By Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee
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.
By Víctor Villalobos, Esperanza Project
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.
By Transformative Cities Staff, Transformative Cities
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.
By Chris Silver, DeSmog UK
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.
By Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee
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.
By Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee
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.”
By Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee
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.
By Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee
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..
By Matt Weiser, Ensia
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 …
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
Cambodia joins a lengthening list of nations around the world that are reassessing big hydropower dams in an era when wind and solar power are less expensive, much easier to build, less damaging, and far less vulnerable to droughts and floods.
By Dave Levitan, Yale Environment 360
Small hydropower projects have the potential to bring electricity to millions of people now living off the grid. But experts warn that planners must carefully consider the cumulative effects of constructing too many small dams in a single watershed.
By Kris De Decker, The Oil Drum
One hydropower configuration that deserves considerable attention is a water turbine directly powering machinery, without the intermediate step of generating electricity. The implementation of this form of direct hydropower doubles the effectiveness of a small scale electric hydropower installation. This advantage can be used to increase the energy production of an existing water power site. It also means that more potential water power sites become available, and that relatively small streams and rivers can be shared by several hydropower units. Because of its higher efficiency a direct hydropower system is also cheaper.