The American Continent Hydropower Development and the Sustainability: A Review

Abstract

The present review compares and takes the main ideas around hydropower development in eight countries of the American continent, identifying its advantages and disadvantages, showing a vision concerning sustainability. It is conclusive that there are impacts for each megawatt produced with hydropower, and the generation structure that uses the water resource of natural currents is not highly clean. Moreover, there is the mistaken criterion for developing a renewable hydropower project related to sustainability, a wrong approach, as demonstrated with the review. The examination in the eight countries of America some analyzes and the most concludes that, before considering a construction with thousands of dollars of investment and water contained in dams, the social and environmental analysis must respond to the restrictions on building new hydropower projects, promoting other unconventional renewable energy sources development. It is recommended to determine an objective quantitative approach of hydropower combining hydrology, energy efficiency, and interaction scenarios of future climate change to know the best energy grids diversifying balanced renewable and no renewable sources for each country.

A physical-chemical study of water resources in 5 hydropower projects

“…Another issue to discuss is that the five hydropower projects analyzed are presented in tropical climatic conditions where there are high ranges of precipitation, and to issue improvements or fixes on an ongoing basis (Johnson et al, 2019;Naranjo-Silva & Alvarez del Castillo, 2022).…”

Hydropower Development in Three South American Countries: Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador

“…On the one hand, Briones et al [49] and Naranjo-Silva et al [50] studies questioned the role and palpable profits of hydropower in the electricity generation sector since there are an increasing arrangements number for power generation, such as improved access to electricity, economic development, flood control, which reduces carbon emissions, etc. Nevertheless, these effects tend to be circumscribed, and only occur in the isolated urban areas, where the population has difficulty accepting [51].…”

Hydropower Scenarios in the Face of Climate Change in Ecuador

“…Consequently, the worldwide shift to renewable energy production has increased the demand for organizations to engage in new and more flexible operations [2]. Currently, hydropower is the principal renewable energy source; a sixth of global electricity production came from hydropower in 2020, making it the most significant low-carbon energy source, even compared to all other renewable sources combined [3,4]. According to the International Energy Agency, hydropower energy production has grown in recent years, as Figure 1 shows.…”