Having been brought up to admire Australia's Snowy Mountains Hydropower Scheme, historically and heroically commissioned in the 1950s -- and there is much to admire, to this day -- I always thought Hydro was clean and green. Seems that's not always so.
The article below notes the displacement of indigenous tribes along new hydropower projects. And think of the literally millions of poor displaced by China's Three Gorges Dam Project.
But more: their carbon footprint. The journal "Nature Climate Change" says that "emissions from tropical hydropower are often underestimated and can exceed those of fossil fuel for decades". (Quotes with link in the article below). It has to do with the methane released by rotting vegetation in areas flooded by the hydro projects.
That I did not know.
It's an Interesting article in the International New York Times >>
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/business/energy-environment/private-funding-brings-a-boom-in-hydropower-with-high-costs.html?referrer=
Sent from my iPhone
The article below notes the displacement of indigenous tribes along new hydropower projects. And think of the literally millions of poor displaced by China's Three Gorges Dam Project.
But more: their carbon footprint. The journal "Nature Climate Change" says that "emissions from tropical hydropower are often underestimated and can exceed those of fossil fuel for decades". (Quotes with link in the article below). It has to do with the methane released by rotting vegetation in areas flooded by the hydro projects.
That I did not know.
It's an Interesting article in the International New York Times >>
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/business/energy-environment/private-funding-brings-a-boom-in-hydropower-with-high-costs.html?referrer=
Sent from my iPhone
