Dam Accounting: Taking Stock of Methane Emissions From Reservoirs
Mounting studies highlight greenhouse gas emissions from reservoirs, and now a coalition of environmental groups has called for regulatory action.
Hydropower
A people-powered legacy: community hydro on the River Thames
The slogan on the mural sums up the driving-force behind Reading Hydro perfectly: “This energy is by the people, for the people.” And the people are inspired to do more.
Turning the Tide on Large-Scale Hydropower
The non-linear combined efforts of professor-activists like Dussán and integrated systems researchers like Angarita are helping to shift the tide against mega-dams in Colombia, paving the way for a more just and sustainable energy transition.
It’s Horgan’s Folly. But We’ll All Pay
In this pandemic summer you may not have paid attention to BC Hydro’s belated filing of two disturbing reports on the Site C dam. The reports cited big problems with costs, in part because of the notoriously unstable shales of the Peace River Valley.
Megadam: ‘Obsolete Technology’ Wreaks Havoc across the Americas
In Mexico, according to the 2012 report, Dams, Rights of the Peoples and Impunity, more than 4,200 dam projects have been built in Mexico alone, causing the displacement and forced eviction of more than 185,000 people from all over the country.
El Cuá, Nicaragua: Community-Owned Hydropower Transforms Rural Economy
Before the construction of this plant, many generations of families had never had access to electricity. The plant has been the driving force behind the thriving economy of El Cua today.
Just Transition – Part Four: the Highlands of Hydro
The achievements of the Hydro Board rank among the most successful and concentrated single instances of energy transitions. As the Scottish Government prepares to convene its commission on a Just Transition — a project to end reliance on fossil fuels in a socially equitable manner — a clear precedent does exist.
Site C: A Shakespearean Tragedy of BC Politics
If Shakespeare had been a Canadian, he would have written plays about the tragedy of dams and their power-crazed political proponents. King Lear, for example, would have championed the nasty works of his engineering offspring while ignoring the true love of his river-keeping daughter.
The Evidence Adds Up: Site C Is Still a Train Wreck
The best political evidence suggests that the government is not building Site C to power 450,000 homes but instead wants to provide “clean” energy for oil and gas companies so they frack shale rock and pretend that the export of liquefied natural gas is somehow “clean.”
Megadams Not Clean or Green, Says Expert
Politicians who describe dams as “clean energy projects” are talking “nonsense” and rejecting decades of science, says David Schindler, a leading water ecologist. Former premier Christy Clark often touted the Site C dam as a “clean energy project” and Premier John Horgan has adopted the same term.
UN Renews Call for Site C Dam Review to Protect National Park
The UN’s World Heritage Committee has once again demanded that the federal government conduct a proper assessment of the downstream impacts of British Columbia’s controversial Site C dam on Wood Buffalo National Park. In addition, the committee has asked the Trudeau government to immediately implement recommendations to protect the park, home of the Peace-Athabasca delta — the largest inland freshwater delta in North America — from industrial development..
How to Make Hydropower More Environmentally Friendly
NOTE: Images in this archived article have been removed. Hydropower provides 85 percent of the world’s renewable electricity, but comes with a hefty environmental price tag. Here’s what some are doing to fix that. December 20, 2016 — Humanity got its first large-scale electricity thanks to hydropower. On Aug. 26, 1895, water flowing over Niagara … Read more