[From ArcaMax.com]
Dams could contribute to climate change
LOS ANGELES (UPI) — Dams may contribute to global warming instead of
being the clean energy source many have long thought, the Los Angeles
Times reported Friday.
Greenhouse gases are emitted during construction and when the land
behind a dam is flooded and vegetation rots, causing carbon dioxide
and methane gas to be released, the report said. Additional emissions
result as the dams operate, including when water is released and a
pressure drop frees gases locked within it.
“If these are going to be built as a response to climate change, you
at least need to convene some people to study the effect it will
have,” Danny Cullenward, a research associate at the Program on Energy
and Sustainable Development at Stanford University, told the Times.
“The facts are in that it’s not a zero-impact source from an emissions
standpoint.”
Cullenward said methane from reservoirs alone could boost global
inventories 20 percent.
“When you look at this on a global level, this actually is a really,
really massive impact,” he told the newspaper. “I would say, right
now, this is totally under the radar.”
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