Tag archives for hydropower
Posted by A lot of the debate over energy and climate change has focused on changing how people live. But in a lot of ways, where someone lives is as important as how they live. Not all parts of the United States are the same when it comes to how much and what kind of energy is…
Iceland’s Renewable Energy Drive is Full-Steam Ahead
Posted by Paul Gipe on November 8, 2012 Iceland is famous for its breathtaking scenery, its geysers, its Blue Lagoon—and for using its abundant renewable energy, and especially for tapping the volcanic roots of the island in developing its geothermal resources. Iceland today generates 100 percent of its electricity with renewables: 75 percent of that from large hydro, and 25 percent from geothermal.…
A Battle Over the Quest to Tap Patagonia’s Rivers for Energy
Posted by Natalia A. Bonilla on February 10, 2012 For almost six years, a dam project in the Aysén region of Chile (map) has provoked a battle over whether it is the best way to help meet the country’s growing energy demand. The HidroAysén would construct five hydroelectric dams in the Baker and Pascua rivers, delivering an estimated 2,750 megawatts of power to a…
Posted by What can be done to diversify our clean energy technology options? In recent years we have seen a number of seemingly “old” technologies undergo a reassessment, and a reinvention. Geothermal power, once assessed as “an excellent source of baseload energy, but likely limited in commercially exploitable capacity” has undergone a renaissance. Here’s the new view…
Micro Hydro: Volts for a Village in Bhutan
Posted by Amy Bucci of NG Staff on August 16, 2011 The small Himalayan nation of Bhutan is especially vulnerable to the impact of climate change, facing glacial lake outburst floods and dramatic shifts in rainfall patterns. Bhutan is nearly unique in the world as a carbon neutral nation, due to its limited industrialization and its dependence on carbon-free hydroelectric power. But it faces great challenges…
This weekend marked the beginning of an important new chapter of nation-building, with the celebration and formal launch of the world’s newest nation, the Republic of South Sudan. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a host of dignitaries were on hand. The decades-long civil war with the north ended in 2005, and the World…
Among the challenges facing technicians struggling to contain the meltdown at the Daiichi Japanese nuclear power units is getting enough water to cool them down. In Japan’s case, the overheating was caused by explosions triggered by the earthquake. Nuclear—as well as fossil-fuel and biomass-fired and some renewable energy systems are impacted by changes in ambient…
It is all too easy to see environmental protection and economic development simply as competing philosophies, and nothing more. A range of studies attest to the fact that this is a false dichotomy. In my earlier blog, I described the alternative vision that became a reality in a small Nicaraguan coastal community that chose to invest…
