China's role in funding Ethiopian dam draws ire
Ethiopia says construction of a dam along the Omo River will create
needed electrical power for itself and Kenya, and channel water for food
production. Environmentalists worry it could drain a Kenyan desert lake
central to people's livelihoods.
By Fredrick Nzwili, Correspondent
Christian Science Monitor
August 16, 2012
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2012/0816/China-s-role-in-funding-Ethiopian-dam-draws-ire
NAIROBI, KENYA
Kenyan environmental activists want the Industrial and Commercial Bank
of China to hold off on a promise to invest $500 million in Ethiopia's
$1.7 billion Gibe III Hydro-electric Dam, which they say threatens Lake
Turkana - the world's largest permanent desert lake, and a crucial
source of water for half a million people.
The controversial dam is being built on the Omo River in eastern
Ethiopia, which supplies the lake in northwestern Kenya with 90 per of
its water. Once completed, the dam will affect the livelihoods of some
200,000 in the river valley and 300,000 more near the lake, the
activists warn.
Friends of Lake Turkana - a Kenyan organization representing indigenous
communities in northwestern Kenya whose livelihood depend mainly on the
lake - had earlier estimated that that Gibe III could shrink the lake,
which straddles the Kenyan-Ethiopian border, by 10 meters (about 30
feet). This could cause an increase in salinity in the lake's water,
making it undrinkable for indigenous groups who live around the lake
with their animals. Recently, resource-related conflicts have ignited
between the nomadic pastoralist communities, and are expected to
increase if the dam is completed.
"Lake Turkana is home to large number of some of the most massive Nile
crocodiles, hippos, and other large animals, all which would find it
hard to survive without the lake," said Dr. Richard Leakey, a renowned
Kenyan conservationist and paleoanthropologist.
There are also a wide variety of unique birds and other wildlife all of
which would find it hard to survive without the lake or if the water
nutrients were to change as drastically as studies have predicated will
happen if Gibe III is successfully completed, according to the groups.
The lake's survival hangs in the balance as China decides whether to
fund the dam project, says Ikal Angelei, founder of Friends of Lake
Turkana and the winner of the 2012 Goldman Environment Prize for Africa.
"The lake is in the danger of drying unless the Kenyan government and
international agencies step in to stop the unsustainable development
both within and outside Kenya," said Ms. Angelei at a news conference in
Nairobi.
"While many would-be financiers have withdrawn ... China still holds [to
its] promise," she added.
The Kenyan government, which would benefit from a new source of
electrical power, has been quiet about the project. But In August 2011,
the Kenyan parliament passed a resolution demanding the suspension of
dam construction pending environmental assessment studies.
In June, UNESCO World Heritage Sites committee rejected an appeal by the
Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to place Lake Turkana in the
list of world sites in danger, a development that outraged environmental
conservation groups.
"The lake needs all the protection it can get against the vagaries of
climate change, Gibe III, and the thirsty sugar cane and cotton
plantations that Ethiopia is developing along the Omo River," said Angelei.
Chinese company Dongfang Electric Corp. has been contracted to carry out
construction work, according to reports, as the country searches for
more funds to complete the dam. Two-thirds of the work reportedly is
already done. The Italian construction company Salini Costruttori is the
primary construction contractor, while Dongfang will be responsible for
the hydromechanical and electromechanical part of the project, the chief
executive of the state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corp., was quoted
as saying by Ethiopian news organizations.
Environmentalists also are angry at the World Bank, which declined to
fund the Gibe III dam project itself, but did approve a $684 million
loan to build a 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) transmission line from the
dam into Kenya. For them, this is an endorsement of the massive dam and
its associated irrigation projects, which affects the food security of
thousands. The bank argues that the transmission line will connect
Ethiopia's overall power grid with Kenya's to create a power-sharing
arrangement between the two countries, reducing energy costs and
promoting sustainable and renewable power generation.
Ethiopia plans to sell 60 percent of the electricity generated to Kenya
through the transmission line. Ethiopia will also use the dam to help
irrigate large swaths of land for cotton and sugar-cane cultivation.
In addition to environmental concerns, the dam project has drawn
criticism from human rights groups, who want the donors to ensure their
funding is not supporting activities that amount to an abuse of people's
rights.
"Ethiopia's desire to accelerate economic development is laudable, but
recent events in the Omo Valley are taking an unacceptable toll on the
rights and livelihoods of indigenous communities," said Ben Rawlence,
Human Rights Watch's senior African researcher, at a recent news conference.
The Turkana basin is also an important archeological site.
Archaeologists and scientists in August discovered three new fossils
near the lake that indicate previously undocumented early human species.
"This means Turkana basin is of global importance to the origin of
mankind," said Dr. Leakey, whose Turkana Basin Institute led the recent
fossil discovery.
________________________________________________
This is International Rivers' mailing list on China's global footprint, and particularly Chinese investment in
international dam projects.
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: chinaglobal@list.internationalrivers.org
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Thursday, August 16, 2012
China's role in funding Ethiopian dam draws ire /Christian Sci Monitor
China's role in funding Ethiopian dam draws ire
Ethiopia says construction of a dam along the Omo River will create
needed electrical power for itself and Kenya, and channel water for
food production. Environmentalists worry it could drain a Kenyan
desert lake central to people's livelihoods.
By Fredrick Nzwili, Correspondent / August 16, 2012
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2012/0816/China-s-role-in-funding-Ethiopian-dam-draws-ire
Nairobi, Kenya
Kenyan environmental activists want the Industrial and Commercial Bank
of China to hold off on a promise to invest $500 million in Ethiopia�s
$1.7 billion Gibe III Hydro-electric Dam, which they say threatens
Lake Turkana � the world's largest permanent desert lake, and a
crucial source of water for half a million people.
The controversial dam is being built on the Omo River in eastern
Ethiopia, which supplies the lake in northwestern Kenya with 90 per of
its water. Once completed, the dam will affect the livelihoods of some
200,000 in the river valley and 300,000 more near the lake, the
activists warn.
Friends of Lake Turkana � a Kenyan organization representing
indigenous communities in northwestern Kenya whose livelihood depend
mainly on the lake � had earlier estimated that that Gibe III could
shrink the lake, which straddles the Kenyan-Ethiopian border, by 10
meters (about 30 feet). This could cause an increase in salinity in
the lake�s water, making it undrinkable for indigenous groups who live
around the lake with their animals. Recently, resource-related
conflicts have ignited between the nomadic pastoralist communities,
and are expected to increase if the dam is completed.
�Lake Turkana is home to large number of some of the most massive Nile
crocodiles, hippos, and other large animals, all which would find it
hard to survive without the lake,� said Dr. Richard Leakey, a renowned
Kenyan conservationist and paleoanthropologist.
There are also a wide variety of unique birds and other wildlife all
of which would find it hard to survive without the lake or if the
water nutrients were to change as drastically as studies have
predicated will happen if Gibe III is successfully completed,
according to the groups.
The lake's survival hangs in the balance as China decides whether to
fund the dam project, says Ikal Angelei, founder of Friends of Lake
Turkana and the winner of the 2012 Goldman Environment Prize for Africa.
�The lake is in the danger of drying unless the Kenyan government and
international agencies step in to stop the unsustainable development
both within and outside Kenya,� said Ms. Angelei at a news conference
in Nairobi.
�While many would-be financiers have withdrawn ... China still holds
[to its] promise,� she added.
The Kenyan government, which would benefit from a new source of
electrical power, has been quiet about the project. But In August
2011, the Kenyan parliament passed a resolution demanding the
suspension of dam construction pending environmental assessment studies.
In June, UNESCO World Heritage Sites committee rejected an appeal by
the Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to place Lake Turkana
in the list of world sites in danger, a development that outraged
environmental conservation groups.
�The lake needs all the protection it can get against the vagaries of
climate change, Gibe III, and the thirsty sugar cane and cotton
plantations that Ethiopia is developing along the Omo River,� said
Angelei.
Chinese company Dongfang Electric Corp. has been contracted to carry
out construction work, according to reports, as the country searches
for more funds to complete the dam. Two-thirds of the work reportedly
is already done. The Italian construction company Salini Costruttori
is the primary construction contractor, while Dongfang will be
responsible for the hydromechanical and electromechanical part of the
project, the chief executive of the state-owned Ethiopian Electric
Power Corp., was quoted as saying by Ethiopian news organizations.
Environmentalists also are angry at the World Bank, which declined to
fund the Gibe III dam project itself, but did approve a $684 million
loan to build a 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) transmission line from the
dam into Kenya. For them, this is an endorsement of the massive dam
and its associated irrigation projects, which affects the food
security of thousands. The bank argues that the transmission line will
connect Ethiopia's overall power grid with Kenya's to create a power-
sharing arrangement between the two countries, reducing energy costs
and promoting sustainable and renewable power generation.
Ethiopia plans to sell 60 percent of the electricity generated to
Kenya through the transmission line. Ethiopia will also use the dam to
help irrigate large swaths of land for cotton and sugar-cane
cultivation.
In addition to environmental concerns, the dam project has drawn
criticism from human rights groups, who want the donors to ensure
their funding is not supporting activities that amount to an abuse of
people�s rights.
�Ethiopia�s desire to accelerate economic development is laudable, but
recent events in the Omo Valley are taking an unacceptable toll on the
rights and livelihoods of indigenous communities,� said Ben Rawlence,
Human Rights Watch's senior African researcher, at a recent news
conference.
The Turkana basin is also an important archeological site.
Archaeologists and scientists in August discovered three new fossils
near the lake that indicate previously undocumented early human species.
�This means Turkana basin is of global importance to the origin of
mankind,� said Dr. Leakey, whose Turkana Basin Institute led the
recent fossil discovery.
Related stories
� A Kenyan woman stands up against a massive dam project
� Land scarcity drives a bout of ethnic violence in Kenya, Ethiopia
� Africa Rising: Economic progress vs. cultural preservation in
Ethiopia
Previous
1 | 2
________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: africa@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp
Ethiopia says construction of a dam along the Omo River will create
needed electrical power for itself and Kenya, and channel water for
food production. Environmentalists worry it could drain a Kenyan
desert lake central to people's livelihoods.
By Fredrick Nzwili, Correspondent / August 16, 2012
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2012/0816/China-s-role-in-funding-Ethiopian-dam-draws-ire
Nairobi, Kenya
Kenyan environmental activists want the Industrial and Commercial Bank
of China to hold off on a promise to invest $500 million in Ethiopia�s
$1.7 billion Gibe III Hydro-electric Dam, which they say threatens
Lake Turkana � the world's largest permanent desert lake, and a
crucial source of water for half a million people.
The controversial dam is being built on the Omo River in eastern
Ethiopia, which supplies the lake in northwestern Kenya with 90 per of
its water. Once completed, the dam will affect the livelihoods of some
200,000 in the river valley and 300,000 more near the lake, the
activists warn.
Friends of Lake Turkana � a Kenyan organization representing
indigenous communities in northwestern Kenya whose livelihood depend
mainly on the lake � had earlier estimated that that Gibe III could
shrink the lake, which straddles the Kenyan-Ethiopian border, by 10
meters (about 30 feet). This could cause an increase in salinity in
the lake�s water, making it undrinkable for indigenous groups who live
around the lake with their animals. Recently, resource-related
conflicts have ignited between the nomadic pastoralist communities,
and are expected to increase if the dam is completed.
�Lake Turkana is home to large number of some of the most massive Nile
crocodiles, hippos, and other large animals, all which would find it
hard to survive without the lake,� said Dr. Richard Leakey, a renowned
Kenyan conservationist and paleoanthropologist.
There are also a wide variety of unique birds and other wildlife all
of which would find it hard to survive without the lake or if the
water nutrients were to change as drastically as studies have
predicated will happen if Gibe III is successfully completed,
according to the groups.
The lake's survival hangs in the balance as China decides whether to
fund the dam project, says Ikal Angelei, founder of Friends of Lake
Turkana and the winner of the 2012 Goldman Environment Prize for Africa.
�The lake is in the danger of drying unless the Kenyan government and
international agencies step in to stop the unsustainable development
both within and outside Kenya,� said Ms. Angelei at a news conference
in Nairobi.
�While many would-be financiers have withdrawn ... China still holds
[to its] promise,� she added.
The Kenyan government, which would benefit from a new source of
electrical power, has been quiet about the project. But In August
2011, the Kenyan parliament passed a resolution demanding the
suspension of dam construction pending environmental assessment studies.
In June, UNESCO World Heritage Sites committee rejected an appeal by
the Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to place Lake Turkana
in the list of world sites in danger, a development that outraged
environmental conservation groups.
�The lake needs all the protection it can get against the vagaries of
climate change, Gibe III, and the thirsty sugar cane and cotton
plantations that Ethiopia is developing along the Omo River,� said
Angelei.
Chinese company Dongfang Electric Corp. has been contracted to carry
out construction work, according to reports, as the country searches
for more funds to complete the dam. Two-thirds of the work reportedly
is already done. The Italian construction company Salini Costruttori
is the primary construction contractor, while Dongfang will be
responsible for the hydromechanical and electromechanical part of the
project, the chief executive of the state-owned Ethiopian Electric
Power Corp., was quoted as saying by Ethiopian news organizations.
Environmentalists also are angry at the World Bank, which declined to
fund the Gibe III dam project itself, but did approve a $684 million
loan to build a 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) transmission line from the
dam into Kenya. For them, this is an endorsement of the massive dam
and its associated irrigation projects, which affects the food
security of thousands. The bank argues that the transmission line will
connect Ethiopia's overall power grid with Kenya's to create a power-
sharing arrangement between the two countries, reducing energy costs
and promoting sustainable and renewable power generation.
Ethiopia plans to sell 60 percent of the electricity generated to
Kenya through the transmission line. Ethiopia will also use the dam to
help irrigate large swaths of land for cotton and sugar-cane
cultivation.
In addition to environmental concerns, the dam project has drawn
criticism from human rights groups, who want the donors to ensure
their funding is not supporting activities that amount to an abuse of
people�s rights.
�Ethiopia�s desire to accelerate economic development is laudable, but
recent events in the Omo Valley are taking an unacceptable toll on the
rights and livelihoods of indigenous communities,� said Ben Rawlence,
Human Rights Watch's senior African researcher, at a recent news
conference.
The Turkana basin is also an important archeological site.
Archaeologists and scientists in August discovered three new fossils
near the lake that indicate previously undocumented early human species.
�This means Turkana basin is of global importance to the origin of
mankind,� said Dr. Leakey, whose Turkana Basin Institute led the
recent fossil discovery.
Related stories
� A Kenyan woman stands up against a massive dam project
� Land scarcity drives a bout of ethnic violence in Kenya, Ethiopia
� Africa Rising: Economic progress vs. cultural preservation in
Ethiopia
Previous
1 | 2
________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: africa@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Yangtze dolphin's decline mirrored by other animals
Yangtze dolphin's decline mirrored by other animals
10 August 2012
By Tom Marshall, Natural Environment Resource Council
http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=1266
Monitoring numbers of the baiji, the now-extinct freshwater dolphin of
the Yangtze river, would also have let researchers track the decline of
other threatened animals, including the Yangtze paddlefish and Reeves'
shad, a new study shows.
Download the study free here:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0037902
A disproportionate amount of public attention and conservation resources
tend to go towards big, impressive animals like the baiji, and the paper
� published in PLoS ONE � suggests that conservationists could take
advantage of this; research on these creatures could be used indirectly
to shed light on the population trends of their less media-friendly
neighbours.
The idea that so-called 'charismatic megafauna' like whales and tigers
could provide an index of the overall health of their environment isn't
new, but it's proved difficult to demonstrate in a rigorous way.
Dr Samuel Turvey of the Institute of Zoology repeatedly travelled to
China over the last few years to interview fishermen on the Yangtze
about when they last saw various threatened species including the baiji.
It's become clear that the baiji is now extinct, but analysing the
results of these interviews shows not only that the paddlefish and shad
have both declined and may also be extinct, but also that the curves
representing their plummeting numbers match that of the baiji very closely.
This was a surprise, as the three animals filled very different
ecological niches and on the face of things might be expected to react
differently to the same threats and environmental pressures.
'There was no reason to think that these species would have similar
patterns of decline over time - they're very different in their ecology
and in how they were exploited, although we know that all three were
affected by fisheries,' Turvey says. 'There's very little information on
the shad and the paddlefish, so we can only infer the pattern of their
declines retrospectively - we've only found out what happened to them
when it's already too late. Conservation resources are limited and are
likely to be focused on charismatic animals, but because the status of
such animals can match that of other species, we can at least try to get
as much benefit as possible from that.'
One common thread is that all three species used to migrate up and down
the river to get to better feeding or breeding grounds, so their
reproductive cycles were more easily disrupted by barriers like dams
that blocked their passage. They also all suffered badly from
overfishing, as well as pollution and other environmental problems.
Other non-migratory animals, such as members of the carp and catfish
families, are still relatively common in the Yangtze despite its
degraded state.
On the other hand, changes in the frequency of sightings of the finless
porpoise, another large aquatic mammal that still survives in the
Yangtze, weren't linked to those of the other animals.
Turvey isn't sure why. The porpoise isn't migratory, so it doesn't share
the feature that could have contributed to the other three species'
increased vulnerability. He suggests that because porpoises are still
encountered by fishermen fairly regularly, it's harder to document
changes to the state of their population using last-sighting reports.
The porpoise is also highly threatened and is declining too, but Turvey
is hopeful that efforts to protect it will be more effective than they
were for the baiji. Because the river ecosystem has been damaged so
badly, the best hope for protecting animals is to set up reserves away
from the main river, where animals can be protected and won't face the
same fierce environmental pressures. Efforts to do this for the baiji
never got off the ground, whereas porpoise reserves are already in place
and working well.
He adds that the research could be applied in other river ecosystems
with big, media-friendly inhabitants, such as Ganges or Irawaddy dolphins.
Turvey, S.T., Risley, C.L., Barrett, L.A., Hao, Y. & Wang, D. (2012).
River dolphins can act as population trend indicators in degraded
freshwater systems. PLoS ONE 7(5): e37902.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0037902
________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: china@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp
10 August 2012
By Tom Marshall, Natural Environment Resource Council
http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=1266
Monitoring numbers of the baiji, the now-extinct freshwater dolphin of
the Yangtze river, would also have let researchers track the decline of
other threatened animals, including the Yangtze paddlefish and Reeves'
shad, a new study shows.
Download the study free here:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0037902
A disproportionate amount of public attention and conservation resources
tend to go towards big, impressive animals like the baiji, and the paper
� published in PLoS ONE � suggests that conservationists could take
advantage of this; research on these creatures could be used indirectly
to shed light on the population trends of their less media-friendly
neighbours.
The idea that so-called 'charismatic megafauna' like whales and tigers
could provide an index of the overall health of their environment isn't
new, but it's proved difficult to demonstrate in a rigorous way.
Dr Samuel Turvey of the Institute of Zoology repeatedly travelled to
China over the last few years to interview fishermen on the Yangtze
about when they last saw various threatened species including the baiji.
It's become clear that the baiji is now extinct, but analysing the
results of these interviews shows not only that the paddlefish and shad
have both declined and may also be extinct, but also that the curves
representing their plummeting numbers match that of the baiji very closely.
This was a surprise, as the three animals filled very different
ecological niches and on the face of things might be expected to react
differently to the same threats and environmental pressures.
'There was no reason to think that these species would have similar
patterns of decline over time - they're very different in their ecology
and in how they were exploited, although we know that all three were
affected by fisheries,' Turvey says. 'There's very little information on
the shad and the paddlefish, so we can only infer the pattern of their
declines retrospectively - we've only found out what happened to them
when it's already too late. Conservation resources are limited and are
likely to be focused on charismatic animals, but because the status of
such animals can match that of other species, we can at least try to get
as much benefit as possible from that.'
One common thread is that all three species used to migrate up and down
the river to get to better feeding or breeding grounds, so their
reproductive cycles were more easily disrupted by barriers like dams
that blocked their passage. They also all suffered badly from
overfishing, as well as pollution and other environmental problems.
Other non-migratory animals, such as members of the carp and catfish
families, are still relatively common in the Yangtze despite its
degraded state.
On the other hand, changes in the frequency of sightings of the finless
porpoise, another large aquatic mammal that still survives in the
Yangtze, weren't linked to those of the other animals.
Turvey isn't sure why. The porpoise isn't migratory, so it doesn't share
the feature that could have contributed to the other three species'
increased vulnerability. He suggests that because porpoises are still
encountered by fishermen fairly regularly, it's harder to document
changes to the state of their population using last-sighting reports.
The porpoise is also highly threatened and is declining too, but Turvey
is hopeful that efforts to protect it will be more effective than they
were for the baiji. Because the river ecosystem has been damaged so
badly, the best hope for protecting animals is to set up reserves away
from the main river, where animals can be protected and won't face the
same fierce environmental pressures. Efforts to do this for the baiji
never got off the ground, whereas porpoise reserves are already in place
and working well.
He adds that the research could be applied in other river ecosystems
with big, media-friendly inhabitants, such as Ganges or Irawaddy dolphins.
Turvey, S.T., Risley, C.L., Barrett, L.A., Hao, Y. & Wang, D. (2012).
River dolphins can act as population trend indicators in degraded
freshwater systems. PLoS ONE 7(5): e37902.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0037902
________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: china@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp
Friday, August 10, 2012
Dam shows flaws in China's economic model
[Apologies for cross-posting]
Dam shows flaws in China's economic model
by Rob Schmitz
Marketplace (American Public Media)
August 9, 2012
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/dam-shows-flaws-chinas-economic-model
The Yangtze River, near the town of Luohuang. This section of the river
belongs to a nature reserve created to protect hundreds of species of
fish, including the Chinese Paddlefish. When built, the Xiaonanhai Dam
will destroy the reserve, flooding it, creating an enormous reservoir.
At around five billion dollars, the dam is one of Chongqing's largest
investment projects. Critics say Bo Xilai championed the project to help
the city acheieve historic GDP growth numbers, thereby securing himself
a spot in China's top leadership.
Kai Ryssdal: China's trial of the century was over today almost as
quickly as it started. Seven hours beginning to end for the wife of
disgraced politician Bo Xilai. She's accused of murdering a British
businessman.
Bo Xilai himself, once a hugely powerful party chief in the southwestern
city of Chongqing, was cashiered in April for violations of discipline,
the party said. His legacy lives on, though, through the political
machine he built. And a lot of actual things he built.
Marketplace's Rob Schmitz explains.
Rob Schmitz: Scientists say the Chinese Paddlefish has lived on Earth
for more than a hundred million years. It survived an asteroid impact
thought to have killed off the dinosaurs. It lived through the Ice Age.
Nothing, it seemed, could kill this animal.
But then along came China's Communist Party. It built enormous dams on
the Yangtze River, cutting off the paddlefish's migratory path, making
it nearly impossible for the fish to reproduce.
The last Chinese paddlefish was seen here on this nature reserve, on the
upper reaches of the Yangtze six years ago. Scientist Yang Bo studies
the river for the Nature Conservancy.
Yang Bo: If we worked harder to protect the fish, we might be able to
restore its habitat. But if this new dam is built, we won't have a chance.
She's talking about the Xiaonanhai Dam. The dam was Bo Xilai's pet
project. But now, Bo's gone. Still, the government's going ahead with
the dam.
And that angers Weng Lida. Weng is the former head of the government
bureau charged with protecting the Yangtze. He first heard about the
project when Bo Xilai sent a team to try and sell him on the idea.
Weng Lida: Economically, the project made no sense. They wanted billions
for a dam that would generate relatively little electricity. Then I
thought the dam might help with irrigation, but that didn't make sense
either.
Weng was convinced Bo Xilai wanted to build this dam for only one reason.
Weng: This is all about GDP. This will cost five billion dollars to
build. It's one of the biggest investments in the history of Chongqing.
Bo wanted the best GDP growth numbers in China'he wanted to make sure
growth stayed over 14 percent annually.
Bo got what he wanted -- the investment secured for the Xiaonanhai dam
helped catapult Chongqing's GDP growth to a whopping 16.4 percent last year.
Patrick Chovanec: For a long time now, the main way to get ahead as a
local official in China was to produce high levels of growth and hit or
exceed GDP targets.
Patrick Chovanec is a professor at Tsinghua University's school of
economics and management. He says Bo helped fund Chongqing's investment
boom by cracking down hard what he labeled the mafia, seizing their
assets, then using them as collateral to borrow money from state banks.
According to former government official Weng Lida, Bo's underlings
bribed a colleague of his to write a favorable report on the dam's
environmental impact. And when China's Ministry of Agriculture raised
objections to the dam, Weng's friends there told him Bo went straight to
the top of the ministry, exerting enough pressure to change their minds.
But Bo's way of operating was hardly unique among China's government
officials, says Patrick Chovanec.
Chovanec: The party is on dangerous ground in any of the charges they
level against Bo, whether it be the corruption or whether it be wasteful
economic policies, because when they point the finger at Bo, they kind
of point the finger at themselves.
The farm of 54-year-old Li Long Rui won't survive when the dam is built.
Government officials have just measured her house to determine how much
she'll be compensated after its flooded. Tens of thousands of people
will have to move out of this area.
Li Long Rui: I have no idea where I'll move. And I'm sure local
officials will steal from the compensation money I'm owed. All of them
are so corrupt! They just don't care about us farmers.
As for the Chinese Paddlefish, its final resting place might be here, in
the quiet halls of the Yangtze River Museum of Aquatic Organisms,
downriver in the city of Wuhan. Scientist Wu Qingjiang says the
Xiaonanhai dam is one of many proposed dams he's worried about. One day
soon, says Wu, the upper Yangtze will cease to be a river -- it'll be a
series of cascading reservoirs leading from one dam to the next.
Wu Qingjiang: In the short term, these dams may help develop the local
economy, but if you take the long view, there are things you can never
recover, like this fish. Once it's gone, it's gone.
One of many species wiped out by one of the worst predators to come
along in millions of years: ambitious government officials with a
seemingly insatiable appetite for GDP growth.
Reporting from Chongqing and Wuhan, I'm Rob Schmitz for Marketplace.
________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: china@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp
Dam shows flaws in China's economic model
by Rob Schmitz
Marketplace (American Public Media)
August 9, 2012
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/dam-shows-flaws-chinas-economic-model
The Yangtze River, near the town of Luohuang. This section of the river
belongs to a nature reserve created to protect hundreds of species of
fish, including the Chinese Paddlefish. When built, the Xiaonanhai Dam
will destroy the reserve, flooding it, creating an enormous reservoir.
At around five billion dollars, the dam is one of Chongqing's largest
investment projects. Critics say Bo Xilai championed the project to help
the city acheieve historic GDP growth numbers, thereby securing himself
a spot in China's top leadership.
Kai Ryssdal: China's trial of the century was over today almost as
quickly as it started. Seven hours beginning to end for the wife of
disgraced politician Bo Xilai. She's accused of murdering a British
businessman.
Bo Xilai himself, once a hugely powerful party chief in the southwestern
city of Chongqing, was cashiered in April for violations of discipline,
the party said. His legacy lives on, though, through the political
machine he built. And a lot of actual things he built.
Marketplace's Rob Schmitz explains.
Rob Schmitz: Scientists say the Chinese Paddlefish has lived on Earth
for more than a hundred million years. It survived an asteroid impact
thought to have killed off the dinosaurs. It lived through the Ice Age.
Nothing, it seemed, could kill this animal.
But then along came China's Communist Party. It built enormous dams on
the Yangtze River, cutting off the paddlefish's migratory path, making
it nearly impossible for the fish to reproduce.
The last Chinese paddlefish was seen here on this nature reserve, on the
upper reaches of the Yangtze six years ago. Scientist Yang Bo studies
the river for the Nature Conservancy.
Yang Bo: If we worked harder to protect the fish, we might be able to
restore its habitat. But if this new dam is built, we won't have a chance.
She's talking about the Xiaonanhai Dam. The dam was Bo Xilai's pet
project. But now, Bo's gone. Still, the government's going ahead with
the dam.
And that angers Weng Lida. Weng is the former head of the government
bureau charged with protecting the Yangtze. He first heard about the
project when Bo Xilai sent a team to try and sell him on the idea.
Weng Lida: Economically, the project made no sense. They wanted billions
for a dam that would generate relatively little electricity. Then I
thought the dam might help with irrigation, but that didn't make sense
either.
Weng was convinced Bo Xilai wanted to build this dam for only one reason.
Weng: This is all about GDP. This will cost five billion dollars to
build. It's one of the biggest investments in the history of Chongqing.
Bo wanted the best GDP growth numbers in China'he wanted to make sure
growth stayed over 14 percent annually.
Bo got what he wanted -- the investment secured for the Xiaonanhai dam
helped catapult Chongqing's GDP growth to a whopping 16.4 percent last year.
Patrick Chovanec: For a long time now, the main way to get ahead as a
local official in China was to produce high levels of growth and hit or
exceed GDP targets.
Patrick Chovanec is a professor at Tsinghua University's school of
economics and management. He says Bo helped fund Chongqing's investment
boom by cracking down hard what he labeled the mafia, seizing their
assets, then using them as collateral to borrow money from state banks.
According to former government official Weng Lida, Bo's underlings
bribed a colleague of his to write a favorable report on the dam's
environmental impact. And when China's Ministry of Agriculture raised
objections to the dam, Weng's friends there told him Bo went straight to
the top of the ministry, exerting enough pressure to change their minds.
But Bo's way of operating was hardly unique among China's government
officials, says Patrick Chovanec.
Chovanec: The party is on dangerous ground in any of the charges they
level against Bo, whether it be the corruption or whether it be wasteful
economic policies, because when they point the finger at Bo, they kind
of point the finger at themselves.
The farm of 54-year-old Li Long Rui won't survive when the dam is built.
Government officials have just measured her house to determine how much
she'll be compensated after its flooded. Tens of thousands of people
will have to move out of this area.
Li Long Rui: I have no idea where I'll move. And I'm sure local
officials will steal from the compensation money I'm owed. All of them
are so corrupt! They just don't care about us farmers.
As for the Chinese Paddlefish, its final resting place might be here, in
the quiet halls of the Yangtze River Museum of Aquatic Organisms,
downriver in the city of Wuhan. Scientist Wu Qingjiang says the
Xiaonanhai dam is one of many proposed dams he's worried about. One day
soon, says Wu, the upper Yangtze will cease to be a river -- it'll be a
series of cascading reservoirs leading from one dam to the next.
Wu Qingjiang: In the short term, these dams may help develop the local
economy, but if you take the long view, there are things you can never
recover, like this fish. Once it's gone, it's gone.
One of many species wiped out by one of the worst predators to come
along in millions of years: ambitious government officials with a
seemingly insatiable appetite for GDP growth.
Reporting from Chongqing and Wuhan, I'm Rob Schmitz for Marketplace.
________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: china@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp
Dam shows flaws in China's economic model /NPR
Dam shows flaws in China's economic model
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/dam-shows-flaws-chinas-economic-model
The Yangtze River, near the town of Luohuang. This section of the
river belongs to a nature reserve created to protect hundreds of
species of fish, including the Chinese Paddlefish. When built, the
Xiaonanhai Dam will destroy the reserve, flooding it, creating an
enormous reservoir. At around five billion dollars, the dam is one of
Chongqing's largest investment projects. Critics say Bo Xilai
championed the project to help the city acheieve historic GDP growth
numbers, thereby securing himself a spot in China's top leadership.
by Rob Schmitz
Marketplace for Thursday, August 9, 2012
Kai Ryssdal: China's trial of the century was over today almost as
quickly as it started. Seven hours beginning to end for the wife of
disgraced politician Bo Xilai. She's accused of murdering a British
businessman.
Bo Xilai himself, once a hugely powerful party chief in the
southwestern city of Chongqing, was cashiered in April for violations
of discipline, the party said. His legacy lives on, though, through
the political machine he built. And a lot of actual things he built.
Marketplace's Rob Schmitz explains.
Rob Schmitz: Scientists say the Chinese Paddlefish has lived on Earth
for more than a hundred million years. It survived an asteroid impact
thought to have killed off the dinosaurs. It lived through the Ice
Age. Nothing, it seemed, could kill this animal.
But then along came China�s Communist Party. It built enormous dams on
the Yangtze River, cutting off the paddlefish�s migratory path, making
it nearly impossible for the fish to reproduce.
The last Chinese paddlefish was seen here on this nature reserve, on
the upper reaches of the Yangtze six years ago. Scientist Yang Bo
studies the river for the Nature Conservancy.
Yang Bo: If we worked harder to protect the fish, we might be able to
restore its habitat. But if this new dam is built, we won�t have a
chance.
She�s talking about the Xiaonanhai Dam. The dam was Bo Xilai�s pet
project. But now, Bo�s gone. Still, the government�s going ahead with
the dam.
And that angers Weng Lida. Weng is the former head of the government
bureau charged with protecting the Yangtze. He first heard about the
project when Bo Xilai sent a team to try and sell him on the idea.
Weng Lida: Economically, the project made no sense. They wanted
billions for a dam that would generate relatively little electricity.
Then I thought the dam might help with irrigation, but that didn�t
make sense either.
Weng was convinced Bo Xilai wanted to build this dam for only one
reason.
Weng: This is all about GDP. This will cost five billion dollars to
build. It�s one of the biggest investments in the history of
Chongqing. Bo wanted the best GDP growth numbers in China�he wanted to
make sure growth stayed over 14 percent annually.
Bo got what he wanted -- the investment secured for the Xiaonanhai dam
helped catapult Chongqing�s GDP growth to a whopping 16.4 percent last
year.
Patrick Chovanec: For a long time now, the main way to get ahead as a
local official in China was to produce high levels of growth and hit
or exceed GDP targets.
Patrick Chovanec is a professor at Tsinghua University�s school of
economics and management. He says Bo helped fund Chongqing�s
investment boom by cracking down hard what he labeled the mafia,
seizing their assets, then using them as collateral to borrow money
from state banks. According to former government official Weng Lida,
Bo�s underlings bribed a colleague of his to write a favorable report
on the dam�s environmental impact. And when China�s Ministry of
Agriculture raised objections to the dam, Weng�s friends there told
him Bo went straight to the top of the ministry, exerting enough
pressure to change their minds.
But Bo�s way of operating was hardly unique among China�s government
officials, says Patrick Chovanec.
Chovanec: The party is on dangerous ground in any of the charges they
level against Bo, whether it be the corruption or whether it be
wasteful economic policies, because when they point the finger at Bo,
they kind of point the finger at themselves.
The farm of 54-year-old Li Long Rui won�t survive when the dam is
built. Government officials have just measured her house to determine
how much she�ll be compensated after its flooded. Tens of thousands of
people will have to move out of this area.
Li Long Rui: I have no idea where I�ll move. And I�m sure local
officials will steal from the compensation money I�m owed. All of them
are so corrupt! They just don�t care about us farmers.
As for the Chinese Paddlefish, its final resting place might be here,
in the quiet halls of the Yangtze River Museum of Aquatic Organisms,
downriver in the city of Wuhan. Scientist Wu Qingjiang says the
Xiaonanhai dam is one of many proposed dams he�s worried about. One
day soon, says Wu, the upper Yangtze will cease to be a river -- it�ll
be a series of cascading reservoirs leading from one dam to the next.
Wu Qingjiang: In the short term, these dams may help develop the local
economy, but if you take the long view, there are things you can never
recover, like this fish. Once it�s gone, it�s gone.
One of many species wiped out by one of the worst predators to come
along in millions of years: ambitious government officials with a
seemingly insatiable appetite for GDP growth.
Reporting from Chongqing and Wuhan, I�m Rob Schmitz for Marketplace.
________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: dams@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/dam-shows-flaws-chinas-economic-model
The Yangtze River, near the town of Luohuang. This section of the
river belongs to a nature reserve created to protect hundreds of
species of fish, including the Chinese Paddlefish. When built, the
Xiaonanhai Dam will destroy the reserve, flooding it, creating an
enormous reservoir. At around five billion dollars, the dam is one of
Chongqing's largest investment projects. Critics say Bo Xilai
championed the project to help the city acheieve historic GDP growth
numbers, thereby securing himself a spot in China's top leadership.
by Rob Schmitz
Marketplace for Thursday, August 9, 2012
Kai Ryssdal: China's trial of the century was over today almost as
quickly as it started. Seven hours beginning to end for the wife of
disgraced politician Bo Xilai. She's accused of murdering a British
businessman.
Bo Xilai himself, once a hugely powerful party chief in the
southwestern city of Chongqing, was cashiered in April for violations
of discipline, the party said. His legacy lives on, though, through
the political machine he built. And a lot of actual things he built.
Marketplace's Rob Schmitz explains.
Rob Schmitz: Scientists say the Chinese Paddlefish has lived on Earth
for more than a hundred million years. It survived an asteroid impact
thought to have killed off the dinosaurs. It lived through the Ice
Age. Nothing, it seemed, could kill this animal.
But then along came China�s Communist Party. It built enormous dams on
the Yangtze River, cutting off the paddlefish�s migratory path, making
it nearly impossible for the fish to reproduce.
The last Chinese paddlefish was seen here on this nature reserve, on
the upper reaches of the Yangtze six years ago. Scientist Yang Bo
studies the river for the Nature Conservancy.
Yang Bo: If we worked harder to protect the fish, we might be able to
restore its habitat. But if this new dam is built, we won�t have a
chance.
She�s talking about the Xiaonanhai Dam. The dam was Bo Xilai�s pet
project. But now, Bo�s gone. Still, the government�s going ahead with
the dam.
And that angers Weng Lida. Weng is the former head of the government
bureau charged with protecting the Yangtze. He first heard about the
project when Bo Xilai sent a team to try and sell him on the idea.
Weng Lida: Economically, the project made no sense. They wanted
billions for a dam that would generate relatively little electricity.
Then I thought the dam might help with irrigation, but that didn�t
make sense either.
Weng was convinced Bo Xilai wanted to build this dam for only one
reason.
Weng: This is all about GDP. This will cost five billion dollars to
build. It�s one of the biggest investments in the history of
Chongqing. Bo wanted the best GDP growth numbers in China�he wanted to
make sure growth stayed over 14 percent annually.
Bo got what he wanted -- the investment secured for the Xiaonanhai dam
helped catapult Chongqing�s GDP growth to a whopping 16.4 percent last
year.
Patrick Chovanec: For a long time now, the main way to get ahead as a
local official in China was to produce high levels of growth and hit
or exceed GDP targets.
Patrick Chovanec is a professor at Tsinghua University�s school of
economics and management. He says Bo helped fund Chongqing�s
investment boom by cracking down hard what he labeled the mafia,
seizing their assets, then using them as collateral to borrow money
from state banks. According to former government official Weng Lida,
Bo�s underlings bribed a colleague of his to write a favorable report
on the dam�s environmental impact. And when China�s Ministry of
Agriculture raised objections to the dam, Weng�s friends there told
him Bo went straight to the top of the ministry, exerting enough
pressure to change their minds.
But Bo�s way of operating was hardly unique among China�s government
officials, says Patrick Chovanec.
Chovanec: The party is on dangerous ground in any of the charges they
level against Bo, whether it be the corruption or whether it be
wasteful economic policies, because when they point the finger at Bo,
they kind of point the finger at themselves.
The farm of 54-year-old Li Long Rui won�t survive when the dam is
built. Government officials have just measured her house to determine
how much she�ll be compensated after its flooded. Tens of thousands of
people will have to move out of this area.
Li Long Rui: I have no idea where I�ll move. And I�m sure local
officials will steal from the compensation money I�m owed. All of them
are so corrupt! They just don�t care about us farmers.
As for the Chinese Paddlefish, its final resting place might be here,
in the quiet halls of the Yangtze River Museum of Aquatic Organisms,
downriver in the city of Wuhan. Scientist Wu Qingjiang says the
Xiaonanhai dam is one of many proposed dams he�s worried about. One
day soon, says Wu, the upper Yangtze will cease to be a river -- it�ll
be a series of cascading reservoirs leading from one dam to the next.
Wu Qingjiang: In the short term, these dams may help develop the local
economy, but if you take the long view, there are things you can never
recover, like this fish. Once it�s gone, it�s gone.
One of many species wiped out by one of the worst predators to come
along in millions of years: ambitious government officials with a
seemingly insatiable appetite for GDP growth.
Reporting from Chongqing and Wuhan, I�m Rob Schmitz for Marketplace.
________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: dams@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp
Friday, August 3, 2012
India blackout
Two pieces on the massive India blackout. First, an interesting
observation in the Scientific American on the recent black out vs
solar energy use in rural areas. (thank you Latha for submitting this
for the list!). Second, a blog from Nat'l Geographic on why the
blackout does not mean India needs more dams.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/08/01/solar-power-kept-the-lights-on-in-india/
Solar Power Helped Keep the Lights On in India
By David Biello | August 1, 2012 |
Every day, at least 400 million Indians lack access to electricity.
Another nearly 700 million Indians joined their fellows in energy
poverty over the course of the last few days, or roughly 10 percent of
the world�s population.
Oddly enough, some of the formerly energy poor�rural villagers
throughout the subcontinent�found themselves better off than their
middle-class compatriots during the recent blackouts, thanks to
village homes outfitted with photovoltaic panels. In fact, solar power
helped keep some electric pumps supplying water for fields parched by
an erratic monsoon this year.
That monsoon is partly to blame for the blackouts as well. A lack of
rain has meant a reduction in power from India�s hydroelectric dams.
Pair that with problems with the supply of coal to burn and the
northern half of India found itself with not enough electricity supply
to meet demand. One ironic anecdote illustrates this conundrum nicely:
coal miners in northern India were trapped when their electric lifts
failed as a result of the blackout exacerbated by a lack of coal.
The thirst for electricity stems from burgeoning demand from India�s
middle class, which has embraced everything from air conditioning to
the electric-powered subway trains of New Delhi. India also enjoys
some of the highest rates of what is known in the trade as �non-
technical losses,� i.e. people hijacking electric supplies and not
paying for it (as opposed to �technical losses,� like the amount of
electricity lost via the physics of transmission itself and the like.)
And then there are the politically popular programs like providing
free power to farmers for irrigation pumps.
Such politics no doubt played a role. Tensions between state
governments, the national government and power suppliers are legion,
including some areas that take more electricity than they are supposed
to at times. That�s the reason the energy minister, newly promoted to
minister for home affairs for his stellar performance, gave for the
first day of blackouts. And politics have prevented the kind of
investment in infrastructure maintenance and upgrades that can prevent
things like power lines sagging in the heat and shorting out via
untrimmed trees. Wait, does that sound familiar?
The root cause of the massive back-to-back blackouts won�t be known
for a while. It took three months to definitively trace the root cause
of the 2003 blackout that shut down the U.S. Northeast along with
parts of Canada to the aforementioned. But one root cause is already
obvious: a crippling indifference to the basic needs of electrical
infrastructure (the Indian government has declined to invest in an
upgrade to the country�s aging grid)�and people. That kind of sounds
familiar too.
Rotating blackouts, brownouts and power cuts are all too common in
India thanks to a shortfall of electricity, so much so that it is
taken as the normal state of affairs and major companies like Wipro
build their own micro-grids to cope. As is the fact that those 400
million Indians�and the more than 1 billion people around the world
like them�still lack access to modern energy.
Image: mckaysavage / Flickr.com
About the Author: David Biello is the associate editor for environment
and energy at Scientific American. Follow on Twitter @dbiello.
---
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/07/31/indias-massive-blackout-and-the-environmental-danger-to-come/
India�s Massive Blackout, and the Environmental Danger to Come
Posted by Dan Morrison of National Geographic News Correspondent in
Water Currents on July 31, 2012
An estimated 600 million Indians � more people than live in western
Europe � were without electricity today, victims of a massive blackout
that darkened most of the northern and eastern portions of the country.
The Great Indian Outage, stretching from New Delhi to Kolkata, comes
just a day after 300 million people in northern India lost power for
much of Monday.
It is a disaster that�s caused untold damage to India�s economy, its
prestige, and its well-being � think of the millions of patients in
hospitals, the commuters stuck on trains, and farmers in need of
irrigation. Hundreds of miners in the states of West Bengal and
Jharkand were trapped underground by the blackout. Some 300 trains
were reportedly stalled across the country.
There�s more damage to come, I fear: Forces that have been bridling
against environmental regulations and science-based activism will use
the Great Outage as a cudgel to demolish future restraints on dam
construction, coal mining, and other projects.
India�s humiliating power failure is sure to birth a slogan as
reductive and wrong as America�s own �Drill Baby Drill.�
The north Indian town of New Tehri, built above the reservoir of a
1,000-megawatt dam to house displaced villagers, suffers daily power
outages.
The irony is that this outage was likely caused in part by
mismanagement at the Bhakra series of hydroelectric dams in Punjab and
Himachal Pradesh states in northern India, according to Himanshu
Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People.
�Had these dams been operated more rationally, keeping in mind the
emerging realities and forecasts, the situation in Northwest India
would have been different,� Thakkar told me. �Higher [water] levels in
these dams would have meant more power generation for each unit of
water release and at the same time more water for agriculture, thus
less water [for irrigation] pumped from aquifers, and thus less demand
of power.�
Earlier this month, Thakkar�s organization published a short paper
[pdf] criticizing dam administrators for allowing water levels to
become alarmingly low.
Thakkar says the answer to India�s current power crisis isn�t more
hydroelectric dams, as most currently existing dams aren�t built or
operated for maximum efficiency. Instead, power can be saved by
harvesting rainwater.
�Since most of our water is coming from groundwater, we need to store
the rainfall in aquifers that are fast depleting,� he says. �This
would have multiple spin-off benefits.� With healthier aquifers,
farmers wouldn�t have to run electric-powered pumps as much to
adequately irrigate their crops � a major drag on the power grid.
�More dams won�t help achieve that,� Thakkar says, adding that farmers
should shift to less water-intensive crops. �It is amazing that, among
all the crops, [acreage devoted to] sugarcane has gone up in this
drought year!�
At the Center for Science and the Environment, Chandra Bushan provides
some of the hard numbers behind today�s blackout, as well as a simple
cause: Indian states are taking more power from the grid than they are
supposed to, even as the power system lacks the flexibility to meet
seasonal spikes in demand.
In this case, a weak and tardy annual monsoon has millions of
households and businesses running their air conditioners for longer
than they would under normal conditions. This from the CSE:
Electricity generation for the month of June illustrates this problem:
� In June 2012, India produced 8 per cent more electricity than in
June 2011.
� The generation from thermal power plants was 11.4 per cent higher
than in June 2011. Coal-based power plants generated 16.7 per cent
more electricity.
� However, with low monsoon, the generation of electricity from
hydropower plants reduced by 6 per cent compared to June 2011. In
fact, hydropower plants produced 19 per cent lesser electricity in
April-June, 2012 than the corresponding months in 2011. As hydro
plants are also peak load plants, this reduction seems to have
affected the peak power generation in the country significantly.
None of this logic � nor the many recent plans and ideas for improving
the management and efficiency of India�s power grid � will make a
difference to the contractors and bureaucrats in the �Build Baby
Build� crowd that has much to gain from poorly-planned dam construction.
The debate over dams has become so silly that earlier this month a
minister from the government of Uttarakhand state went on a one-day
hunger strike to support more construction on the Himalayan
tributaries of the Ganges River. Mantri Prasad Naithani�s constituency
is in the region of Tehri Gahrwal, which was submerged a decade ago by
the giant Tehri dam. Residents of the doomed town of Tehri were
relocated to a �model town� higher up the valley to make room for the
$1 billion, 1,000 megawatt hydroelectric dam�s reservoir.
When I visited New Tehri last year, power outages were commonplace.
But it�s brute force, not the rhetorical kind, that truly keeps this
movement alive.
On June 22, the Indian environmentalist Bharat Jhunjhunwala was
attacked in his home in Uttarakhand state by a gang of 40 thugs
purportedly working for a contracting company. At the time of the
attack, Jhunjhunwala, 62, had been hosting G.D. Agrawal, an eminent
scientist turned swami who is also known as Gyan Swarup Anand. Agrawal
was in the region to protest the coming submergence of the Dhari Devi
Temple on the Alaknanda river by a hydroelectric project.
In full view of local police and journalists, the crowd kicked in
Jhunjhunwalla�s door and blackened his face with ink. He and his wife
were forced to flee the area.
�They threatened him that they will burn him alive in the house if he
did not stop opposing the dams within two days,� according to an
account by Jhunjhunwala�s family.
India�s power grid suffers from inertia on one hand and from
destructive greed on the other. It doesn�t suffer from a shortage of
dams.
________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: dams@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp
observation in the Scientific American on the recent black out vs
solar energy use in rural areas. (thank you Latha for submitting this
for the list!). Second, a blog from Nat'l Geographic on why the
blackout does not mean India needs more dams.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/08/01/solar-power-kept-the-lights-on-in-india/
Solar Power Helped Keep the Lights On in India
By David Biello | August 1, 2012 |
Every day, at least 400 million Indians lack access to electricity.
Another nearly 700 million Indians joined their fellows in energy
poverty over the course of the last few days, or roughly 10 percent of
the world�s population.
Oddly enough, some of the formerly energy poor�rural villagers
throughout the subcontinent�found themselves better off than their
middle-class compatriots during the recent blackouts, thanks to
village homes outfitted with photovoltaic panels. In fact, solar power
helped keep some electric pumps supplying water for fields parched by
an erratic monsoon this year.
That monsoon is partly to blame for the blackouts as well. A lack of
rain has meant a reduction in power from India�s hydroelectric dams.
Pair that with problems with the supply of coal to burn and the
northern half of India found itself with not enough electricity supply
to meet demand. One ironic anecdote illustrates this conundrum nicely:
coal miners in northern India were trapped when their electric lifts
failed as a result of the blackout exacerbated by a lack of coal.
The thirst for electricity stems from burgeoning demand from India�s
middle class, which has embraced everything from air conditioning to
the electric-powered subway trains of New Delhi. India also enjoys
some of the highest rates of what is known in the trade as �non-
technical losses,� i.e. people hijacking electric supplies and not
paying for it (as opposed to �technical losses,� like the amount of
electricity lost via the physics of transmission itself and the like.)
And then there are the politically popular programs like providing
free power to farmers for irrigation pumps.
Such politics no doubt played a role. Tensions between state
governments, the national government and power suppliers are legion,
including some areas that take more electricity than they are supposed
to at times. That�s the reason the energy minister, newly promoted to
minister for home affairs for his stellar performance, gave for the
first day of blackouts. And politics have prevented the kind of
investment in infrastructure maintenance and upgrades that can prevent
things like power lines sagging in the heat and shorting out via
untrimmed trees. Wait, does that sound familiar?
The root cause of the massive back-to-back blackouts won�t be known
for a while. It took three months to definitively trace the root cause
of the 2003 blackout that shut down the U.S. Northeast along with
parts of Canada to the aforementioned. But one root cause is already
obvious: a crippling indifference to the basic needs of electrical
infrastructure (the Indian government has declined to invest in an
upgrade to the country�s aging grid)�and people. That kind of sounds
familiar too.
Rotating blackouts, brownouts and power cuts are all too common in
India thanks to a shortfall of electricity, so much so that it is
taken as the normal state of affairs and major companies like Wipro
build their own micro-grids to cope. As is the fact that those 400
million Indians�and the more than 1 billion people around the world
like them�still lack access to modern energy.
Image: mckaysavage / Flickr.com
About the Author: David Biello is the associate editor for environment
and energy at Scientific American. Follow on Twitter @dbiello.
---
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/07/31/indias-massive-blackout-and-the-environmental-danger-to-come/
India�s Massive Blackout, and the Environmental Danger to Come
Posted by Dan Morrison of National Geographic News Correspondent in
Water Currents on July 31, 2012
An estimated 600 million Indians � more people than live in western
Europe � were without electricity today, victims of a massive blackout
that darkened most of the northern and eastern portions of the country.
The Great Indian Outage, stretching from New Delhi to Kolkata, comes
just a day after 300 million people in northern India lost power for
much of Monday.
It is a disaster that�s caused untold damage to India�s economy, its
prestige, and its well-being � think of the millions of patients in
hospitals, the commuters stuck on trains, and farmers in need of
irrigation. Hundreds of miners in the states of West Bengal and
Jharkand were trapped underground by the blackout. Some 300 trains
were reportedly stalled across the country.
There�s more damage to come, I fear: Forces that have been bridling
against environmental regulations and science-based activism will use
the Great Outage as a cudgel to demolish future restraints on dam
construction, coal mining, and other projects.
India�s humiliating power failure is sure to birth a slogan as
reductive and wrong as America�s own �Drill Baby Drill.�
The north Indian town of New Tehri, built above the reservoir of a
1,000-megawatt dam to house displaced villagers, suffers daily power
outages.
The irony is that this outage was likely caused in part by
mismanagement at the Bhakra series of hydroelectric dams in Punjab and
Himachal Pradesh states in northern India, according to Himanshu
Thakkar of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People.
�Had these dams been operated more rationally, keeping in mind the
emerging realities and forecasts, the situation in Northwest India
would have been different,� Thakkar told me. �Higher [water] levels in
these dams would have meant more power generation for each unit of
water release and at the same time more water for agriculture, thus
less water [for irrigation] pumped from aquifers, and thus less demand
of power.�
Earlier this month, Thakkar�s organization published a short paper
[pdf] criticizing dam administrators for allowing water levels to
become alarmingly low.
Thakkar says the answer to India�s current power crisis isn�t more
hydroelectric dams, as most currently existing dams aren�t built or
operated for maximum efficiency. Instead, power can be saved by
harvesting rainwater.
�Since most of our water is coming from groundwater, we need to store
the rainfall in aquifers that are fast depleting,� he says. �This
would have multiple spin-off benefits.� With healthier aquifers,
farmers wouldn�t have to run electric-powered pumps as much to
adequately irrigate their crops � a major drag on the power grid.
�More dams won�t help achieve that,� Thakkar says, adding that farmers
should shift to less water-intensive crops. �It is amazing that, among
all the crops, [acreage devoted to] sugarcane has gone up in this
drought year!�
At the Center for Science and the Environment, Chandra Bushan provides
some of the hard numbers behind today�s blackout, as well as a simple
cause: Indian states are taking more power from the grid than they are
supposed to, even as the power system lacks the flexibility to meet
seasonal spikes in demand.
In this case, a weak and tardy annual monsoon has millions of
households and businesses running their air conditioners for longer
than they would under normal conditions. This from the CSE:
Electricity generation for the month of June illustrates this problem:
� In June 2012, India produced 8 per cent more electricity than in
June 2011.
� The generation from thermal power plants was 11.4 per cent higher
than in June 2011. Coal-based power plants generated 16.7 per cent
more electricity.
� However, with low monsoon, the generation of electricity from
hydropower plants reduced by 6 per cent compared to June 2011. In
fact, hydropower plants produced 19 per cent lesser electricity in
April-June, 2012 than the corresponding months in 2011. As hydro
plants are also peak load plants, this reduction seems to have
affected the peak power generation in the country significantly.
None of this logic � nor the many recent plans and ideas for improving
the management and efficiency of India�s power grid � will make a
difference to the contractors and bureaucrats in the �Build Baby
Build� crowd that has much to gain from poorly-planned dam construction.
The debate over dams has become so silly that earlier this month a
minister from the government of Uttarakhand state went on a one-day
hunger strike to support more construction on the Himalayan
tributaries of the Ganges River. Mantri Prasad Naithani�s constituency
is in the region of Tehri Gahrwal, which was submerged a decade ago by
the giant Tehri dam. Residents of the doomed town of Tehri were
relocated to a �model town� higher up the valley to make room for the
$1 billion, 1,000 megawatt hydroelectric dam�s reservoir.
When I visited New Tehri last year, power outages were commonplace.
But it�s brute force, not the rhetorical kind, that truly keeps this
movement alive.
On June 22, the Indian environmentalist Bharat Jhunjhunwala was
attacked in his home in Uttarakhand state by a gang of 40 thugs
purportedly working for a contracting company. At the time of the
attack, Jhunjhunwala, 62, had been hosting G.D. Agrawal, an eminent
scientist turned swami who is also known as Gyan Swarup Anand. Agrawal
was in the region to protest the coming submergence of the Dhari Devi
Temple on the Alaknanda river by a hydroelectric project.
In full view of local police and journalists, the crowd kicked in
Jhunjhunwalla�s door and blackened his face with ink. He and his wife
were forced to flee the area.
�They threatened him that they will burn him alive in the house if he
did not stop opposing the dams within two days,� according to an
account by Jhunjhunwala�s family.
India�s power grid suffers from inertia on one hand and from
destructive greed on the other. It doesn�t suffer from a shortage of
dams.
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Thursday, August 2, 2012
Alstom boosts hydro power investment in China
Alstom boosts hydro power investment in China
By Liu Yiyu in Tianjin
China Daily
August 2, 2012
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2012-08/02/content_15640371.htm
Alstom, the world's third-largest power equipment maker, is boosting its
investment in hydro power in China, as other renewable energy sectors
such as wind and solar energy face a slowdown.
Alstom Renewable Power, Alstom's division in charge of renewable power
generation equipment and services, plans to establish a Global
Technology Center in Tianjin, as part of a 100 million euro ($123
million) investment to upgrade Tianjin's hydro industrial facility - the
largest such plant that Alstom has in operation.
"Compared with other renewables, hydro power is very stable," said
Jerome Pecresse, president of Alstom Renewable Power.
And as the renewable sector - including wind and solar - develops, the
demand for pumped-storage plants will also increase, according to Pecresse.
Alstom is one of China's leading hydro producers. The company has
contracts for hydro turbines and generators covering about 47 gigawatts,
out of which about 50 percent are already in commercial operation.
Alstom was also involved in the construction of the Three Gorges Dam,
the world's largest power plant of any kind, to which it supplied 14 of
the dam's 32 units, each with an output of 700 megawatts.
"International hydro power companies are setting up their research and
development centers in China to grab more market share, leading to
fierce competition as well as more mergers and acquisitions," said Zhou
Xiujie, an industry analyst with China Investment Consulting.
According to the China Electricity Council, the country's hydro power
investment reached 44.4 billion yuan ($7 billion) in the first five
months of the year, up nearly 50 percent year-on-year.
With a temporary slowdown in the construction of nuclear plants after
the Fukushima disaster in Japan, the Chinese government is pushing ahead
with all forms of renewable energy: solar, wind, bio-energy, geothermal
and hydro.
However, the development of wind and solar energy is slowing down.
Authorities began tightening approval for wind power projects last year
after a significant amount of wind resources were wasted because the
grid was not capable of carrying or sending out the electricity.
Despite the government's ambitious push, the solar market in China is
still very small, with less than 3 gW installed at the end of 2011.
In comparison, hydro power makes up 22 percent of the country's
installed power base, with many large hydroelectric projects either in
the planning stage or under construction. The country's hydro market is
booming, with installed capacity for hydropower increasing by 15 gW
every year, and expected to reach 380 gW by 2020 from just under 200 gW
this year.
China plans to get 11.4 percent of its energy from renewable sources by
2015, of which hydro power will contribute two-thirds, analysts said.
In the first half of the year, the central government has approved six
major dam projects totaling 8.8 gW, with another 10 gW in the pipeline
by the end of the year, according to the National Development and Reform
Commission.
China's hydropower capacity stood at 230 gW at the end of 2011, 22
percent of the total, and another 55 gW are now under construction,
according to figures released by the National Energy Administration.
The country's hydro power market slowed down during the 11th Five Year
Plan period (2006-10) partly due to controversy about its environmental
impact. However, new approvals accelerated since 2010 when the reduction
of carbon emissions was at the top of the government's agenda.
Meanwhile, the slowing economy may pose some challenges for hydro power
development as demand for electricity is cooling down.
________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: china@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
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By Liu Yiyu in Tianjin
China Daily
August 2, 2012
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2012-08/02/content_15640371.htm
Alstom, the world's third-largest power equipment maker, is boosting its
investment in hydro power in China, as other renewable energy sectors
such as wind and solar energy face a slowdown.
Alstom Renewable Power, Alstom's division in charge of renewable power
generation equipment and services, plans to establish a Global
Technology Center in Tianjin, as part of a 100 million euro ($123
million) investment to upgrade Tianjin's hydro industrial facility - the
largest such plant that Alstom has in operation.
"Compared with other renewables, hydro power is very stable," said
Jerome Pecresse, president of Alstom Renewable Power.
And as the renewable sector - including wind and solar - develops, the
demand for pumped-storage plants will also increase, according to Pecresse.
Alstom is one of China's leading hydro producers. The company has
contracts for hydro turbines and generators covering about 47 gigawatts,
out of which about 50 percent are already in commercial operation.
Alstom was also involved in the construction of the Three Gorges Dam,
the world's largest power plant of any kind, to which it supplied 14 of
the dam's 32 units, each with an output of 700 megawatts.
"International hydro power companies are setting up their research and
development centers in China to grab more market share, leading to
fierce competition as well as more mergers and acquisitions," said Zhou
Xiujie, an industry analyst with China Investment Consulting.
According to the China Electricity Council, the country's hydro power
investment reached 44.4 billion yuan ($7 billion) in the first five
months of the year, up nearly 50 percent year-on-year.
With a temporary slowdown in the construction of nuclear plants after
the Fukushima disaster in Japan, the Chinese government is pushing ahead
with all forms of renewable energy: solar, wind, bio-energy, geothermal
and hydro.
However, the development of wind and solar energy is slowing down.
Authorities began tightening approval for wind power projects last year
after a significant amount of wind resources were wasted because the
grid was not capable of carrying or sending out the electricity.
Despite the government's ambitious push, the solar market in China is
still very small, with less than 3 gW installed at the end of 2011.
In comparison, hydro power makes up 22 percent of the country's
installed power base, with many large hydroelectric projects either in
the planning stage or under construction. The country's hydro market is
booming, with installed capacity for hydropower increasing by 15 gW
every year, and expected to reach 380 gW by 2020 from just under 200 gW
this year.
China plans to get 11.4 percent of its energy from renewable sources by
2015, of which hydro power will contribute two-thirds, analysts said.
In the first half of the year, the central government has approved six
major dam projects totaling 8.8 gW, with another 10 gW in the pipeline
by the end of the year, according to the National Development and Reform
Commission.
China's hydropower capacity stood at 230 gW at the end of 2011, 22
percent of the total, and another 55 gW are now under construction,
according to figures released by the National Energy Administration.
The country's hydro power market slowed down during the 11th Five Year
Plan period (2006-10) partly due to controversy about its environmental
impact. However, new approvals accelerated since 2010 when the reduction
of carbon emissions was at the top of the government's agenda.
Meanwhile, the slowing economy may pose some challenges for hydro power
development as demand for electricity is cooling down.
________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list: china@list.internationalrivers.org
To be removed from the list, please visit:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp
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