{"id":324397,"date":"2021-08-13T21:17:24","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T18:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/droughts-shrink-hydropower-pose-risk-to-clean-energy\/"},"modified":"2021-08-13T21:17:24","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T18:17:24","slug":"droughts-shrink-hydropower-pose-risk-to-clean-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/droughts-shrink-hydropower-pose-risk-to-clean-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"#Droughts shrink hydropower, pose risk to clean energy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Droughts shrink hydropower, pose risk to clean energy<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif.\/BRASILIA\/SHANGHAI \u2013 Severe\u00a0droughts\u00a0are drying up rivers and reservoirs vital for the production of zero-emissions\u00a0hydropower\u00a0in several countries around the globe, in some cases leading governments to rely more heavily on fossil fuels.<\/p>\n<p>The emerging problems with hydropower production in places like the United States, China and Brazil represent what scientists and energy experts say is going to be a long-term issue for the industry as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/environment\/once-in-50-year-heat-waves-now-happening-every-decade-un-climate-report-2021-08-09\">climate change triggers more erratic weather<\/a> and makes water access less reliable.<\/p>\n<p>They also could\u00a0pose\u00a0a threat to international ambitions to fight\u00a0global\u00a0warming by hindering one of the leading forms of existing\u00a0clean\u00a0power.\u00a0Hydropower\u00a0is the world\u2019s top source of\u00a0clean\u00a0energy\u00a0and makes up close to 16% of world electricity generation, according to the International\u00a0Energy\u00a0Agency (IEA).<\/p>\n<p>This year, climate-driven\u00a0droughts\u00a0have triggered the biggest disruptions in\u00a0hydropower\u00a0generation in decades in places like the western United States and Brazil. China is still recovering from the effects of last year\u2019s severe drought on hydro production in Yunnan province in the southwestern part of the country.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, too much water is the problem.<\/p>\n<p>Last year in Malawi, for example, flooding and debris from megastorms forced two power stations to go offline, reducing\u00a0hydropower\u00a0capacity from 320 megawatts (MW) to 50 MW, according to the IEA.<\/p>\n<p>Those effects have forced power grid operators to rely more heavily on thermal power plants, often fired by natural gas or coal, and to ask businesses to curtail electricity use to prevent outages, according to Reuters interviews with grid operators and regulators.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we\u2019re talking about\u00a0hydropower\u00a0we\u2019re really talking about making sure we have enough water to get electricity,\u201d said Kristen Averyt, a research professor focusing on climate resilience at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. \u201cWhat does that hydro generation get replaced with?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Hydropower-3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"The Baihetan hydropower plant is seen in operation on the border between Qiaojia county of Yunnan province and Ningnan county of Sichuan province, China June 28, 2021.\" class=\"wp-image-19121703\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Hydropower-3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Hydropower-3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Hydropower-3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The Baihetan hydropower plant is seen in operation on the border between Qiaojia county of Yunnan province and Ningnan county of Sichuan province, China June 28, 2021.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Shutdown at Lake Orville <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In California, the State Water Project was forced to shut down a 750-MW hydroelectric power plant at Lake Oroville this month for the first time since it was built in 1967 because of low water levels. In good years, the plant can power half a million homes.<\/p>\n<p>Power facilities at Lake Shasta, the largest reservoir in the federal government\u2019s Central Valley Project in California, were also generating about 30% less power than usual this summer, said Cary Fox, a team leader for the Bureau of Reclamation\u2019s operations in the state.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>The lake usually provides about 710 MW during the summer, but in July was producing only 500 MW, Fox said.<\/p>\n<p>At the huge 2,000 MW Hoover Dam on the Colorado River at the border of Nevada and Arizona, production was also down by about 25% last month, the agency said.<\/p>\n<p>One megawatt can power up to 1,000 U.S. homes.<\/p>\n<p>Tight power supplies in California, driven in part by low\u00a0hydropower\u00a0production, led Governor Gavin <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a>om to issue an order on July 30 allowing industrial power consumers to run on diesel generators and engines that emit more greenhouse gases. [<\/p>\n<p>The order also allowed ships at port to use diesel generators instead of plugging into the grid, and lifted restrictions on the amount of fuel natural gas plants can use to generate power.<\/p>\n<p>Environmentalists have criticized the move, saying it will worsen air quality in California and undermine the state\u2019s efforts to fight climate change.<\/p>\n<p>Tim Welch, director of\u00a0hydropower\u00a0research at the U.S. Department of\u00a0Energy, said the department is researching ways that dams can more efficiently store water during rainy periods so it can be reserved for use during\u00a0droughts.<\/p>\n<p>Hydropower\u00a0plants in the United States are capable of producing about 80 gigawatts (GW) of\u00a0energy, about 7% of total\u00a0energy\u00a0production, Welch said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Hydropower-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"A boy runs on a dried up reservoir on the Mekong River during a drought affecting the Thai-Lao border area of Wiang Kaen district, Chiang Rai province, north of Bangkok March 11, 2010. \" class=\"wp-image-19121702\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Hydropower-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Hydropower-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Hydropower-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>A boy runs on a dried-up reservoir on the Mekong River during a drought affecting the Thai-Lao border area of Wiang Kaen district, Chiang Rai province, north of Bangkok March 11, 2010. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Drought in Brazil<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In Brazil, where hydroelectric power is the top source of electricity at 61%, drought recently cut water flows into hydro dams to a 91-year low, the country\u2019s mines and\u00a0energy\u00a0minister said.<\/p>\n<p>To offset the drop in\u00a0hydropower, the country is seeking to activate thermoelectric plants, mainly powered by natural gas, threatening to drive up greenhouse gas emissions. In July, sector regulator Aneel raised the most expensive electricity rate by 52%, due to the drought crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Severe weather events like the current drought will become increasingly frequent with climate change, and Brazilians will need to change their attitudes about water, said Jos\u00e9 Marengo, a climatologist at the government\u2019s disaster monitoring center.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople always thought that water is unlimited, but it really isn\u2019t,\u201d Marengo said.<\/p>\n<p>Brazil Mines and\u00a0Energy\u00a0Minister Bento Albuquerque said in an online briefing with reporters that a boom in the construction of power lines to reroute electricity to where it is needed and diversification away from hydro to solar and wind will help the country deal with such events in the future, and prevent the need for water rationing.<\/p>\n<p>Even so, Brazil will remain reliant on\u00a0hydropower\u00a0for years. By 2030, the\u00a0energy\u00a0ministry predicts 49% of electricity will come from hydro. The country is also maintaining plans to build more hydro plants, exploring potential cross-border dam projects with Bolivia, Guyana and Argentina, as well as building 2 GW worth of small dams domestically.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dams \u2013 save the planet or harm it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Last year\u2019s drought in China\u2019s Yunnan province slashed hydropower generation by nearly 30% during the first five months of 2020, according to official data. Output this year remains curtailed by around 10%.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Yunnan usually accounts for roughly a quarter of China\u2019s total hydro generation, and the province is home to several aluminum smelting businesses that require vast quantities of power to operate. The province restricted metal producers\u2019 power use earlier this year, forcing some smelting capacity to be temporarily shut.<\/p>\n<p>More disruptions are expected.<\/p>\n<p>A recent study by researchers in Nanjing looked at the potential impact of climate change and rising temperatures on\u00a0hydropower\u00a0generation in Yunnan. Their models showed decreases in rain and snowfall during the October-April drought season and increases in the summer rainy season.<\/p>\n<p>To even out the variability, the researchers proposed more storage capacity \u2013 more dams and reservoirs.<\/p>\n<p>But the diversions could worsen\u00a0droughts\u00a0elsewhere, according to experts. China\u2019s giant reservoirs on the upper reaches of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-mekong-river-idUSKCN21V0U7\">the Mekong River in Yunnan <\/a>have already been blamed for <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-mekong-river-idUSKBN2AC0K0\">reducing downstream flows <\/a>\u2013 affecting water access in Thailand, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-mekong-river-cambodia-idUSKBN2B002T\">Cambodia<\/a> and Myanmar.\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/08\/13\/droughts-shrink-hydropower-pose-risk-to-clean-energy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Droughts shrink hydropower, pose risk to clean energy&#8221; SACRAMENTO, Calif.\/BRASILIA\/SHANGHAI \u2013 Severe\u00a0droughts\u00a0are drying up rivers and reservoirs vital for the production of zero-emissions\u00a0hydropower\u00a0in several countries around the globe, in some cases leading governments to rely more heavily on fossil fuels. The emerging problems with hydropower production in places like the United States, China and Brazil&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":324398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Hydropower-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[114188,13096,43485,70540,77028],"class_list":["post-324397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-8-13-21","tag-california","tag-climate-change","tag-droughts","tag-fossil-fuel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}