Mark DaCosta- Since the idea for a hydroelectric power plant was first touted some 20 years ago, the champion of the project – now Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo – has consistently declared that building the facility would be the best thing for the environment because it would eliminate carbon emissions. No scientific opinions were ever made public or even discussed by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) regime.
All matters considered, it is expected any responsible government would seek expert scientific advice on a project costing some US$700 million, and that has the potential to massively impact the lives of Guyanese, and the country’s environment. This was never done.
Guyanese would be aware that, back then, the whole undertaking fell apart owing to bad management, and, possibly corruption.
Earlier this month, the vice president announced that the PPP regime will go ahead with the project, once again.
Village Voice News, having noted the announcement, began a process of digging into the matter. And while many academic studies have been found, the following article, based on academic studies, however, was written for a general audience to understand. Guyanese should most definitely read the article:
“An Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) study published in Environmental Science and Technology shows that hydropower — the leading renewable energy technology projected to grow rapidly — is not always as good for the climate as broadly assumed. Moreover, continuing to assume that it is could mean that projects meant to reduce greenhouse emissions will unintentionally increase them instead.
“Motivated by pervasive misconceptions of the climate impacts of hydropower, we assessed the warming impacts over time of sustained greenhouse gas emissions estimated from nearly 1,500 existing hydropower plants around the globe. We also looked at the implications of future hydropower development.
“If minimising climate impacts are not a priority in the design, construction and geographic placement of new hydropower facilities, we could end up generating electricity that yields more warming — especially in the near-term — than fossil fuels.
“How hydropower can be worse for the climate than fossil fuels
“Hydropower is produced when water stored behind a dam is released, using the power of gravity to spin turbines, which generate electricity. There is no fossil fuel burning or smokestacks involved. Which is why, on average, electricity from a hydropower facility has a smaller carbon footprint per unit of energy than electricity generated from fossil fuels.
“But the reservoirs where water is stored also produce both carbon dioxide and methane (an even more potent greenhouse gas, with over 80 times the warming power of CO2 for the first 20 years after it’s released). Both carbon dioxide and methane are released when vegetation decomposes under water. And here, there are enormous differences from facility to facility due to a range of varying reservoir features and meteorological characteristics.”
Perhaps, the PPP is keeping a big secret from Guyanese? If that is the case, one should ask why?
The entire article may be found at the following link:
