an Eldis Resource
Twelve reasons to exclude large hydro from renewables initiatives
Excluding large hydro-power programmes from renewable energy initiatives
Authors:
; FOEI
Publisher:
Friends of the Earth International , 2003
This paper argues that whist initiatives to promote the use of renewable energies should be supported, there is a risk that they could be counterproductive if, as the large hydro industry is advocating, they are turned into instruments to promote hydropower megaprojects.
The paper presents twelve reasons as to why large hydro should be excluded from renewable initiatives:
- large hydro does not have the poverty reduction benefits of decentralized renewables
- including large hydro in renewables initiatives would crowd out funds for new renewables
- promoters of large hydro regularly underestimate costs and exaggerate benefits
- large hydro will increase vulnerability to climate change
- there is no technology transfer benefit from large hydro
- large hydro projects have major negative social and ecological impacts
- efforts to mitigate the impacts of large hydro typically fail
- most large hydro developers and funders oppose measures to prevent the construction of destructive projects
- large reservoirs can emit significant amounts of greenhouse gases
- large hydro is slow, lumpy, inflexible and getting more expensive
- many countries are already over dependent on hydropower
- large hydro reservoirs are often rendered non renewable by sedimentation
