[Assam] [WaterWatch] Re: hydel power largest source of methane emission

Fri Jun 29 12:46:24 EDT 2007

<Methane is produced by the rotting of organic material in reservoirs. The massive amounts of methane produced by hydropower reservoirs in the tropics mean that these dams can have a much higher warming impact than even the dirtiest fossil fuel plants generating similar quantities of electricity.>
Relatively easy to skim the algae off and convert to Methanol/Ethanol/Urea by Gasifying.MM

To: WaterWatch at yahoogroups.comFrom: mh at bothends.orgDate: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:03:53 +0200Subject: Re: [WaterWatch] Re: hydel power largest source of methane emission

*Press Release*May 9, 2007*Contacts*    * Patrick McCully, Executive Director, IRN, Berkeley, California: +1 510 213      1441 (mobile) +1 510 848 1155 (office), patrick at irn.org      <mailto:patrick at irn.org>    * Ivan Lima, National Institute for Space Research, Brazil: + 55 67      9932-1897 (office) ivan at dsr.inpe.br <mailto:ivan at dsr.inpe.br>    * Tim Kingston, Communications Manager, IRN, Berkeley, California: +1 510      290 7170 (mobile) +1 510 848 1155 (office), tim at irn.org <mailto:tim at irn.org>  Four Percent of Global Warming Due to Dams, Says New ResearchLarge dams may be one of the single most important contributors to global warming, releasing 104 million metric tonnes of methane each year. This estimate was recently published in a peer-reviewed journal by Ivan Lima and colleagues from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE)."There is now more than enough evidence to show that large dams are a major source of climate-changing pollution," says Patrick McCully, Executive Director of International Rivers Network. "Climate policy makers must address this issue."Lima’s calculations imply that the world’s 52,000 large dams contribute more than 4% of the total warming impact of human activities. They also imply that dam reservoirs are the largest single source of human-caused methane emissions, contributing around a quarter of these emissions.Methane is a more potent heat-trapping gas than carbon dioxide, although it does not last as long in the atmosphere. One year’s large dam methane emissions, as estimated by Lima, have a global warming impact over 20 years equivalent to that of 7.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide – higher than annual carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning in the US.Lima and his co-authors propose capturing methane in reservoirs and using it to fuel power plants. Lima says, "If we can generate electricity from the huge amounts of methane produced by existing tropical dams we can avoid the need to build new dams with their associated human and environmental costs.""It is unfortunate that Lima’s study has come too late to be included in the recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change," says Patrick McCully. "Partly because of the influence of the hydro industry and its government backers, climate policy-makers have largely overlooked the importance of dam-generated methane. The IPCC urgently needs to address this issue."Methane is produced by the rotting of organic material in reservoirs. The massive amounts of methane produced by hydropower reservoirs in the tropics mean that these dams can have a much higher warming impact than even the dirtiest fossil fuel plants generating similar quantities of electricity.This is only the second estimate published in the scientific literature of global greenhouse gas emissions from dams. The previous estimate, published in 2000, which included only emissions from reservoir surfaces, estimated global releases at 70 million tonnes of methane and a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.Lima’s calculations take account of emissions from turbines and spillways and the rivers immediately downstream of dams, in addition to reservoir surfaces. Lima’s paper does not address dam emissions of carbon dioxide or another greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide.Lima has also produced the first published estimates of methane emissions from dams at the national level in Brazil, China and India. These estimates show dams in Brazil and India are responsible for a fifth of these countries’ total global warming impact. Dams in China are estimated to produce 1% of the country’s climate pollution, although for methodological reasons this is likely an underestimate.
-- 
Both ENDS
Nieuwe Keizersgracht 451018 VC AmsterdamThe NetherlandsT +31 (0)20 623 08 23F +31 (0)20 620 80 49www.bothends.orgPlease consider the environment before printing this e-mailvimal khawas wrote: 
It would be very informative for all of us had mr
rohit attatched the documents/resesearch papers that
point out that hydel power emits mehane which emits
CHG four times that of carbon dioxide. 

--- rohitpathania2k4 <rohit.pathania at gmail.com> wrote:

it is not true that hydel power is safe. They are
the largest sources 
of methane emissions, whose GHG effect is four times
that of Carbon 
dioxide. Add to it the change in the ecology because
of the large 
scale submergence of land, vegetation, And what
about the large scale 
displacements it causes without any form of
compensation existing in 
our nation?
--- In WaterWatch at yahoogroups.com, "surajcap"
<surajcap at ...> wrote:

Why, are they mad? No doubt they need
      rehabilitation. But, hydel 

power is much more safe than thermal power which
      is the single 

largest source (42%) of enviromental pollution and
      degradation! We 

should promote renewable energy sources like hydro
      energy. Now 
don't 

say that we do not require electricity! We cannot
      go back to stone 

age and without it the author could not have
      posted the mail via 

internet.

--- In WaterWatch at yahoogroups.com, "Souparna
      Lahiri" 

<souparna.lahiri@> wrote:

Dear All:
The members of the Affected Citizens of Teesta
        (ACT) are on a 

hunger tsrike

from today protesting against the destructive
        hydel power 
projects 

in North

Sikkim.

They have created a wonderful blog with pictures
        and information.

Please go to http://weepingsikkim.blogspot.com/
        and join their 

protests,

express solidarity.

-- 
Souparna Lahiri
143 Khirki Village
New Delhi - 110 017
Mobile: 91 9818147740
Tel (R) No. 91 11 29541502

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