Joint strategic energy and river basin planning to reduce dam impacts on rivers in Myanmar
Tackling climate change and human development challenges will require major global investments in renewable energy systems, including possibly into large hydropower. Despite well-known impacts of hydropower dams, most renewable energy assessments neither account for externalities of hydropower nor e...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe329 |
| _version_ | 1827870335648661504 |
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| author | Rafael J P Schmitt Noah Kittner G Mathias Kondolf Daniel M Kammen |
| author_facet | Rafael J P Schmitt Noah Kittner G Mathias Kondolf Daniel M Kammen |
| author_sort | Rafael J P Schmitt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tackling climate change and human development challenges will require major global investments in renewable energy systems, including possibly into large hydropower. Despite well-known impacts of hydropower dams, most renewable energy assessments neither account for externalities of hydropower nor evaluate possible strategic alternatives. Here we demonstrate how integrating energy systems modeling and strategic hydropower planning can resolve conflicts between renewable energy and dam impacts on rivers. We apply these tools to Myanmar, whose rivers are the last free-flowing rivers of Asia, and where business-as-usual (BAU) plans call for up to 40 GW of new hydropower. We present alternative energy futures that rely more on scalable wind and solar, and less on hydropower (6.7–10.3 GW) than the BAU. Reduced reliance on hydropower allows us to use river basin models to strategically design dam portfolios for minimized impact. Thus, our alternative futures result in greatly reduced impacts on rivers in terms of sediment trapping and habitat fragmentation, and result in lower system costs ($8.4 billion compared to $11.7 billion for the BAU). Our results highlight specific opportunities for Myanmar but also demonstrate global techno-ecological synergies between climate action, equitable human development and conservation of riparian ecosystems and livelihoods. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:55:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1059deeb637442dca02df5272f4e7ad9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:55:23Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-1059deeb637442dca02df5272f4e7ad92023-08-09T14:54:48ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262021-01-0116505405410.1088/1748-9326/abe329Joint strategic energy and river basin planning to reduce dam impacts on rivers in MyanmarRafael J P Schmitt0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5394-3649Noah Kittner1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3449-7823G Mathias Kondolf2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5639-9995Daniel M Kammen3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2984-7777The Natural Capital Project, Stanford University , Stanford, CA, United States of AmericaDepartment of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill, NC, United States of America; Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill, NC, United States of AmericaDepartment of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, University of California , Berkeley, CA, United States of AmericaEnergy and Resources Group, University of California , Berkeley, CA, United States of America; Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, University of California , Berkeley, CA, United States of America; Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California , Berkeley, CA, United States of AmericaTackling climate change and human development challenges will require major global investments in renewable energy systems, including possibly into large hydropower. Despite well-known impacts of hydropower dams, most renewable energy assessments neither account for externalities of hydropower nor evaluate possible strategic alternatives. Here we demonstrate how integrating energy systems modeling and strategic hydropower planning can resolve conflicts between renewable energy and dam impacts on rivers. We apply these tools to Myanmar, whose rivers are the last free-flowing rivers of Asia, and where business-as-usual (BAU) plans call for up to 40 GW of new hydropower. We present alternative energy futures that rely more on scalable wind and solar, and less on hydropower (6.7–10.3 GW) than the BAU. Reduced reliance on hydropower allows us to use river basin models to strategically design dam portfolios for minimized impact. Thus, our alternative futures result in greatly reduced impacts on rivers in terms of sediment trapping and habitat fragmentation, and result in lower system costs ($8.4 billion compared to $11.7 billion for the BAU). Our results highlight specific opportunities for Myanmar but also demonstrate global techno-ecological synergies between climate action, equitable human development and conservation of riparian ecosystems and livelihoods.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe329Irrawaddy deltameeting energy needs of emerging economiesMyanmarstrategic hydropower planningIrrawaddySalween |
| spellingShingle | Rafael J P Schmitt Noah Kittner G Mathias Kondolf Daniel M Kammen Joint strategic energy and river basin planning to reduce dam impacts on rivers in Myanmar Environmental Research Letters Irrawaddy delta meeting energy needs of emerging economies Myanmar strategic hydropower planning Irrawaddy Salween |
| title | Joint strategic energy and river basin planning to reduce dam impacts on rivers in Myanmar |
| title_full | Joint strategic energy and river basin planning to reduce dam impacts on rivers in Myanmar |
| title_fullStr | Joint strategic energy and river basin planning to reduce dam impacts on rivers in Myanmar |
| title_full_unstemmed | Joint strategic energy and river basin planning to reduce dam impacts on rivers in Myanmar |
| title_short | Joint strategic energy and river basin planning to reduce dam impacts on rivers in Myanmar |
| title_sort | joint strategic energy and river basin planning to reduce dam impacts on rivers in myanmar |
| topic | Irrawaddy delta meeting energy needs of emerging economies Myanmar strategic hydropower planning Irrawaddy Salween |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe329 |
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