Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Hydroelectric Dams in Tropical Forests

Fearnside, Philip M.

doi:10.1002/9781119066354.ch42

Cited by 21 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The magnitude of emissions for both reservoirs and natural aquatic systems depend on physico-chemical characteristics of the water body and the incoming carbon from the watershed. A small amount of GHGs is released from the reservoir through the bubbling, degassing, but a significant amount is released through diffusion from water surface as well as when the water is passed through the turbines and spillways (Fearnside 2006). Sharma (2012, 2014) developed correlations between GHG emissions, water quality and reservoirs characteristics the impact of which were not significant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of risk of GHG emissions from Tehri hydropower reservoir, India

Kumar

Sharma

2015

Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal

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The hydropower reservoirs, considered as a green source of energy till few decades ago, are now found to emit significant quantities of green house gas (GHG) to the atmosphere. The present paper attempts to predict the vulnerability of Tehri reservoir, India to GHG emissions using the GHG Risk assessment tool (GRAT) and its verified with experimental GHG fluxes. The annual mean CO 2 fluxes from diffusion, bubbling and degassing pathways were found as 425.93±122.50, 4.81±1.33 and 7.01±2.77 mg m -2 d -1 , whereas CH 4 fluxes were found as 23.11±7.08, 4.79±1.08 and 7.41±4.50 mg m -2 d -1 respectively during 2011-12. The model found that Tehri reservoir emit higher CO 2 and CH 4 , i.e. 790 mg m -2 d -1 and 64 mg m -2 d -1 respectively in 2011, which comes within higher vulnerability range to cause more climate change impact. But by the year 2015, it would scale down to medium risks necessitating no further assessment of GHG. Significant difference between predicted and experimental GHG emission are assessed, Downloaded by [University of Sussex Library] at 00:56 19 August 2015 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 2which may be due to lack of sufficient data, spatial and temporal variations, decomposition of flooded biomass, limitation of GRAT model and inadequate methodology. The study reveals that, GHG emission from Tehri reservoir is less than predicted by the GRAT.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of risk of GHG emissions from Tehri hydropower reservoir, India

Kumar

Sharma

2015

Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal

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“…In addition to the estimates shown in Figure 4, it is important to notice that approximately half of the country's hydroelectric potential has already been exploited over the Tietê-Parana river basin, with the remaining hydroelectric generation potential lying over river basins in Amazonia. Such hypothetical exploitation of Amazon Rivers for hydroelectricity, however, would implicate tremendous deleterious consequences in loss of biodiversity and methane generation, with additional severe climatic implications (Fearnside, 2016).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The photovoltaic sector has been the largest employer among renewables worldwide (IRENA, 2017). Meanwhile, hydroelectric plants are normally implemented in large, capital-intensive units, entailing the loss of all submerged terrestrial ecosystems, with strong impacts on the production of greenhouse gases (Fearnside, 2016), loss of cultural and archaeological sites and the disruptions caused by the construction of roads and housing for the workers. Furthermore, the investments necessary for the construction of hydroelectric dams are concentrated among a small number of large companies or investors, generating a number of temporary employments during construction phase leading to very low permanent social capillarity.…”

Section: Semiarid Northeastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar smart grid as a path to economic inclusion and adaptation to climate change in the Brazilian Semiarid Northeast

Nobre

Pereira

Lacerda

et al. 2019

IJCCSM

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Purpose This study aims to exploit the abundance of solar energy resources for socioeconomic development in the semi -arid Northeastern Brazil as a potent adaptation tool to global climate change. It points out a set of conjuncture factors that allow us to foresee a new paradigm of sustainable development for the region by transforming the sun’s radiant energy into electricity through distributed photovoltaic generation. The new paradigm, as presented in this essay, has the transformative potential to free the region from past regional development dogma, which was dependent on the scarce water resource, and the marginal and predatory use of its Caatinga Biome. Design/methodology/approach The research uses a pre ante design, following the procedures of scenario building, as an adaptation mechanism to climate change in the sector of energy generation and socioeconomic inclusion. Findings The scenarios of socioeconomic resilience to climate change based on the abundance of solar radiation, rather than the scarcity of water, demonstrates its potential as a global adaptation paradigm to climate change. Research limitations/implications The developments proposed are dependent on federal legislation changes, allowing the small producer to be remunerated by the energy produced. Practical implications The proposed smart grid photovoltaic generation program increases the country's resiliency to the effect of droughts and climate change. Social implications As proposed, the program allows for the reversion of a pattern of long term poverty in semi-arid Northeast Brazil. Originality/value The exploitation of the characteristics of abundance of the semiarid climate, i.e. its very condition of semi-aridity with abundant solar radiation, is itself an advantage factor toward adaption to unforeseen drought events. Extensive previous research has focused on weighting and monitoring drought i.e. the paradigm of scarcity. The interplay between exploiting Northeast Brazil’s abundant factors and climate change adaptation, especially at the small farmer levels constitutes a discovery never before contemplated.

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“…For example, inorganic mercury is naturally found in Amazonian soils. However, modifications in Amazonian freshwater environments promote chemical reactions that result in its conversion to methylmercury (MeHg), the most toxic form of this metal (Berzas Nevado et al 2010;Fearnside 2016b). Large construction projects, such as the Belo Monte dam, result in the decomposition of flooded terrestrial vegetation that deteriorates water quality and increases mercury's bioavailability (Hsu-Kim et al 2018).…”

Section: As Described Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deciphering the many maps of the Xingu – an assessment of land cover classifications at multiple scales

Kalácska

Arroyo‐Mora

Lucanus

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Remote sensing is an invaluable tool to objectively illustrate the rapid decline in habitat extents worldwide. Over the years, diverse Earth Observation platforms have been used to generate land cover maps, each with its unique characteristics. In addition, considerable semantic differences between the definition of land cover classes results in inevitable differences in baseline estimates for each class (e.g. forest). Here we compare forest cover and surface water estimates over four time periods spanning three decades for the Xingu River basin, Brazil, from pre-existing remotely sensed classifications for this area based on both optical and radar data. Because forest health in this area is directly related with the health of the freshwater ecosystem, we illustrate potential impacts of map choice on conservation of fish fauna. Understanding differences between the many remotely sensed baselines is fundamentally important to avoid information misuse and objectively decide on the most appropriate dataset for each conservation or policy making question. Our findings demonstrate the importance of transparency in the generation of remotely sensed datasets and in the importance of users familiarizing themselves with the characteristics and limitations of each data set chosen.

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Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Hydroelectric Dams in Tropical Forests

Cited by 21 publications

References 51 publications

Assessment of risk of GHG emissions from Tehri hydropower reservoir, India

Assessment of risk of GHG emissions from Tehri hydropower reservoir, India

Solar smart grid as a path to economic inclusion and adaptation to climate change in the Brazilian Semiarid Northeast

Deciphering the many maps of the Xingu – an assessment of land cover classifications at multiple scales

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