China’s hydropower empire: A look into the developing rewards and cost to a rapidly evolving energy climate in one of the world’s largest economic powers The Chinese population is currently the largest in the world, with over a billion citizens. And with this sizable population, comes also one of the largest consumers of power. With the large energy demands of this industrialized country, the Chinese government is making strides to become more sustained on renewable energies. The energy needs of the Chinese were reflected on highly by the article Reinventing Fire by Lovins and Creyts, where it mentions the cost on the environment to industrialize at such a rapid pace. Initially sourcing the cheapest methods, coal quickly became the major player in China’s energy needs. In addition to being the largest consumer of coal, China also holds the title of the largest producer and this coal powers much of …show more content…
In my person opinion prior to reading this article, hydropower had an angelic ring around it. I was only really aware of the positives in comparison to fossil fuels. I enjoyed having my knowledge broadened. I think that it was important for the researchers in both papers to give the full story behind hydropower, including the displacement of people and methane release because those issues are sometimes not even considered by governments in deciding where to put dams. I feel as though after reading this article, I am able to make a better judgment on whether or not hydropower is a good energy source in a region or not. It is not a cure-all and I understand that now. In conclusion to this statement, I postulate that a new way to collect hydropower will need to be created in order to limit some of the negative effects currently seen with hydropower
On the same hand, it was discovered that “most of the nation’s energy efficient provinces are located along the coast of southeast China, while most of its energy inefficient provinces are located in the hinterland that is rich in coal resources and depends heavily on coal consumption” (Pan, Zhang, and Zhang, 2012), proving that fossil fuels are a direct detriment to energy
In the following article, the author, George Will, stresses that here in America cutting back on coal will not change the burning of coal around the world such as China, Russia, India, and other countries. For instance, China had signed a 60 billion dollar contract to supply power plants with Australian coal. The Times says that in China, their ships hauled about 690 million tons of thermal coal this year; up from 385 million in 2001 and 150 million tons in 2009. He addresses to counterargument by including a spokesman in the Sierra club who mentions that mining is "everything we 've accomplished, ' ' but environmentalists in America protested that mining shall also export global warming, if continues. Because of China 's enormous coal
Some might ask why Hydrofracking is positive. Well there can be many reasons. People only hear the negative effects of fracking because when people want something changed they usually tend to leave the positive part out. New York has recently been head of a massive debate among the people and the energy companies. The technology used in hydrofracking is very advanced and has the potential to drastically reduce our reliance on foreign fuel imports.
It is hoped that the Native American land will not be deserted like the Chaco Canyon and Cahokia, and that language is not lost. A culture that has benefitted the earliest of settlers in America should not be forgotten. Rather than seeking oil sources in order to make our economy “self sufficient” (Yan), why don’t we search for alternative energy sources in our country that are non invasive. The Missouri River doesn’t have to be subjected to oil spill, instead it could become a source of hydroelectric
In the U.S. hydraulic fracking has been a main source of energy during today’s times, it 's cheap effectiveness makes us think this . People should know how hydraulic fracturing is not as clean and amazing as we think it is. Hydraulic fracking cannot be a sustainable option for America. There are too many faults for it to be upheld in the long run and we cannot depend on it as our main resource of energy forever.
As recent April 2015 there was a lawsuit against San Francisco from the Restore Hetch Hetchy group, to shut down the dam. 2 In my opinion I agree with the shutting down of the dam; I believe that nature should be left the way it is. The Hetch Hetchy Dam is destroying a piece of land that is the homes of multiple types of animals. Back in the early nineteen hundreds, when the debate start about The Hetch Hetchy dam being built a large majority of people did not realize or care how valuable nature is. Now in the present day, people are realizing how valuable our national parks are, and how we should stop destroying them.
Electricity, oil and coal, Tibet might soon become an industrial wasteland that once thrived with its pristine land and now China plans on making it a pure industrial area. (Source G). Chinese geologists are using the uranium to create nuclear power plants and leave the waste on Tibet plains where locals get diseases from radiation. Hydroelectric schemes have been built on Tibetan rivers, which are destroying many rivers; it could “create one of China’s worst ecological disasters of the 21st century. (Source B).
Basically, hydrofracking is a technique in when large amounts of water, combined with smaller amounts of chemicals and sand, are pumped under high pressure into a drilled gas well. Later on, they suck back the water so that the pressure will be released, then the gas will leak out of the cracks of the stone wall and be absorbed back into the pipes. (Dong, n.d.) I believe that hydrofracking wouldn’t be a reliable source of energy for a carbon-free world because our environment will keep getting worse due to pollution, it’s also really costly to build the gas well for hydrofracking. Also, it adds danger to the people who works in hydrofracking fields.
This is true because “once a dam has been built and the equipment installed, the energy source—flowing water—is free. It's a clean fuel source that is renewable yearly by snow and rainfall. Hydropower is also readily available; engineers can control the flow of water through the turbines to produce electricity on demand”
Bill Estep said in the Kentucky Herald-Leader in an article about hydropower in Kentucky, this article was written in 2015, talking about the prospect of hydropower in Kentucky, though most of the energy made from the new plants are speculated to be used in other states and not the coal-dominant energy industry of Kentucky. There is already 3.4% of the energy used in Kentucky that is made from the seven hydro-powered dams that it has, a small number compared to the amount of energy used from coal but still a hopeful number that hydropower can start to become a larger part of Kentucky's energy. Hydropower produces about 0.7 cents per kilowatt-hour as stated in Alternative energy, alternative energy for the 21st century. This is about one-third the cost compared to using fossil fuel or nuclear energy, and one thing most states can agree upon is cost efficiency when it comes to their energy
Many people have wondered why China's water scarcity is getting worse. It is because Global warming, Water pollution and the most important is Industrialization. North China is suffering the most. This means it does not have enough fresh water to meet its needs. The North's lack of water will now put the whole city in danger.
Introduction In today’s world, most developing countries are in a race to build up the necessary infrastructure to scale up there operations and become the next global superpower. In this process, a lot of energy is consumed – be it for transportation, manufacturing or construction. This rapid growth of energy use seen over the past two decades have raised concerns for governments and energy-related organizations alike. Questions with regard to the supply, sustainability and exhaustion of energy sources abound, and while most developed countries have taken active steps to reduce consumption of scarce resources, the position of developing countries in this regard is still lacking.
In addition, many African rivers and waterfalls could be used to produce hydroelectric power. Africa
And there are many examples of successful, large-scale programs that increase growth or productivity and do so in a sustainable manner. China is one of the good examples to understand what green economy would be like in developed countries. Currently china invests more than any other country in renewable energy. Its total installed wind capacity grew 64% in 2010. This growth is driven by a national policy that sees clean energy as a major market in the near future, and one in which China wants to gain a competitive
Although in most of the parts of Russia it is impossible to use the hydro plant energy because there are not enough