Dam Industry

Private Gain - Public Risk?

Saturday, February 1, 2003
The International Experience with Power Purchase Agreements of Private Power Projects

Reservoir Emissions

Tucuruí Dam spillway, Tocantins River, Brazil
A growing number of scientific studies indicate that reservoirs, especially in the tropics, are a significant source of global greenhouse gas pollution. Brazilian researchers estimated in 2007 that methane from dams is responsible for around 4% of human-caused climate change. Where Do the Emissions Come From? Greenhouse gases, primarily methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2), are emitted from all of the dozens of reservoirs where measurements have been made. Gases are emitted from the surface of the reservoir, at turbines and spillways, and for tens of kilometers downstream (see schematic). E

Big Hydro Hides its Role in Global Warming

Wednesday, November 1, 2006
A bitter debate has broken out in the scientific community over hydropower’s contribution to global warming. A leading Brazil-based climate scientist calculates that startlingly high levels of greenhouse gases are emitted when water is released from the turbines and spillways of tropical dams. But hydro industry-backed researchers have fiercely attacked his work. In an effort to settle the debate, International Rivers is releasing a report, just prior to the UN Climate Change conference in Nairobi (Nov. 6-25), calling on the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to determine hydropo

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