Role of Hydropower in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
Hydropower is a clean renewable and environmental friendly source of energy.Hydro produces on average 3.551 TWh/y, yields 16% of the world s generated electricity, which represent about 85% of renewable electricity generation.Hydro capacity is 976 GW, (mainly in Asia and Latin America), it increase in a compound annual rate of about 3.5 % in the last 5 years, and there are about 180 GW of hydro under construction, and more than 300 GW planned.Hydropower and climate change shows a double relationship.On one hand, hydropower, as an important renewable energy resource, contributes significantly to avoid GHG emissions, and to mitigate the global warming.On the other hand it is likely that climate change will alter river discharge, resulting in impacts on water availability and regularity, and particularly on hydropower generation.Hydropower, contribute significantly to the reduction of the GHG s emissions and to the energy supply security.Hydro prevents, compared with the conventional coal power plants, the emission of about 3 GT CO2/year that represents about 9 % world annual GHG emissions.Also, hydropower projects may have an enabling role beyond the electricity sector as a financing instrument for multipurpose reservoirs, and an adapting measure to the impacts of climate change in water resources, because the regulated basins whit large reservoir capacity of regulation are more resilient to water resource changes, less vulnerable to climate change, and storage acts as a buffer against climate change.On the other hand it is likely that climate change will alter river discharge, resulting in impacts on hydropower generation.At world level the overall impacts of climate change on the existing global hydropower generation may be expected to be small, or even slightly positive.However, there is the possibility of substantial variations across regions and even within countries.In conclusion, the general verdict on Hydropower is: A cheap and mature technology that contributes significantly to climate change mitigation, and plays an important role in climate change adaptation of water resources availability.However, we must take careful attention and mitigate the substantial environmental and social costs.Roughly more than a terawatt of capacity could be added in the next decade.
renewable energies hydropower climate change mitigation impacts of climate change
L.Berga
Honorary President of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD)
国际会议
昆明
英文
19-26
2013-11-01（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）