Hidden impacts of hydropower
Hydropower is widely celebrated as a form of clean and renewable energy, largely because its operation generates electricity without emitting greenhouse gases or pollutants, unlike fossil power plants. This has led scientists and the public to consider hydropower a more environmentally and climate-friendly option compared to fossil fuels. As a result, numerous hydropower facilities have been constructed worldwide, and many more are planned in the coming decades to reduce national carbon footprints and combat climate change.
However, the conventional perspective of hydropower as 'clean energy' often overlooks its critical environmental and societal impacts. While hydropower is 'clean' in terms of its electricity production pathway, the multiple environmental and societal impacts associated with the construction, operation, and maintenance of hydropower facilities can be significant and negative. These impacts are crucial to understand for better selection, design, and management of existing and future hydropower projects to harmonize, conserve, and recover the original environmental and societal benefits.
Holistic view
This project aims to bring together experts from multiple disciplines to foster in-depth thinking and discussion, integrating the latest scientific advances to produce innovative interdisciplinary perspectives on the holistic impacts of hydropower on climate, ecosystems, water quality, and societal well-being.
The project’s key objectives are to:
- Motivate Re-evaluation: Encourage scientists, policymakers, and the public to rethink hydropower beyond just "clean energy" by highlighting its broader impacts.
- Raise Awareness: Increase awareness of the multiple environmental and societal impacts of hydropower in terms of all aspects of sustainability.
- Improve Management and Planning: Assist stakeholders in better foreseeing potential holistic impacts, enabling them to make informed decisions that maximize hydropower's benefits while minimizing its downsides.
Potential impact
The project will explore the following potential impacts of hydropower, which will be refined and enriched by the interdisciplinary team:
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Constructed Reservoirs: Investigating how reservoirs produce nitrous oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide through the decomposition of organic materials and reactive nitrogen transformations in both oxygen-abundant and oxygen-lacking conditions.
Sedimentation and Water Quality: Examining the effects of sediment accumulation and organic matter on reservoir life, oxygen concentrations, and water quality, as well as the implications for downstream delta regions.
Impacts on Aquatic Life: Assessing how dams disrupt hydrological connectivity, blocking fish migration, and altering hydrological and sedimentary environments, which affects aquatic species and ecosystems.
Ecosystem Disruption: Analyzing the broad ecosystem-level changes caused by altered water temperatures, flow patterns, and sediment environments, impacting fish populations and wildlife habitats.
Displacement of Human Communities: Studying the social, economic, and cultural challenges faced by communities displaced by large reservoirs, including adaptation difficulties, financial compensation issues, and mental health problems.
Get Involved
We invite UU scholars from diverse disciplines to join our project team and stakeholders interested in hydropower's sustainable future to engage with our work. Together, we can ensure that hydropower contributes positively to our energy needs while safeguarding environmental and societal well-being.
Contact:
Dr. Junjie Wang (Earth Sciences)
Dr. Frances Dunn (Physical Geography)
Dr. Jing Hu (Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development)
Xiaochen Liu (Deltares, Delft)