Sarah Xiyi Chen: Dams and Sustainability in China

“Dams and Sustainability in China”
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, China Environmental Forum
July 26,2011, 9-11 am

Webcast available here: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/dams-and-sustainability-china

Featuring:
Wang Hao, China Institute for Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Chinese Academy of Engineering, researcher for key projects in the past few Five Year Plans
Doug Smith, Sustainability expert, International Hydropower Association
Desiree Tullos, Oregon State University

Hydropower is a huge part of China’s energy industry, and it is still rapidly growing. Wang Hao is an expert on dams and gave five case studies of Chinese hydropower stations: the Three Gorges project, the Yellow River project, the Ertan Dam in Sichuan, the Ziping Dam, and the Pearl River Delta projects.

He discussed the benefits of each dam, including the 74.8 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions saved from the electricity generated at the Three Gorges Dam, the largest in the world, and the successful drought control of the Yellow River dams. The Pearl River Delta projects provide drinking water for 15 million people.

Wang also mentioned the improvements in sustainability measures taken at many of these dams, particularly the Yellow River dam project, which had previously been unsuccessful at protecting riparian agriculture and ecology. In fact, the current damming of the Yellow River has improved local ecology by restoring water flow upstream, while the Ertan Reservoir in Sichuan has received awards for its attention to the environment

In the case of the Ziping Dam, the concrete rock-faced dam withstood the recent 8.0-magnitude Sichuan earthquake and protected the reservoir for a downstream population of 10 million and for relief efforts.

After presenting these case studies, Wang outlined the need for hydropower stations in China. He said there are five reasons China needs dams: to produce electricity, to reduce emissions, to provide energy security, to provide water security, and to prevent or relieve national disasters such as floods and droughts. China’s hydropower output and potential is still lower than that of developed nations in terms of percentage of power mix, and thus new dam projects are necessary.

In conclusion, he touched upon the necessity of being more sensitive to displaced communities and ecological preservation.

Smith then presented the International Hydropower Association’s Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol, a comprehensive way in which to grade a dam based over twenty points including economic performance, social utility, environmental friendliness, and governance issues. The protocol was developed by representatives from many sectors from the IHA’s eighty member countries, hydropower associations, companies, and other organizations. IHA performed a trial protocol test in 2009 in Hubei province and found the dam to meet requirements on sustainability and environmental standards but to lack some institutional oversight.

“The protocol assessment provides a synthesis of information on very complex facilities and complex sustainability issues into a concise analysis that can start a dialogue with stakeholders,” Smith said.

Tullos presented a different aspect to the dam debate in discussing transnational and stakeholder decision-making. She emphasizes that “size matters” in the effect a dam has on the environment and on people. She cited the case of Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and an enormously important source of fish and other sustenance for Cambodians.

Damming upstream in China and elsewhere has huge consequences on this ecological hotspot, but Cambodians have no input on the decision-making process. Local communities in China also have stakes in the construction and operation of a dam but no representation in decision-making.

Studies have shown that smaller stakeholders, like NGOs or community members, prefer the construction of smaller dams, defined traditionally as having an output of under 10 MW, and governments and corporations prefer larger dams. Still, she said, there is not enough dialogue between these groups to make appropriate decisions.

“We now have a reasonable understanding of what’s desirable in dams, what is lacking might be the political and economic decision-making power,” Tullos concluded.

IFCE Nuclear Energy Presentation by Sarah Xiyi Chen

Sarah is giving us a presentation about Nuclear Power.

Here is the summary of Sarah's Presentation:

Overview

            Nuclear energy has enormous potential to generate electricity in a relatively sustainable manner, but it remains the most controversial energy source in the world.

            Energy is generated using uranium enriched to contain 2-3% of the unstable isotope uranium-235 and placed in a reactor, where nuclear fission occurs in a chain reaction controlled by control rods and neutron moderators like water. The fission products generate electricity by converting water to steam, which turns turbines.

            One kilogram of U-235 converted in this way can release about three million times more energy than a kilogram of conventionally burned coal and does not release greenhouse gases into the air. Because of the low-carbon nature and seeming efficiency of nuclear power and the fact that it can ease reliance on foreign energy sources, some experts believe that it is the best renewable energy source for our future.

            However, nuclear energy comes along with the tremendous dangerous of radioactive waste disposal, the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation, and disasters like Chernobyl or Fukushima.

In China

            Nuclear is only 2% of China’s current energy mix, and the country has focused more on solar, wind, and hydropower for the future. China’s 13 extant reactors have been cleared by inspectors in the wake of Fukushima, and the fate of its 79 scheduled projects is still undecided. Before the Japanese disaster, problems had already arisen due to rapid development, such as subpar facilities, lack of regulation, shortfall of fuel, low-skill workers, and the threat of natural events like earthquakes, floods, and droughts. China believes it can easily compensate for less nuclear energy in its portfolio with solar, wind, and hydropower.

In the future

            After the Fukushima accidents, the International Energy Agency halved its estimate of additional nuclear generating capacity to be built by 2035, as public opinion of nuclear energy plummeted. Politicians have been abandoning nuclear energy, and Germany and Britain are planning to shut down nearly all nuclear power plants. Perhaps one of the explanations behind the recent spotlight on natural gas stems from this spring’s nuclear fear.

Sarah Xiyi Chen: IFCE Summary of the “Farm Bill Energy Title: Rural Energy for America Program”

IFCE Summary of the “Farm Bill Energy Title: Rural Energy for America Program” briefing hosted by the Environmental Law and Policy Center (EPLC) Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI)

7/19 in the Russell Senate Office Building

all materials accessible online

Speakers:

--Bill Midcap, Farmer and Rural Development Specialist, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, Colorado

--Bennie Hutchins, Principle, Ag Energy Resources, Mississippi

--Bruce Knight, Dairy Advisor, Strategic Conservation Solutions, LLC and former Chief, Natural Resource Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

--Andy Olsen, Senor Policy Advocate, Environmental law and Policy Center, Wisconsin

            The United States Farm Bill, the primary federal legislation for agriculture and food, is coming before Congress again soon in the next few years. One aspect of the bill must address farm energy programs. The 2008 Farm Bill Energy Title provides mandatory funding for producing clean energy and power, advancing biofuels, and saving energy. The Energy Title has a $1.12 billion budget, with roughly 25% of that money going towards Biorefinery Assistance, another 25% towards the Bioenergy Program from Advanced Biofuels, and another 25% going towards the Rural Energy Assistance Program (REAP), which was the focus of the presentation. The last quarter of the budget went to an array of other programs supporting the Energy Title’s goals.

            REAP is the only significant federal financing incentive available for agricultural producers and rural small businesses. Eligible technologies for funding include energy efficiency, wind, solar, geothermal, anaerobic digesters, biomass energy, biofuels, marine energy, and small hydroelectric generators. REAP beneficiaries must raise 75% of needed capital to receive a grant that pays for 25%, and the maximum grants are $500,000 for renewable energy and $250,000 for energy efficiency projects. 20% of REAP’s funds are set aside for smaller grants. In terms of loans, the minimum guarantee is $5,000 and the maximum $25 million.

            REAP has been active in all agricultural sectors and states and creates not only energy efficiency and security, but also tens of thousands of new jobs. Projects include Jubilee Farms, a catfish producer in Missouri that installed a deep well to extract warm water for the fish hatchery, eliminating the need to heat 60 million gallons of water a year and saving $30,000 a year in energy costs; South Alabama Grocers, a family-owned grocery that replaced its old inefficient refrigerators for an annual energy cost savings of $53,000; and a member of the Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative’s Gob Nob Wind Turbine, which received a $375,000 REAP grant and placed a wind turbine on top of a 60-ft pile of coal mining waste.

            Overall, REAP appears to have significant positive impacts on rural energy by turning consumers into energy producers through Rural Electric Cooperatives, promoting energy independence, saving money, reducing emissions, creating jobs, and eliminating waste.