whose failure cascades across society: electricity, water and wastewater, transport, telecommunications, and health and emergency services.
- Courses
- In preparation
- Levels
- L2 Intermediate
- Labs
- Network lab, Map lab, Exposure lab, Geo quiz
- Criticality assessment
- Interdependency and cascading failure
- Resilience engineering
- Telecommunications and subsea cables
- Lifeline restoration
- Asset management and standards
- Infrastructure governance and regulation
- Infrastructure investment and resilience
02Maps
Build a twin of any place
Search any place or open the world; the layers and generators follow critical infrastructure and lifelines on the planet map, the globe and in 3D.
- Terrain 0 to 523 m
- 83,815 buildings in the box
- 5,085 footprints in the core, 2,796 with an estimated height
- Roads 176 km
- Rail 99 km
- 57 substations
- 4 port
- 2 airport
- 5 hospitals
- 8 railway stations
- 4 water works
- 2 power plants, 202 MW
Drag to move, right drag or Shift with a drag to turn and tilt, Ctrl with the wheel to zoom. Keyboard: arrows move, Shift with arrows turn and tilt, + and – zoom, 0 resets, V steps through the views, Escape clears.
Flat plan of the same data. The 3D twin opens on devices that can draw it, once its data and code have been checked; the numbers are the same either way.
The boundaries, names and designations shown do not imply any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Countries: Natural Earth (public domain).
03Live map
Infrastructure exposure in the Danube Basin
Night-time lights as a proxy for built activity, with flood water, fires and population, over the Danube Basin.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 2
Infrastructure exposure
Keyboard, with the map focused
Hold Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll to zoom
Latest available
NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth
Loading the latest NASA imagery.
Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.
Infrastructure exposure, framed on the Danube Basin.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.
Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONET · U.S. Geological SurveySources and licences
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), VIIRS 375 m active fire product, NASA LANCE; vector tiles via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). doi:10.7927/H49C6VHW. CC BY 4.0
- ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
- Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
- © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
- Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
- Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
- Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
- Live: U.S. Geological Survey Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
- NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
- River discharge forecast, 30 days with range (GloFAS via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Emergency Management Service information 2026; not a flood warning.
- Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Optional layers (11 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.
Layers and dates
- Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
- Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
- Active fires and thermal anomalies: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
- Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
- True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
04The subject
The subject, methods and measures and debates and bodies
The field and its scope
For engineers, utility planners, regulators and emergency managers who need to rank lifeline assets, trace how a failure in one system propagates into others, and set restoration priorities before an event.
Quantities and units
Methods and their limits
Each method is listed with what it assumes and where it fails.
What the field debates
Bodies that set practice, and the data they publish
Bodies and standards are named so learners can find and apply their published work; the Academy teaches their use and links to the publisher, and no affiliation is implied.
05The method
From a lost feeder to a resilience loss: the functionality curve and the cascade behind it
A disruption drops a lifeline's functionality by a measurable share; the hours it takes to climb back set the area of the resilience triangle; every asset that depends on the lifeline adds its own triangle, and the restoration plan is where the decision sits.
Sources: Bruneau et al., A framework to quantitatively assess and enhance the seismic resilience of communities (2003); Rinaldi, Peerenboom and Kelly, Identifying, understanding, and analysing critical infrastructure interdependencies (2001); Hosseini, Barker and Ramirez-Marquez, A review of definitions and measures of system resilience (2016); Hallegatte, Rentschler and Rozenberg, Lifelines: The Resilient Infrastructure Opportunity (2019).
06Signature
How critical infrastructure and lifelines connects the sectors
Select corners to build a signature, then hover a line to read what each sector gives and receives.
Select corners · hover lines6 / 15 relations
Context
Infrastructure and its partners
Infrastructure gives pipes, dams and treatment works to water (0.6), transmission and fuel logistics to energy (0.6) and access to care to health (0.5).
W · E · I · F · H · B
- Sectors
- 4 of 6
- Relations
- 6 of 15
- Coupling
- 0.46 share of total
Strongest relations in play
- Energy → Infrastructure · power for transport and telecoms0.8
- Water → Energy · cooling water and hydropower0.6
- Infrastructure → Water · pipes, dams and treatment works0.6
- Water → Health · drinking water and sanitation0.7
07At a glance
At a glance, with 5 related topics
Critical infrastructure and lifelines at a glance
risksacademy.cominfrastructure-energydiscipline
- Open, 0
- In preparation, 1
- Also taught here, 6
- Subtopics, 8
Nexus Standards it teaches and relies on
The Nexus Standards the discipline teaches toward, grouped by master standard, with the disciplines that teach each.
Nexus Standards at the AcademyThe Academy proposes how each discipline teaches toward the Nexus Standards; the mapping is open for public review.
Research and tools
Research and preprints as they are published, by discipline, with the faculty's other tools.
The hub lists the newest research and preprints for Critical infrastructure and lifelines, each with its source and date. Open the research hub
Hazard families it covers
From the Academy's risk taxonomy: the discipline's own entries and those of its primary courses, with how many courses teach each.
Hazard families
- Critical infrastructure outage1 course
- Space weather and near-Earth objects1 course
- Technology and cloud outage1 course
What is changing now
Recent developments in critical infrastructure and lifelines, each with its source; sources checked on 16 October 2026.
- Policy
NTSB asks owners of 68 US bridges to assess vessel strike risk
During the Key Bridge investigation, the NTSB recommended that 30 owners of 68 bridges in 19 states assess collapse risk from vessel collision, after finding the Key Bridge was almost 30 times above the acceptable risk threshold for critical bridges.
Why it matters. Many lifeline bridges predate current vessel-impact guidance; criticality assessment must revisit legacy assets as ship sizes and traffic grow.
Source: National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB Recommends 68 Bridges in US be Evaluated for Risk of Collapse from Vessel Strike, 20 March 2025.
Courses in this discipline
Courses for this discipline are in development; until they open, study it through the connected courses and open lessons below.
Courses with this primary disciplineIn preparation
- RAN-318Telecommunications ResilienceIn preparationNexus, L2 Intermediate, 8 hours (estimate)
Courses from connected disciplines that also teach this field
Each course has its primary discipline elsewhere and teaches this field as part of its scope.
08Labs
How the subject is practised in labs
| Lab | What you do in it | Courses using it |
|---|---|---|
| Network lab | Build dependency graphs, find critical nodes, trace cascades | 6 |
| Map lab | Read hazard, exposure and boundaries on real maps | 3 |
| Exposure lab | Overlay people and assets with hazard footprints | 2 |
| Geo quiz | Check spatial reasoning on where hazards and systems meet | 1 |
09Console
How Critical infrastructure and lifelines is taught, as a process you can run
Press Play to run this process from this page's own data.
10Practice
Practice, learning and connections
How technology helps and what risk it brings
Achievements in this discipline
Pathways that teach it
Where the subject is practised
The two Foundry systems where it is practised
- FoundryNXS-GRX systemInterdependent lifelines and their failure pathsCascades room
- NXS-NET systemCommunications continuity of lifelinesContinuity room
Foundry system pages describe what each system and its rooms are designed to do; the courses teach the methods these systems apply.
Disciplines it depends on
- Faculty of Technology and Digital SystemsCybersecurity and digital resilienceThe discipline covers the security and continuity of digital systems and the services that depend on them.
- Faculty of Systems and Nexus StudiesSystemic, compound and cascading riskThe discipline covers risk that arises from the interdependence of systems: compound events in which hazards combine.
Across the ecosystem
11Take part
Take part in Infrastructure, Energy and Industry
Start from who you are.
12References
Core references and where to begin
Start with Rinaldi, then Hallegatte, then Hosseini.
13Questions
Questions, answers and key terms
Is study here free?
Yes. Every course and learning material of Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium, is free to study, self-paced or with a cohort. Ordinary participation has no fee; paid work, internships and fellowships are separate arrangements.
What does completing a course give me?
A completion record: the course, its version, the date and what was assessed, private by default and shared by you. It stacks into discipline, department and programme achievements. A record states what was studied and assessed and does not certify competence; it is not a licence, a professional title or an employment status.
Where do the data and the places come from?
Every faculty teaches on a twin of a real place built from open data; each layer carries its provider, licence and date, and every result on the Academy states its source. Maps and figures are indicators for teaching, never an assessment of a place.
How do I take part beyond the courses in critical infrastructure and lifelines?
Form a competence cell of three to seven people, study a shared pathway, take a supervised assignment in the National Working Groups, or bring a cohort from your institution. For organisations.
Key terms
Term
Criticality
The importance of an asset or service, judged by the consequences of its loss.
Term
Interdependency
A two-way relationship in which the state of one infrastructure depends on another, through physical, cyber, geographic or logical links.
Term
Restoration time
The time needed to return a service to an agreed level after disruption.
ReportsContribute
Contribute evidence from this page.
Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.
Risk Academy
Related
Around Critical infrastructure and lifelines
Critical infrastructure and lifelines
Start with an open course
The catalogue lists each course with its outcomes, labs, hours and level.