Tuesday, May 31, 2011

New Internship: China Program Summer Intern

China Program Summer Intern
http://www.internationalrivers.org/node/6548

International Rivers is a non-profit advocacy and analysis organization headquartered in Berkeley, California, and with staff and consultants working in the Brazil, China, Laos, Thailand, India, and other parts of the US. International Rivers supports communities around the world in protecting their rivers and rights. We work to halt destructive dams and encourage better methods of meeting needs for water, energy and protection from floods.

Background

China is the country with the highest numbers of dams in the world, and in recent years, Chinese companies have taken a lead in building dams not just domestically but also abroad. Chinese banks and companies are involved in constructing some 251 dams in 68 different countries, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asian regions.

International Rivers' China Program investigates China's domestic and global environmental footprint through the lens of dam building. We are currently seeking a China Program Intern that is passionate about environmental and social issues in China and abroad, possesses solid research, writing and editing skills, is a Chinese native speaker, and is web savvy and knowledgeable about online social networking tools and media sources in China. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to communicate with International Rivers' global staff and partners, contribute to print and web publications, and be an integral part of a dynamic Berkeley non-profit office environment.

Specific responsibilities include:
  • Maintain International Rivers' new Chinese language website; explore popular Chinese social networking sites and opportunities;
  • Translate key articles for publication on our website and in our quarterly Chinese newsletter;
  • Assist in a short video documenting China's global dam building role;
  • Maintain the China Program's Chinese overseas dams spreadsheet; and
  • Support the China program through research, administrative and campaigns assistance when necessary.
Skills and experiences required:
  • Strong research, writing, editing and communications skills
  • Familiarity with Chinese social networking sites, their uses, capabilities, and potential
  • Fluent in Chinese
  • Ability to multitask, stay organized, and keep deadlines
  • Excellent computer skills and attention to detail
Desired qualifications:
  • Experience in translating between Chinese and English
  • Experience interacting with Chinese environmental NGOs
International Rivers offers a stimulating, casual and flexible work environment. The China Program Intern's work schedule requires an average of 20 hours per week for a 3-month minimum. This internship is unpaid, but course credit, training opportunities, and reimbursement for local travel are available.

Qualified applicants are encouraged to send a cover letter, 3-page writing sample, and resume to the Intern and Volunteer Coordinator, internship@internationalrivers.org, with the subject line: China Program Internship. NO CALLS, PLEASE. This internship will be open until filled.

International Rivers is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from all qualified candidates regardless of age, class, disability status, ethnicity, gender, race and sexual orientation.
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China's backing for Ethiopia dam riles activists

China's backing for Ethiopia dam riles activists
CBS News, May 31, 2011 8:03 AM
By Celia Hatton
www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20067470-503543.html#ixzz1Nx517NoO

It's a story that truly spans the globe: Activists from all over the
world, including San Francisco, are trying to stop the construction of a
dam in Ethiopia financed by a Chinese bank.

The Gibe 3 Dam is in the early phases of construction on Ethiopia's
powerful Omo River, using $500 million dollars in equipment funded by
the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). The hydroelectric
dam, one of the largest construction projects in Ethiopia's history,
would regulate the flow of water along the Omo River as it courses
through Ethiopia and into Kenya's massive Lake Turkhana -- a freshwater
oasis in the heart of the desert.

The project has been mired in controversy since it was just a blueprint.
The World Bank and the European Investment Bank financed smaller
hydroelectric projects on the Omo River, but dropped consideration of
the Gibe 3 Dam after viewing the environmental impact report
commissioned by the Ethiopian government. Activists say the banks were
scared away by the Ethiopian government's lack of transparency regarding
construction plans and the fact that the Gibe 3 will have a profound
ecological impact on the region's fragile ecosystem, from Ethiopia into
Kenya.

A November 2010 hydrology report by the African Development Bank (AfDB)
noted that the Omo River is responsible for 90 percent of the water
leading into Lake Turkhana. A major dam blocking the river would drain
most of the lake, depriving 300,000 Kenyans of the water needed for
agriculture, cattle herding and fishing. And that's just the first
concern: The activists' extended list of fears about the dam seems as
long as the Omo River itself.

Any changes to the Omo River's natural flood pattern could affect 70
percent of the "more important" species living around Lake Turkhana,
according to the AfDB report. Also, in the long term, independent
Ethiopian engineers have questioned the wisdom of building such a large
dam in a region with a history of strong earthquakes.

That's not all. The area that will be flooded by the dam is home to
low-level farmlands used by 300,000 Ethiopians. Food resources are
already so scarce in the drought-hit border region between Kenya and
Ethiopia that two of the main ethnic groups living there have resorted
to violence in their bid for more land and water. In May, 70 ethnic
Turkhana people from Kenya were killed when they attempted to buy food
across the border in Ethiopia.

Landlocked Ethiopia is starved for electricity and also hopes to boost
its revenue by exporting hydroelectricity. One section of the Kenyan
government has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding to buy
hydropower from the Gibe 3 dam. In a fax to CBS, the ICBC noted
"relevant nations expressed interest in buying electricity from Ethiopia."

However, Friends of Lake Turkhana, an activist group battling the dam,
is taking the Kenyan government to court to fight the agreement to buy
electricity without conducting a full environmental impact assessment on
the dam. Now that the ICBC bank in China is offering financial support
for the dam, the Kenyan opponents to the dam are widening their campaign
to stop construction of the Gibe 3.

The ICBC Bank has long been silent on its reasons for supporting
controversial Gibe 3 Dam, until now. Activists from Kenya and
International Rivers flew to Beijing to plea their case to the ICBC, but
their meeting requests were ignored. So, I contacted ICBC Bank to ask
about the widespread concerns regarding ecological and safety risks of
building the GIBE 3 Dam. Days later, the unsigned letter from ICBC faxed
to CBS News insisted, "credit and loan for all projects conforms to
environmental requirements."

Further, the bank argues that other, smaller hydro projects on the Omo
River, Gibe 1 and Gibe 2, were supported by the World Bank, the European
Investment Bank and other financial institutions. The fax did not answer
CBS News' question as to why the ICBC continues to support the Gibe 3
project when other financial institutions have stepped away.

The ICBC's annual general meeting begins Tuesday in Beijing and Hong Kong.

"Based on the serious findings of the [African Development Bank]
hydrological impact report, which has now been published, ICBC should
reconsider their funding of the Gibe 3 Dam," Peter Bosshard, Policy
Director at International Rivers tells CBS News.

The Chinese government is pressuring the country's state-owned banks to
invest in more projects outside of China. As Chinese banks extend their
interests into international territory, activists from all over the
world will likely find themselves spending more time in Beijing.
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international dam projects.

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Friday, May 27, 2011

'Big dam enhances risks of natural disasters'

'Big dam enhances risks of natural disasters'
China Daily, 2011-05-26 08:03
By Wang Qian (China Daily)

BEIJING - China's land watchdog has asked local authorities to
strengthen efforts in monitoring potential geological disasters in the
Three Gorges Dam region.

Until June 10, the Three Gorges Dam plans to increase water discharges
up to 12,000 cubic meter per second (about 3,000 cu m per second more
than water flowing in), which enhances the risks of landslides and bank
collapses, China National Radio quoted Guan Fengjun, director of the
department of geological environment under the Ministry of Land and
Resources, as saying on Wednesday.

"The sudden increase of water discharges from the dam will crash the
bank, making the shores unstable," Guan said.

Experience shows newly built reservoirs face intensified landslides,
shore collapses and flooding in the first three to five years after
operation, and the Three Gorges Dam is no exception.

Since May, the dam has gradually increased water discharges to relieve a
severe drought in central and eastern parts of the country, raising the
record-low water level of the downstream lakes, irrigating farmlands and
meeting the demand for water.

As of Friday, nearly 1.6 billion cu m of water has been discharged from
the dam to the lower reaches, which has raised the water level of the
downstream rivers by more than 2 meters since May 4, according to
statistics from the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief
Headquarters.

A statement from the State Council released in mid-May, said urgent
problems, such as ecological protection, water transport and geological
disaster prevention must be solved and vowed to establish a disaster
alert system.

Since the start of the dam's operation in 2003, extreme weather such as
flooding and droughts, as well as geological disasters, have been
frequent in the region and many blame the dam.

A report on the protection and development of the Yangtze River in 2007
said the dam speeds up water evaporation, decreasing the water volume
downstream.

The report said slight earthquakes have become frequent after the dam
began operation, and about 4,719 bank collapses and landslides were
detected from 2003 to 2007.

Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs,
said the large dam greatly changes the natural situation, threatening
downstream biodiversity and water transport.

But Wang Hai, director of the transport division of the Three Gorges
Corporation, told China Daily on Wednesday the worries are groundless.

"The volume of water is still far less than the natural water level from
the upper Yangtze River before the construction of the dam," Wang said,
so damage from water would be reduced.

Chang Xiaolin, a professor at Wuhan University, said the water capacity
of the Three Gorges Dam is very small compared to the volume of water
flowing in the Yangtze River and would have a limited impact.

The dam has cost more than 180 billion yuan ($27.6 billion) and forced
the relocation of 1.3 million people to make way for the reservoir.
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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Nepal: Chinese firm eyes West Seti project

Chinese firm eyes West Seti project
RAMESH PRASAD BHUSAL
The Himalayan, 2011-05-25
www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Chinese+firm+eyes+West+Seti+project&NewsID=289337

KATHMANDU: China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC), one of the world's
largest hydropower developers, has written to the Prime Minister's
Office expressing its interest in investing in West Seti Hydro-Project
(WSHP-750 MW) –– the country's largest reservoir-type hydropower project
initiated 13 years ago.

West Seti Hydropower Limited, which was licensed to construct the
project, was unable to rope in investors for thirteen years. It finally
withdrew from the projects two months ago.

However, the government is yet to scrap the company's licence as it has
not decided whether to provide six more months to the company as per the
contract.

CTGC is the legal entity of the Three Gorges Project (21,000 MW) built
on the Yangtze River in China.

"We have noted Nepal Government's plan to develop West
Seti-Hydroelectricity Project to cater to domestic energy needs. This is
to officially submit expression of our interest for developing the
project in shortest possible time," the CTGC letter, a copy of which was
obtained by this daily, said.

The letter signed by Lu Guojun, assistant president of the corporation,
further said: "We would be flexible on developing the project as the
sole developer or a part of a Joint Venture or any other form of
collaboration with the Government of Nepal or Nepal Electricity Authority."

The corporation would also be willing to invest necessary resources to
update/upgrade the project design, it added.

The estimated cost of the project is $1.2-$1.7 billion and most of the
preliminary work such as Environmental Impact Assessment and Detail
Engineering Report have already been prepared.

CTGC has also offered its help in getting funds from the Chinese
government for the project.

"Depending upon the understanding with relevant stakeholders, we may
also be able to liaise and support steps to realise Chinese
government/Chinese EXIM Bank financial assistance to GoN, which may be
channelised as part of GoN or NEA's share in the project company," the
corporation mentioned in the letter.

The company has also expressed its commitment for the necessary
financial arrangements. "We are financially strong and this letter
demonstrates our willingness and capability to arrange financial
resources (equity as well as debt) as and when required," the letter
mentioned.
________________________________________________

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international dam projects.

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Chinese firm eyes West Seti project

Chinese firm eyes West Seti project
RAMESH PRASAD BHUSAL
The Himalayan, 2011-05-25
www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Chinese+firm+eyes+West+Seti+project&NewsID=289337

KATHMANDU: China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC), one of the world's
largest hydropower developers, has written to the Prime Minister's
Office expressing its interest in investing in West Seti Hydro-Project
(WSHP-750 MW) –– the country's largest reservoir-type hydropower project
initiated 13 years ago.

West Seti Hydropower Limited, which was licensed to construct the
project, was unable to rope in investors for thirteen years. It finally
withdrew from the projects two months ago.

However, the government is yet to scrap the company's licence as it has
not decided whether to provide six more months to the company as per the
contract.

CTGC is the legal entity of the Three Gorges Project (21,000 MW) built
on the Yangtze River in China.

"We have noted Nepal Government's plan to develop West
Seti-Hydroelectricity Project to cater to domestic energy needs. This is
to officially submit expression of our interest for developing the
project in shortest possible time," the CTGC letter, a copy of which was
obtained by this daily, said.

The letter signed by Lu Guojun, assistant president of the corporation,
further said: "We would be flexible on developing the project as the
sole developer or a part of a Joint Venture or any other form of
collaboration with the Government of Nepal or Nepal Electricity Authority."

The corporation would also be willing to invest necessary resources to
update/upgrade the project design, it added.

The estimated cost of the project is $1.2-$1.7 billion and most of the
preliminary work such as Environmental Impact Assessment and Detail
Engineering Report have already been prepared.

CTGC has also offered its help in getting funds from the Chinese
government for the project.

"Depending upon the understanding with relevant stakeholders, we may
also be able to liaise and support steps to realise Chinese
government/Chinese EXIM Bank financial assistance to GoN, which may be
channelised as part of GoN or NEA's share in the project company," the
corporation mentioned in the letter.

The company has also expressed its commitment for the necessary
financial arrangements. "We are financially strong and this letter
demonstrates our willingness and capability to arrange financial
resources (equity as well as debt) as and when required," the letter
mentioned.
________________________________________________

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Iran's Largest LakeTurning To Salt; dams and drought dried it up

The site also includes a slide show.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/25/oroumieh-lake-irans-largest-salt_n_866656.html#s283206
&title=Mideast_Iran_Environment

Oroumieh Lake, Iran's Largest, Turning To Salt
OROUMIEH LAKE, Iran (AP) -- From a hillside, Kamal Saadat looked
forlornly at hundreds of potential customers, knowing he could not
take them for trips in his boat to enjoy a spring weekend on
picturesque Oroumieh Lake, the third largest saltwater lake on earth.

"Look, the boat is stuck... It cannot move anymore," said Saadat,
gesturing to where it lay encased by solidifying salt and lamenting
that he could not understand why the lake was fading away.

The long popular lake, home to migrating flamingos, pelicans and
gulls, has shrunken by 60 percent and could disappear entirely in just
a few years, experts say - drained by drought, misguided irrigation
policies, development and the damming of rivers that feed it.

Until two years ago, Saadat supplemented his income from almond- and
grape-growing by taking tourists on boat tours. But as the lake
receded and its salinity rose, he found he had to stop the boat every
10 minutes to unfoul the propeller - and finally, he had to give up
this second job that he'd used to support a five-member family.

"The visitors were not enjoying such a boring trip," he said, noting
they had to cross hundreds of meters of salty lakebed just to reach
the boat from the wharf.

Other boatmen, too, have parked their vessels by their houses, where
they stand as sad reminders of the deep-water days. And the lake's
ebbing affects an ever-widening circle.

In April, authorities stopped activities at the nearby jetty in
Golmankhaneh harbor, due to lack of water in the lake, now only two
meters deep at its deepest. Jetties in Sharafkhaneh and Eslami harbors
faced the same fate.
The receding water has also weakened hotel business and tourism
activities in the area, and planned hotel projects remain idle since
investors are reluctant to continue.

Beyond tourism, the salt-saturated lake threatens agriculture nearby
in northwest Iran, as storms sometimes carry the salt far afield.
Many farmers worry about the future of their lands, which for
centuries have been famous for apples, grapes, walnuts, almonds,
onions, potatoes, as well as aromatic herbal drinks, candies and tasty
sweet pastes.

"The salty winds not only will affect surrounding areas but also can
damage farming in remote areas," said Masoud Mohammadian, an
agriculture official in the eastern part of the lake, some 370 miles
(600 kilometers) northwest of the capital Tehran.

Other officials echoed the dire forecast.

Salman Zaker, a parliament member for Oroumieh warned last month that,
"with the current trend, the risk of a salt tsunami is increasing."
Warning that the lake would dry out within three to five years - an
assessment agreed to by the local environment department director,
Hasan Abbasnejad - Zaker said eight to 10 billion tons of salt would
jeopardize life for millions of people.

Masoud Pezeshkian, another lawmaker and representative for city of
Tabriz in the eastern part of the lake said, "The lake has been drying
but neither government nor local officials took any step, so far."

How did this disaster develop, and what can be done now?

Official reports blame the drying mainly on a decade-long drought, and
peripherally on consumption of water of the feeding rivers for
farming. They put 5 percent of the blame on construction of dams and 3
percent on other factors. Others disagree about the relative blame.

The first alarm over the lake's shrinking came in late 1990s amid a
nagging drought.

Nonetheless, the government continued construction of 35 dams on the
rivers which feed the lake; 10 more dams are on the drawing boards for
the next few years.

Also completed was a lake-crossing roadway between Oroumieh and
Tabriz, cities on the west and east of the lake. No environmental
feasibility study was done in the planning for the road, and
environmentalists believe the project worsened the lake's health by
acting as a barrier to water circulation.

Nasser Agh, who teaches at Tabriz Sahand University, suggested
miscalculations led to late reaction to save the lake. "Experts
believed it would be a 10-year rotating drought, at first," he said.
But long afterward, the drought still persists, with devastating
effects.

In the early 2000s, academic research concluded that the lake could
face the same destiny as the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan,
which has been steadily shrinking since rivers that feed it were
diverted by Soviet Union irrigation projects in 1960s. It is now less
than one-tenth of its original size.

In April, the Iranian government announced a three-prong effort to
save the lake: a cloud-seeding program to increase rainfall in the
area, a lowering of water consumption by irrigation systems, and
supplying the lake with remote sources of water.

Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh, vice-president to President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad in charge of environmental affairs, said the government
approved the three-part approach.

Some experts termed the weather control portion of the program as only
a "symbolic action" by government, saying the best answer would be to
release more water currently being held back by dams. The evaporation
rate has been three times the rainfall rate, making the rivers'
historic role vital to sustaining the lake.

"The lake is in such a misery because of the dams," Ismail Kahram, a
professor in Tehran Azad University and a prominent environmentalist,
told The Associated Press. Three-fifths of the lake has dried up and
salt saturation has reached some 350 milligrams per liter from 80
milligrams in 1970s, he said.

Kahram said the government should allow 20 percent of the water from
the dams to reach the lake.

Mostafa Ghanbari, secretary of the Society for Savior of the Lake
Oroumieh, believes transferring water from the Caspian Sea may be "the
only way to save" the lake. But such a project would be ambitious,
requiring the pumping of water some 430 miles (700 kilometers), from a
body of water at considerably lower elevation.

In the green and beautiful city of Oroumieh, famous for peaceful
coexistence between Azeri people, Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians as well
as Muslims and Christians, talk about the fate of the lake is common
among ordinary people in teahouses and on the streets.

Many express happiness with the government decision to manipulate
clouds in hopes of increasing rainfall.

"It is a good decision. Every evening I look at the dark clouds that
are coming and I tell my family soon there will be rain," and on some
nights there have been showers, said Masoud Ranjbar, a taxi driver.

However, Eskandar Khanjari, a local journalist in Oroumieh, called the
cloud-seeding plan "a show." He said recent rainfall was only
seasonal, as predicted by meteorologists.

Scoffing at the promises of officials and what he called "non-expert
views," he said of efforts to save the lake: "It seems that people
have only one way; to pray for rain."

Beyond the debates by national and local authorities some folks here
suggest another way Oroumieh could be saved.

A local legend says wild purple gladiolas have had a miraculous role
in doing just that. The flowers have grown every year for a thousand
years in the spot where a princess of Oroumieh was killed as she
warned the people of the city about an invading enemy.

As a recent sunset turned the lake golden, Kamal the boatman tried to
find some hope in the returning blossoms.

"You see, still wild purple gladiolas are appearing in the spring," he
said. "The city and its lake can eventually survive."
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The Lessons from the three Gorges Dam for Northeast India

The Lessons from the three Gorges Dam for Northeast India
The Arunachal Times, May 26, 2011 <http://www.arunachaltimes.com/#The>
By Peter Bosshard
www.arunachaltimes.com/#The

The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the world's largest
hydropower project. It has often been touted as a model for dam building
around the world. Now the Chinese government has officially acknowledged
the project's serious social, environmental and geological problems.
What are the lessons from the Three Gorges experience for Northeast India?

For many years, Chinese leaders have celebrated the mega-dam on the
Yangtze as a symbol of the country's economic and technological
progress. With a capacity of 18,200 megawatts, the hydropower project is
indeed a master piece of engineering. Pouring 27 million cubic meters of
cement, the government completed the project ahead of schedule in 2008.
Officials insist that with a cost of $27 billion (Rupees 1,22,472
crores), the project was built within budget. Others claim that its real
cost may amount to as much as $88 billion (Rupees 3,99,168 crores).

Costs and benefits

The Three Gorges Dam generates 2 percent of China's electricity, and
substitutes at least 30 million tons of coal per year. However, the
hydropower plant was not the only option for replacing coal. While the
dam was under construction, the energy efficiency of the Chinese economy
actually decreased. According to Douglas Ogden of the Energy Foundation,
it would have been "cheaper, cleaner and more productive for China to
have invested in energy efficiency" rather than new power plants.

The Three Gorges Dam

has displaced more than 12 lakh people. Hundreds of local officials were
found to divert compensation money into their own pockets, but protests
against such abuses were frequently oppressed. Because it no longer
controls the economy and land is scarce, the government was not able to
provide jobs and land to the displaced people as promised. Unlike India
and most other countries, China has set up a program to provide pensions
to the 18 million people displaced by dams in the past.

Damming the Three Gorges caused massive impacts on the ecosystem of the
Yangtze, Asia's longest river. The barrage stopped the migration of
fish, and diminished the river's capacity to clean itself. Pollution
from dirty industries along the reservoir is causing frequent toxic
algae blooms. Commercial fisheries have plummeted, the Yangtze river
dolphin has already been extinct, and species such as the Chinese
Sturgeon are threatened by the same fate. Due to dam building and
pollution, rivers and lakes around the world have lost more species to
extinction than any other major ecosystem.

Struggling with unexpected impacts

While the social and environmental problems had been predicted,
government officials were not prepared for the massive geological
impacts of the Three Gorges Dam. The water level in the reservoir
fluctuates between 145 and 175 meters every year. This destabilizes the
slopes of the Yangtze Valley, and is triggering frequent landslides.
According to Chinese experts, erosion affects half the reservoir area,
and 178 kilometers of riverbanks are at risk of collapsing. More than
300,000 additional people will have to be relocated to stabilize the
banks of the reservoir.

Since most of the silt load from the Yangtze's upper reaches is now
deposited in the reservoir, the downstream regions are being starved of
sediment. As a consequence, up to 4 square kilometers of coastal
wetlands are eroded every year. The Yangtze delta is subsiding, and
seawater intrudes up the river, affecting agriculture and drinking water
supplies. An international team of scientists recently found that no
less than 47.2 crore people have likely been affected by the downstream
impacts of large dams around the world, and that these impacts are often
neglected during the planning of such projects.

Scientists agree that the reservoirs of high dams can trigger
earthquakes. The Three Gorges Dam sits on two fault lines, and hundreds
of small tremors have been recorded since the reservoir began filling.
While the dam has been built to withstand strong earthquakes, the
villages and towns in its vicinity have not. As global dam building
increasingly moves into mountain areas with active tectonic faults, such
as the Himalayas and their foothills, the seismic risks of reservoirs
will increase.

Hydropower projects have often been proposed as a response to global
warming, yet the Three Gorges Dam illustrates how climate change creates
new risks for such projects. In a nutshell, past records can no longer
be used to predict a river's future streamflow. The dam operators
planned to fill the Three Gorges reservoir for the first time in 2009,
but were not able to do so due to insufficient rains. The current year
has brought Central China the worst drought in 50 years. Like many other
projects around the world, the Three Gorges Dam is facing serious risks
and losses due to the vagaries of climate change.

Change of opinion

Scientists had warned of the Three Gorges Dam's impacts throughout the
1980s and 1990s. Yet their opinions were ignored and silenced. During
the construction phase, the giant project, which had originally been
championed by Mao Zedong, was frequently visited by government and party
leaders. It has also served as a tour stop for many visiting government
delegations from Asia, Africa and Europe.

In recent years, the Chinese government has quietly toned down its
enthusiasm for the project. "We thought of all the possible issues,"
Weng Lida, the secretary general of the Yangtze River Forum, told the
Wall Street Journal in August 2007. "But the problems are all more
serious than we expected." When the dam was inaugurated in 2008, the
Chinese president and his prime minister were conspicuously absent. And
on May 18, China's highest government body for the first time
acknowledged the serious problems at the Three Gorges. "The project is
now greatly benefiting the society in the aspects of flood prevention,
power generation, river transportation and water resource utilization,"
the government maintained, but it has "caused some urgent problems in
terms of environmental protection, the prevention of geological hazards
and the welfare of the relocated communities."

While the dam on the Yangtze has been completed, it is not too late to
draw lessons from the experience for other mega-projects around the
world. The Three Gorges Dam is a test case for the social and
environmental costs, the seismic and hydrological risks, the complex
upstream and downstream impacts that may be expected for the proposed
projects on the Brahmaputra and its tributaries.

(Peter Bosshard is the Policy Director of International Rivers.)
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Report questions ADB funded 'Himachal Clean Energy Development Programme'

26th May 2011
Report questions ADB funded projects under the 'Himachal Clean Energy
Development Programme'

* ADB loans for four hydroprojects at eco-fragile zones
* Livelihood concerns and environmental issues un-addressed
* Section 17/4 – Urgency clause being used by HPPCL for forced
acquisition of land
* Poor EIA reports and non compliance to environmental norms

Recently, a Public Hearing for the World Bank funded Luhri Hydro
Electric had to be cancelled after public protests making it clear that
the environmental and social impacts of Hydropower projects as well as
the increasing gap between their promise and performance, especially in
the Himalayan region have become issues of serious concern. And yet
these projects continue to be promoted in the garb of renewable and
clean energy. So much so that governments are borrowing millions of
rupees from international banks and financial institutions to fund these
so called 'green' projects. In Himachal Pradesh the Asian Development
Bank is leading the way by financing four hydro projects through a Multi
Financing Facility of 800 million dollars under the misleading name of
'Himachal Clean Energy Development Programme'. The four ADB financed
hydro power projects being constructed by HPPCL include the 195 MW
Integrated Kashang Stage I, II and III and the 402 MW Shongtong-Karccham
in Kinnaur. The other two projects are the 111 MW Sawara-Kuddu
hydropower project in Shimla district and the 100 MW Sainj hydropower
project in Kullu District.

Objectives of the report

A report titled 'In the Name of Clean Energy' by Him Dhara, Environment
Research and Action Collective and South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers
and People presents a critique of ADB's investment in the Hydropower
sector in the state. The report puts together field observations on the
violations of norms and legislations that are supposed to protect the
livelihood interests and environmental rights of the project affected
communities. The report looks at the environmental and socio-economic
impacts of each of the projects. ADB in its project documents and
policies has consistently insisted on safeguard mitigation measures on
three fronts – social, environmental and public or 'stakeholder
consultation. The objective of this study was to look at the
implementation of these on the ground.

Key findings

One of the key findings of the report has been that despite ADB's long
drawn out list of claimed safeguards on social and environmental
accountability, there is little difference between hydroprojects
projects in Himachal funded by ADB and those where a comprehensive
safeguard framework like ADB claims does not exist. The performance of
both sets of projects is equally pathetic on all counts.

The report points out that all four ADB project locations are
eco-fragile in nature. All four are coming up in heavily dammed basins
where there has been no credible cumulative impact assessment or
carrying capacity studies, where rivers have been destroyed several
times over and the performance of the past projects have been pathetic
on benefits, costs and impacts. All four are in seismic zone IV, being
built on catchments of glacial rivers, some so close to the glaciers
that the projects are likely to accelerate the melting of glaciers. The
integrated Kashang project area falls in an alpine zone (altitude
varying from 2000 to 3150 meters above msl.) where the ecological foot
print of any activity is going to be huge and permanent. The Sainj
project is in close vicinity to two very important sites from
conservation point of view – the Great Himalayan National park and the
Sainj Wildlife Sanctuary. Similarly, adjacent to the Kashang Project
area is the Lippa Asrang Wild Life sanctuary. All four projects also
involve diversion of forest land, the total area of forests to be
officially diverted coming up to 221.54 hectares, actual impacts could
be much greater, going by past experience. The nature of these forests
is also diverse ranging from alpine pastures to temperate forests of
deodar and chilgoza and from pine monocultures to mixed forests.

Further the report goes on to point out that these projects are not
coming up in isolation but are part of a cascade of projects within a
river basin and none of the Environment Impact Assessment studies bring
out the gravity of the cumulative impacts of all projects related
activities, including dams, blasting, mining, tunelling, road
construction, townships construction, dumping of muck and other related
construction activities. "It is surprising that the ADB's environmental
safegaurd policies failed to identify the cumulative threats and basin
wide impacts of the Hydro-projects it is financing" the report states.
The EIA report of the Kashang Integrated project fails to mention the
fact that on the same mountain side, at different altitudes, two more
tunnels are planned, one for construction of Jungi-Thopan 960 MW project
and the other for NH-22. In toto, there would be three tunnels in a
single mountain which is severely under threat of sliding down.

" ADB would have steered clear of projects in ecologically sensitive
areas and sites that are important from the conservation point of view,
like Kinnaur and Sainj, if its commitment towards a cleaner environment
and climate justice was real" the report states. "The ADB loans for
Himachal Hydro projects are reflective of its economic interest in the
energy sector and giving it the 'green' colour amounts to a serious lack
of ethics".

Role of HPPCL, the executing agency

The report is severely critical of the role played by HPPCL as the
executing agency. The report states that the company has had a high
handed and casual attitude, and instead of following basic norms of
transparency, participation, social and environmental accountability,
has adopted an adhoc approach to dealing with local impacts. "The most
stark indicators of this are - the use of section 17/4 of the Land
Acquisition Act 1894 for forced acquisition of private agricultural
land; a complete non recognition of the impacts on people's rights on
common property resources; the non compliance to the Forest Rights Act
2006 and severe inadequacies in the EIA reports which when pointed out
during the public hearings met with justifications and counter claims
rather than a genuine concern for people's views or respect or facts".

Problematic State Policies

The inadequacy of the state government's policy regime, in terms of its
Hydropower Policy, has been overlooked by the ADB. Instruments like CAT
(Catchment Area treatment) and LADA (Local Area Development) have not
been studied critically for their ineffectiveness as mitigation
mechanisms before being accepted, adopted and hailed as the be all and
end all solutions in the Environment Management and Rehabilitation
Plans. No proper mechanisms have been put in place for compliance or
grievance redressal and that is obvious from the fact that local
communities have turned to the judiciary or taken resort to public
actions or protest to make their voice heard in the case of the
Kashang-I as well as Sawra Kuddu Projects, both in advanced stages of
implementation. HPPCL's response has come in only after public
agitations or protests and it has found increasing cash compensation as
the only means to quieten protest to allow project work to continue.

Most of the issues mentioned in the report do not find space in the ADB
compliance and mid term evaluation reports which attempt to maintain the
image that progress on the projects has been smooth. This report is also
being forward to the ADB demanding withdrawal from projects, stopping
construction where work has not yet commenced and an immediate,
credible, independent review of the projects under construction with
fair public consultations.

While our focus in this study has been on the ADB funded projects, we
are also concerned about the state and central government's lack of
response to the very serious concerns that have been raised by its own
people. That the state government is relying on loans from an
international bank and in the process selling out its precious natural
resources for unjustifiable hydro projects is unacceptable.

A detailed copy of the report is available at
http://www.sandrp.in/hydropower/Report_Adb_Financed_HEPs_HP%20210511.pdf

For details contact:

Prakash Bhandari, Him Dhara 9816089920
Himanshu Thakkar, SANDRP, 9968242798
R.S Negi, Him Lok Jagriti Manch, 9418002562
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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Sharif calls for Chinese help in building dams

Sharif calls for Chinese help in building dams
Financial Times
By James Lamont and Farhan Bokhari in Lahore
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b05b6c76-86ee-11e0-92df-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1NPDWnCCS
Published: May 25 2011 18:02

Pakistan�s main opposition leader and former prime minister has appealed
for Chinese expertise to build hydroelectric dams to help his country in
urgently overcoming crippling power �shortages.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Nawaz Sharif said Islamabad
should call on Beijing to use its infrastructure capabilities to supply
hydropower to Pakistan.

"Energy is the number one priority. We have to reform the existing
system. We should invite the Chinese to build dams [for
hydroelectricity]," he said.

"There is no time to waste. Our [parliamentary] elections are two years
away. Why can�t the government do this [with China] today?"

Mr Sharif's call coincides with a request by Pakistan for China to
supply a naval port at Gwadar on the Arabian Sea that may give anchorage
to vessels from both Pakistan and China.

Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, returned from a visit to
China last week with the promise of early delivery of 50 JF-17 fighter
aircraft.

Last year, Pakistan and China signed an agreement for the construction
of the Bunji dam in northern Pakistan. The Chinese counterpart was the
China Three Gorges Project �Corporation.

The Bunji dam is one of eight hydroelectric projects the government has
identified across four provinces. It will have 7,000MW capacity.

The hydroelectric plans, alongside other infrastructure projects, are
causing alarm in neighbouring India, sensitive to water issues and the
expanding influence of China.

The enth�usiasm for China shows that there is bipartisan support among
the opposition Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz and the �ruling Pakistan
People's party to lean on Chinese �assistance.

Beijing has steadily increased its footprint in Pakistan. It provides
nuc�lear expertise to help run Pakistan�s power plants and has built the
Karakorum Highway that links the border with China to Pakistan's heartland.

But some diplomats say that China�s relationship with Pakistan is purely
commercial rather than developmental. They say that Beijing seeks
business with its neighbour rather than offering �assistance.

When premier in the 1990s, Mr Sharif was responsible for introducing a
series of economic reforms that helped Pakistan reach higher levels of
investment and economic growth. Pakistan also conducted its nuclear
tests during his rule.

Referring to recent terrorist attacks, Mr Sharif said: "Our economy is
going down the drain because of these bomb explosions, because of the
internal situation which is getting from bad to worse because of
terrorist activities."

Mr Sharif identified crippling power shortages as the other most
destabilising cause of a broken economy, saying that the business
community and population at large were "really fed up".

"In terms of economy, [the government�s] biggest failure is energy. They
have not been able to do anything," he said.
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international dam projects.

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Greenpeace releases renewables plan for South Africa

ENERGY MIX
Greenpeace pushes for nuclear-free power mix, big renewable scale-up

By: Christy van der Merwe
25th May 2011

Nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Greenpeace has called on the
government to make �bold and courageous� energy choices, to ensure a
cleaner energy future without any additional nuclear and coal-fired
power, after construction of the Medupi power station.
This would require a much more ambitious renewable-energy policy,
climate campaigner Melita Steele said.

Greenpeace launched its report entitled �The advanced energy
[R]evolution � a sustainable energy outlook for South Africa�, in
Johannesburg on Wednesday, after already having met with Department of
Energy (DoE) officials, as well as the Minister, about the report.

Steele said that the NGO has started conversations with various
government departments, renewable energy industry stakeholders, other
NGOs and Eskom, to engage on energy issues and put forward an
alternative position.

She noted that while NGOs and government often had very different
positions, there was a lot of common ground. �We accept that what we
ask for is a lot, but if you look at the effects of catastrophic
climate change, we need to do a lot,� Steele added.

Although the DoE has released the policy-adjusted Integrated Resource
Plan 2010 (IRP2010), Greenpeace was lobbying for new decisions, and
adjustments to be made to the plan.

The major push was for the government to more than double its target
of 23% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030, to 49%, which
Greenpeace believes is achievable.

At present, about 1% of South Africa�s energy generation mix is
derived from renewable energy.

Greenpeace International renewable energy director Sven Teske said
that South Africa had a major opportunity to become an African
renewable energy production and manufacturing hub.

He said that this was viable because the country had a potential
domestic market for renewable energy, as well as a relatively skilled
workforce, stable political climate, and sufficient port
infrastructure for exports.

Compared with the IRP2010, Greenpeace�s energy [r]evolution scenario
to 2050 would be significantly more expensive. If the reference
scenario required about $181-billion investment, the energy
[r]evolution scenario would require some $404-billion.

However, Teske notes that the future cumulated savings on fuel costs
would be significant and go some way to balance out these costs. He
also noted that more jobs would be created through greater renewable
energy input.

Where the IRP2010 envisaged 133 000 jobs created in the energy
industry, Greenpeace expected that through its energy [r]evolution
scenario, some 140 000 jobs could be created.

Greenpeace was also asking that the government completely remove
nuclear power from the future energy plans, and in the interim conduct
an independent safety review of the technology, particularly after
Japan�s Fukushima nuclear incident.

It was also stated that Kusile power station was not needed and
construction of coal-fired power stations should stop after the
construction of the Medupi power station.

Greenpeace also strongly advocated greater energy efficiency through
stricter standards and targets.

�This report clearly demonstrates that there is no technological
barrier to achieving a pathway to 100% renewable energy. In fact, with
the political will and South Africa�s abundance of renewable energy
resources, the country could easily become the renewable energy leader
in Africa,� emphasised Steele.

The Greenpeace report provided a comprehensive country specific energy
concept, giving analysis of how to restructure South Africa�s energy
system based on an assessment of the potential proven renewable energy
sources, energy efficiency and the use of efficient, decentralised co-
generation.

The report can be downloaded by clicking on the �download attachment�
link to the left of this article.


Edited by: Mariaan Webb
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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Hydropower running out of steam due to drought

Hydropower running out of steam due to drought
China Daily, May 25, 2011
www.china.org.cn/environment/2011-05/25/content_22635822.htm

The abnormally hot weather and severe drought in Central and South China
has affected hydropower production and may lead to a severe power
shortage this summer.

In East China's Anhui province, the power shortage is expected to reach
as much as 25 million kilowatts at peak hours this summer, partly caused
by low water levels for hydropower, said an industry insider.

"If the drought continues, dams in the province will run out of water to
generate electricity," Hu Xiaofei, director of the electric dispatch
department of Anhui Electric Power Co, the province's largest power
supplier, told China Daily on Tuesday.

He said the water level in reservoirs at Dabie Mountains has dropped
more than 10 meters the past few months, and without rainfall, dams will
dry up within only a few weeks, making hydropower generation impossible
for the province.

The common problem appeared among regions along the Yangtze River in
Central China as the water levels in rivers and lakes have hit a record low.

In Central China's Hubei province, water levels at about 1,392
reservoirs have been too low to sustain water turbines as of May 15. The
water level of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower
facility, fell below 156 meters - the required lowest level for full
power generation, according to statistics from the Hubei water resources
department.

On Monday, the State Grid, the State-owned power distributor, held a
nationwide video conference to handle the power shortages in several
provinces.

The company said 10 of its provincial-level power grids are suffering
grim power shortages, including Chongqing, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangsu,
Zhejiang and Shanghai. The company estimated that the country may face a
summer electricity shortage of 30 gigawatts, making it the most severe
power shortfall since 2004.

Yin Changxin, director of the safety supervision and quality department
in the State Grid, said the corporation will enhance its power
transmission capacity among different regions.

"We will also strengthen safety checks of grid equipment and improve
efficiency of power distribution," he said in an interview with China
Central Television.

Hu Xiaofei said Anhui province has already introduced curbs on power use
to cope with the power shortfalls.

On Friday, 3,789 high energy-consuming enterprises in the province were
requested by the provincial government to adjust their working hours to
guarantee power supply to residents.

"Power brownouts came much earlier this year. Last summer they were seen
in August and September."

Last year, the provincial government shut many high-energy using
enterprises, such as small cement plants, to avoid staggering
electricity usage and ensure power supply to residents and key industries.
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Keep Chilean Patagonia Wild: NYTimes

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/opinion/24tue3.html

Editorial
Keep Chilean Patagonia Wild

Published: May 23, 2011

An environmental review commission in the Ays�n region of southern
Chile has made a potentially disastrous decision, voting to approve
the construction of five hydroelectric dams, two on the Baker River
and three on the Pascua. The damage these dams would do to the
environment is tremendous, and their construction � in a largely
unspoiled natural haven � would open the way for further development,
including more dams.

The Baker and Pascua Rivers flow into the wild fiords that thread
their way along the southern Chilean coast. The dams would partially
flood a national park as well as portions of a landscape that Chile
had been hoping to have named a Unesco World Heritage Site.

The vote follows an environmental review that looked only at the
immediate consequences of construction and not the long-term effects
on the ecology of these watersheds or the downstream risks of damming
short, violent, glacial rivers that are subject to abrupt outburst
floods from the lakes above them. To deliver the power they would
generate � some 2.75 gigawatts � Chile would have to build a 1,400-
mile corridor of power lines to the north, creating the longest clear-
cut on the planet.

There is no disputing Chile�s energy needs or the fact that it pays
much more for electricity than any of its neighbors. But major studies
have made it clear that Chile has extraordinary renewable energy
sources, including solar, geothermal and wind power that could be
developed with far less impact on the environment.

This is an early skirmish in a lengthy, hard-fought battle. A separate
environmental review must be completed and approved for the
transmission corridor. We hope it takes a more comprehensive look at
the damage this project would cause. Perhaps then the Chilean
government, which supports the dam project, will come to understand
what many Chileans already know: that sacrificing Patagonia for power
would be an irreparable mistake.
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Solar and invasive bush-burning could power southern Africa

Three articles show potential for clean energy in Southern Africa.

----

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/siemens-csp-2011-05-20

Greater emphasis should be given to solar in future SA power mix


By: Martin Zhuwakinyu
20th May 2011

A senior executive at engineering group Siemens� Israel-based
Concentrated Solar Power subsidiary has said South Africa would
derive greater benefit if it placed more emphasis on concentrating
solar power (CSP) as a component of its future energy mix.

The latest version of the country�s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP),
published in April, envisages CSP accounting for 1 000 MW of South
Africa�s total energy generation by 2030, compared with 8 400 MW each
for wind and solar photovotaic (PV).

The first 300 MW of new solar PV is expected to be available in 2012,
while the currently uncommitted 400 MW of wind energy is set down for
2014. CSP capacity is to be introduced only from 2016.

Siemens Concentrated Solar Power business development director Ilan
Sharon told Engineering News in Tel Aviv, Israel, early this month,
that he believed South Africa would derive greater benefit if it
allocated a bigger chunk to CSP than the 1 000 MW set aside in the IRP
� a far cry from the allocations for wind and solar PV.

�I think allocating a greater capacity to wind and solar PV is a big
mistake that South Africa has made,� he said, explaining that PV-based
solar power plants and wind farms needed backup each time there was
cloud cover or the wind stopped blowing, which was not the case with
CSP.

He said CSP technology provided for greater grid stability, as
generation hours could be extended by storing the heat that is
produced and releasing it when required.

While storage of the heat generated by CSP technology could not
guarantee uninterrupted electricity production, Sharon said
�hybridisation� between a solar farm and a backup plant fired by gas
or coal would be the solution for �24/7 power generation�.

The Siemens group supplies CSP systems and other solar technologies,
but Sharon was at pains to explain this was not the reason he would
have preferred to see a bigger allocation for CSP in the latest
version of the IRP.

CSP, he said, was a proven technology that had been used at utility
scale for decades. In the Mojave desert, in California, US, nine solar
thermal plants with a combined capacity of 352 MW had been supplying
sustainable power to the grid for more than 20 years, and plants with
a combined capacity of 3 500 MW were about to be commissioned in Spain.

Sharon said that large-scale deployment of CSP plants in South Africa,
a country endowed with high levels of irradiation, could lead to the
establishment of local support industries, thereby creating thousands
of jobs.

�The amount of local content, which will require investment, will
depend on the capacity to be installed and the degree of certainty
regarding long-term market growth.

�Securing the future of the CSP industry in South Africa [equates to]
investing in the future of the people of South Africa. Each technology
has its pros and cons, and I think the current renewable-energy mix
must be revised.�

Sharon also noted that South Africa�s renewable-energy feed-in tariff
should be high enough to �ignite� the CSP market in South Africa.

Edited by: Martin Zhuwakinyu

---
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/100-mw-solar-power-plant-for-northern-cape-2011-04-15

Construction on solar power demonstration plant to start in 2013


By: Tracy Hancock
13th May 2011

State-owned power utility Eskom intends to start construction of a 100
MW central-receiver system concentrating solar power demonstration
plant, near Upington, in the Northern Cape, in 2013. The proposed
project is currently the largest of its kind in the world.

�The 4 km2 plant, comprising between 4 000 and 5 000 heliostat
mirrors, will involve the use of thermal storage to ensure a readily
avail- able power supply to offset morning and evening peak capacity
demands,� explains Eskom divisional executive for corporate services
Dr Steve Lennon.

The plant is scheduled to be fully operational by 2015; however,
Lennon would like to see this deadline moved forward.

Eskom has secured the environmental approvals as well as land and
water for the project and is currently in the process of appointing an
owner�s engineer, the repre- sentative of the commissioning company.
The initial indication of the project�s cost is between R6-billion and
R7-billion; however, as this is a demonstration project, there is a
lot of uncertainty surrounding the costs. The true cost of the project
will only be known once the commercial bids have been finalised, says
Lennon.

Eskom also intends to develop a full-scale 1 GW solar plant, near
Upington, in parallel with the development of the demonstration plant.

The aim of the commercial plant is to produce electricity at a cost
competitive with that of wind power generation, which is currently
priced at about R1,20/kWh.

�This is incredibly ambitious as solar is priced at about R3/kWh.
However, as the technology evolves, this cost should reduce signifi-
cantly to become competitive with coal and nuclear power generation,�
says Lennon.

The 1 GW commercial plant may potentially form part of the Department
of Energy�s proposed 5 GW solar park, which has an estimated cost of
more than R20-billion. This project is in partnership with the Clinton
Climate Initiative, an organisation headed by former US President Bill
Clinton, and is currently under- going a feasibility study.

�The Northern Cape has more than enough solar energy potential to
support a project of this size, as it is one of the best solar
resources in the world. However, issues that need to be considered are
the availability of water, which solar plants require for cooling and
washing, and transmission interconnection capacity. The implementation
of a 5 GW project, in the central region of South Africa, will require
significant transmission investment,� says Lennon.

He also notes that, should Eskom fund 1 GW of the proposed 5 GW
project, the remaining 4 GW presents a significant opportunity for
independent power producers (IPPs).

Wind Power Generation

Eskom�s 100 MW Sere wind farm on the west coast, near Koekenaap, is in
the procurement phase and is on track to meet its 2013 deadline, says
Lennon, who adds that Eskom may be able to bring the completion date
of the project forward by a year.

This project currently has an approved project cost of R3,4-billion,
which is subject to change.

Simultaneously, the utility is conducting a feasibility study for a
500 MW wind farm, earmarked for the Southern or Western Cape.

Lennon says it is difficult to determine South Africa�s potential wind
energy capacity, as that depends on the number of commercially viable
wind farms in operation, while wind turbine technology is constantly
improving to operate more efficiently at low and high wind speeds.

Green Division
Eskom�s renewables business unit, which was set up to increase the
utility�s renewables footprint and reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions, came into operation on April 1.

Since 2007, the utility has aimed to reduce its relative CO2 emissions
for every unit of electricity produced up to 2025, there- after
concentrating on its absolute emissions. Currently, Eskom produces
0,98 kg of CO2/kWh.

To reduce the carbon emissions emitted by its coal-fired power
stations, the utility is concentrating on improving the efficiency
levels at which the stations burn coal.

Further, the utility is investigating biomass cofiring to reduce its
carbon emissions by 10% at each of its coal-fired power stations. This
involves blending biomass with coal, and a feasibility study is at an
advanced stage.

Eskom is also investigating solar augmentation, which involves
preheating water for boiler use, using solar concentrators, as well as
the use of photovoltaic (PV) solar modules to offset the power
requirements of each unit at its coal-fired power stations by 20 MW.

To further reduce its carbon emissions, the utility also intends to
increase the number of renewables projects in its portfolio and
execute nuclear build projects, which are dependant on government�s
directive under the second Integrated Resources Plan.

Over the past five years, the utility has also been investigating
marine current energy extraction, particularly from the Agulhas
current, which is the western boundary current of the south-west
Indian Ocean and flows along the East Coast of Africa.

�The concept involves the instal- lation of turbines on the seabed to
harness the energy produced by the current. This technology has been
piloted by other countries and is currently being evaluated by Eskom,�
explains Lennon.

He says South Africa has limi- ted hydro potential, with most of the
country�s hydro potential exploited by a 360 MW hydroelectric power
station at the Gariep dam. Eskom is considering smaller projects;
however, these projects may be better suited to IPPs, notes Lennon.

This year, the utility also intends to implement a solar project in
the parking lot of its Megawatt Park head office, which involves the
use of PV panels as carport roofing.

The project will be used to offset the electricity demand at Megawatt
Park and will incorporate an electric vehicle (EV) charging station.
Eskom has received interest from various EV manufacturers and is
willing to work with them to develop EV charging standards. The
utility also expects a proposal from vehicle manufacturer Nissan soon.

�Eskom will encourage the use of EVs and is exploring the use of EVs
in its vehicle fleet. The implementation of this will depend on the
pace of commercial roll-out of EVs in South Africa,� says Lennon.

Renewables History

Before the implementation of the renewables business unit, renewables
projects were being run by Eskom�s research and development and
generation divisions.

Currently, the operating costs of the renewables business unit is
pegged at between R50-million and R100-million a year. The capital
costs of renewables projects will be determined by whether Eskom
provides full funding or funds the projects through partnerships.

Eskom started investigating large-scale renewables projects in about
2000 and by 2002 was operating a 3,6 MW Klipheuwel wind demonstration
farm, worth R20-million, and a R5-million solar unit at development
finance institution Development Bank of Southern Africa, while also
developing large-scale PV solar projects.

�Since 2007, we have prob- ably spent between R100-million and R200-
million on renew- ables projects, with the majority of these funds
allocated to project development involving wind and solar power
generation,� says Lennon.

However, in 2007, funding constraints put the development of
renewables projects identified by Eskom on hold. Funding for these
projects was included in the utility�s application for its $3,7-
billion loan from the World Bank, which was secured in April 2010.

Edited by: Chanel de Bruyn
--------
ENERGY STUDY
NamPower moves to study Namibia�s bush-to-power potential


By: Terence Creamer
23rd May 2011


Namibia�s national power utility NamPower plans to conduct a
prefeasibility study into the potential for biomass power plants,
fuelled using wood from invasive bush, which is said to be
accelerating desertification and undermining agriculture in the vast
Southern African country.

The utility has issued a tender notice calling on experienced
organisations and individuals to prequalify for the study, which is
expected to provide a �roadmap� for developing such power facilities.

Scientific reports have highlighted the threat associated with the
�encroacher bush�, which is reportedly making large areas of the
country�s land unusable for rural farmers and shrinking the overall
arable agricultural land resource.

A 2010 report by Combating Bush Encroachment for Namibia's
Development, or C-Bend, notes that 26-million hectares have already
been affected.

One mitigation project being suggested be C-Bend and the Desert
Research Foundation of Namibia is to convert invading bush into
energy, using wood-gasification plants.

The NamPower prefeasibility study will seek to analyse the potential
for such biomass power facilities, as well as identify possible sites
and technological solutions.

NamPower is currently supporting a C-Bend-backed �bush-to-electricity�
pilot plant in northern Namibia, through a power purchase agreement.

However, the promoters of the concept believe there is potential for
as many as 20 such wood-gasification plants.

The closing date for the tender is June 10, 2011.

Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter
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Mountain tsunamis – a rising threat

Mountain tsunamis – a rising threat
Navin Singh Khadka
chinadialogue, May 24, 2011
www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/4310-Mountain-tsunamis-a-rising-threat

Earthquakes could burst glacial lakes in the Himalayas, flooding
populated areas downstream, scientists are warning. Navin Singh Khadka
reports.

Glacial lakes in the Himalayas could pose a major hazard to population
centres if they are ruptured by earthquakes, scientists say. The true
risk to settlements and infrastructure downstream in the Hindu
Kush-Himalayan region is difficult to assess. But the Himalayan region
is dotted with glacial lakes and is in a seismically active zone.
Experts say that, on the basis of past records, a large quake in the
region is overdue.

Many glacial lakes are said to be growing – some of them alarmingly fast
– because of melting glaciers. Some are at risk of rupturing, which
would flood areas downstream. There have been at least 35 glacial lake
outburst events in Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan and China during the last
century, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
But the increased risk from the quake-induced rupture of glacial lakes
has been rarely discussed.

"Such a disaster is very much possible, more so, when we are expecting a
big earthquake in the region now," says Sushil Kumar, a geophysicist
with the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in India. "If the
acceleration is very high in the epicentre of the earthquake, everything
will be in the air as things will not be stable. So, naturally, the
liquids like waters in glacial lakes will burst out."

A number of these lakes are located near seismic faults. "Given the
location of the lakes, if the epicentre of the earthquake happens to be
nearby them, they will certainly explode," says Pradeep Mool, a
glaciologist with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain
Development (ICIMOD), which works on mountain issues in the region.

A recent report produced by ICIMOD, together with the World Bank and the
Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, has also said that
such a hazard "is a possibility that should be considered, although
prediction [of earthquakes] is beyond current competence."

Officials with Nepal's National Seismological Centre (NSC) say at least
half a dozen minor tremors are recorded in the Himalayas every day. "And
when the tremor is [magnitude] five or above... we record many
aftershocks as well," says Dilliram Tiwari of the NSC. "We know that
these activities are happening in the Himalayas but we cannot confirm if
they are happening nearby any glacial lakes." That is because hardly any
seismic meters are installed near glacial lakes.

The danger is not just from the lakes that are filling up. Landslides
and avalanches can make even smaller lakes dangerous, especially during
earthquakes, experts say. For instance, the outburst of the Dig Tsho
glacial lake near Mount Everest in eastern Nepal in 1985 was triggered
by a large ice and rock avalanche. The splash into the relatively small
lake led to an outburst. The floodwaters swamped a hydroelectric plant
and other infrastructure downstream.

Tsho Rolpa is one of Nepal's most monitored glacial lakes. The lake is
risky not just because of its growing size and weak moraine, but also
because it has two hanging glaciers high above it. "In case of
earthquakes, glaciers such as these can make the glacial lakes like Tsho
Rolpa even more dangerous because of the possibility of splash and
surge," says Mool.

Although not created by glacial melting, a lake that formed after a
landslide blocked the Hunza river in Pakistan last year was caused by an
earthquake, says professor Asif Khan, a geologist with Peshawar
University in Pakistan. What has happened in these lower parts of the
Hindu Kush-Himalaya could also occur in higher areas with glacial lakes,
he warns.

"The main reason why we have not yet witnessed the outburst of glacial
lakes because of earthquakes is because the region has not been hit by
big ones in recent decades," says Sushil Kumar of the Wadia Institute of
Himalayan Geology. "And when the last earthquakes hit the region, there
were barely any glacial lakes in the Himalaya region." Glaciologists say
the round of glacial melting leading to the formation of most new
glacial lakes in the Himalayas began in the 1950s. The last big
earthquake to hit the region was in 1934.

A recent report on Nepal's glacial lakes said their average area had
increased by 33%. "A great number of people are potentially in danger
should the lakes classified as dangerous in the Hindu Kush Himalayas
drain," says another report by UNEP. "In most cases, there would be
little or no warning, with insufficient time for complete evacuation."

But studies have so far focused only on retreating glaciers and
expanding glacial lakes. "They have not been monitored in relation to
seismicity," says Khan. "It is indeed quite worrying given the scale of
the impending risk."


Navin Singh Khadka is a journalist with the BBC Nepali service. He has a
sustained interest in environment, with a focus on climate change
vis-a-vis Himalayan ecology.

An earlier version of this article appeared on the BBC Science and
Environment website. It is reproduced here with permission.
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Monday, May 23, 2011

Reservoirs have little in reserve

Reservoirs have little in reserve
By Li Yao and Zhou Lihua
China Daily, 2011-05-24
www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-05/24/content_12564710.htm

Recent rainfall not sufficient to satiate increasing demand

BEIJING - Nearly 1,600 water reservoirs in Central China's Hubei
province are running at the minimum water level needed for operation,
forecasting a prolonged dry spell over the parched province, the local
drought relief authority said on Monday.

As of Sunday, the province's reservoir water storage stood at 9.75
billion cubic meters, a 40-percent decrease from last year. The low
water level makes it unlikely the drought can be eased, with two earlier
rounds of rainfall but no more forecast in May, the statement said.

The lasting drought has so far affected 889,000 hectares of crops and
left 761,000 people and 175,000 livestock in the province short of
drinking water.

Reservoirs have little in reserve

Hanjiang River, a major branch of the Yangtze River in Hubei, has almost
dried up and put a huge strain on irrigation supplies for paddy fields
along its range.

The water level of the Danjiangkou Reservoir, part of China's massive
South-to-North Water Diversion Project, dropped to 4 meters below the
minimum level.

Honghu Lake, the biggest lake in the province, has seen one-fourth of
its 35,300-hectare area dry up, stranding thousands of fishing boats.
The water level reaches 30 cm in the deepest areas, where it used to
stand at two to three meters.

Hubei Governor Wang Guosheng, also chief of the Yangtze River flood
control and drought relief headquarters, said on Monday that the river
has experienced the lowest level of rainfall since 1961, with 40 to 60
percent less rainfall on average in drought-stricken provinces in its
middle and lower reaches including Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi.

The headquarters' hydrographic office predicts that heavier rainfall
over the Yangtze River basin during the flood period (May to October)
may increase the flood risk upstream.

"Even in a severe drought, we have to be alert about flood control along
the Yangtze River," Wang said.

Chang Xiaolin, a professor at the College of Water Resources and
Hydroelectric Engineering of Wuhan University, told China Daily that the
situation is due to shrinking amounts of rainfall, while the demand for
water - for drinking, irrigation and power generation - is stable or
increasing.

The construction of the reservoir system did not take long-term water
conservation into consideration. Excessive water collected in one year
can't be saved in preparation for possible droughts next year, Chang said.

"But to build bigger reservoirs and enable them to hold a huge amount of
water for future use, other factors have to be considered, including
submerged land, the evacuation of affected residents and financial costs."

Tighter control over the conversion of lakes and wetland to farmland or
commercial use, and better protection of vegetation, will also help
enhance the overall capacities and flexibility of water storage to
alleviate droughts and floods, he added.

To relieve the devastating drought in the province, the Three Gorges
Dam, the largest hydroelectric project in the world, has discharged 17
billion cu m of water to downstream areas since January, and will keep
the discharge rate above 11,000 cu m a second from May 25 to June 10.

Xinhua and Guo Rui contributed to this story.
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China comes clean about the Three Gorges dams - Washington Post editorial

China comes clean about the Three Gorges dams
The Washington Post
Editorial, Saturday, May 21,2011

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/china-comes-clean-about-the-three-gorges-dams/2011/05/20/AFqJB37G_story.html

NOW THEY TELL US: China's ruling State Council has just issued a statement acknowledging serious flaws in the colossal Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze River. Though the project has generated much-needed electric power and helped control floods, the statement said, "there are urgent problems that need to be addressed, such as stabilizing and improving living conditions for relocated people, protecting the environment and preventing geological disasters." Even this relatively candid language was a euphemistic summary of the chronic deadly landslides, contaminated water and social dislocation brought on by the dam. Indeed, as the State Council spoke, shipping downriver from the dam is all but paralyzed by drought, which might not have happened if the Yangtze had been free to flow as in the past.

This is not quite the first time that criticism of the Three Gorges Dam has received an official imprimatur. In October 2007, state media quoted experts' descriptions of the dams' negative consequences and warned of environmental "catastrophe." But the latest warnings represent the first time that the government itself has issued an admonition. As such, the statement raises an obvious question: Why didn't China's Communist rulers listen to the critics — instead of jailing and repressing some of them — before they spent 15 years and tens of billions of dollars and submerged 13 cities, 140 towns and 1,600 villages that 1.24 million people had called home?

China's rulers have a lot of experience with halfway contrition of this sort — the salient example being the Communist Party's oft-repeated condemnation of the Cultural Revolution, which is said to reflect the mistakes of extreme factions rather than anything inherent in an authoritarian, one-party state. In China, retrospective error correction must be read in light of contemporary political agendas.

The agenda served by the latest Three Gorges critique may be a relatively benign one: Premier Wen Jiabao's battle against those who advocate a greater role for hydropower in the next five-year plan. Mr. Wen is said to have particular doubts about another big dam planned for the Nu River in southwest China. If he prevails, fewer of China's rivers may end up dammed and damaged as the Yangtze has been, which is all to the good — but the centralized and dissent-intolerant decision-making process that enabled Three Gorges in the first place will remain essentially intact.

The State Council's statement on Three Gorges came complete with a promise to set up disaster alert systems, increase funding for environmental protection, shore up river banks and aid the hundreds of thousands forced from their homes. In other words, the government says that the Chinese people can count on the same political power structures that created the problem to fix it. As long as the Communist Party retains a monopoly on power, that is the only choice they will have.
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Three Gorges Dam to Address Finances

China Dam to Address Finances
Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2011
By JOSH CHIN

BEIJING—A Chinese government effort to acknowledge problems surrounding
the country's giant Three Gorges Dam continued as the dam's state-run
operator announced it planned to overhaul its finances following a
government audit.

China Three Gorges Corp. said Sunday that the audit, conducted by the
National Audit Office, had uncovered 31 "financial issues" related to
"accounting, financial management, investment, bidding and corporate
management," the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

"The audit findings released by the NAO are a true reflection of our
company's problems," Sha Xianhua, a vice manager of the company, was
quoted by Xinhua as saying. "Ten of the problems mentioned in the audit
findings have already been rectified, and we are still working on the
other problems."

The revelation of financial troubles at the world's largest hydropower
station came just days after China's State Council released a surprise
statement admitting the dam had created "urgent" social and
environmental problems.

Activists speculated that the statement from the State Council might
have been triggered by a severe drought affecting swaths of central and
eastern China, which has forced officials to discharge massive amounts
of water from the Three Gorges reservoir—prompting fears that rapidly
falling water levels could lead to landslides or even earthquakes.

"The water shortfalls from this spring have spread through many of
China's provinces, making it impossible for the central government to
cover up the problems," said Dai Qing, one of China's most veteran
environmentalists and a staunch critic of the dam.

Ms. Dai and other activists have expressed skepticism that the
government can do much to solve the most severe environmental problems
associated with the 180-meter-tall dam, insisting the damage has already
been done.

Rumors of graft and inappropriate bidding practices have dogged the $23
billion dam since construction began in 1994, but official confirmation
of financial misdeeds have been few and minor.

Government audits in 2007 discovered that contractors working on the dam
had overcharged by nearly 500 million yuan, or roughly $77 million, and
that local government agencies had used nearly 300 million yuan in
funding intended to help re-settle people displaced by the dam for other
purposes, such as loan repayment and office remodeling.

China's government regularly reports problems at its state companies as
a result of official audits, though the disclosures seldom result in
major change. China Three Gorges was one of 17 state-run enterprises
covered in the latest audit, Xinhua said without providing further
detail. On Friday China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd., one of China's big
telecommunications carriers, said an audit of its state-owned parent had
uncovered misallocation of expenses between companies in the China
Unicom Group and issuance of improper invoices.

Attempts to reach Mr. Sha were unsuccessful, but in a brief written
statement to The Wall Street Journal on Sunday night China Three Gorges
confirmed the contents of the Xinhua report and said the company's
announcement about the audit wasn't connected to last week's statement
from the State Council about problems at the dam.
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Nepal: Upper Karnali hydel office torched; two injured

Upper Karnali hydel office torched; two injured
Prakash Adhikari
eKantipur, 2011-05-22 08:54
www.ekantipur.com/2011/05/22/top-story/upper-karnali-hydel-office-torched-two-injured/334408.html

MAY 22 - Locals have vandalised and torched the Upper Karnali Hydropower
Project office based in Patladanda, Dailekh district on Sunday, claiming
that the project was being constructed against the benefit of locals.

Security guards Narbahadur Bohora and Roya Bista were injured while
trying to save some objects.

According to Nepal Army's Radashardul Battalion based in the district
headquarters, all the three buildings of the project have been
completely damaged in the incident. Three staffers of the project have
gone out of contact.

The irate locals who came in a group of 50 to 60 torched the buildings
after vandalism and fled the scene.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Dipak Basnet, separate
police teams from Dullu Area Police Office and Dailekh District Police
Office have been sent to the incident site.

Earlier, cadres of the UCPN (Maoist), Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party and
Janamorcha Nepal had resorted to vandalism at an interaction organised
by the project construction company, GMR, in Dailekh Bazaar, the
headquarters of Dailekh.

However, Maoist district in-charge Thir Bahadur Karki denied his party's
involvement in the incident.
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Friday, May 20, 2011

Assessment study for Roghun just a waste of time, says expert

Assessment study for Roghun just a waste of time, says expert
The Times of Central Asia
May 19, 2011
www.hydroworld.com/index/display/news_display.1420895674.html

Conducting assessment studies for the Roghun hydroelectricity project is
just a waste of time, Georgy Petrov, the head of the hydropower lab at
the Institute for Water Problems, Hydropower and Ecology of the Academy
of Sciences of Tajikistan, said in an interview with Asia-Plus. "The
assessment studies are senseless, because the problem is not in the
project but in parties (Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) that cannot come to
an understanding," said the expert. "Instead of organizing these useless
assessment studies Tajikistan had to enlist any qualified European
company for improvement of the Roghun hydroelectricity project."

Petrov doubts that the World Bank's assessment studies will run counter
to interests of any of parties. "Most likely, there will be
inconsiderable comments and recommendations," noted he, "In whole, the
World Bank, in its assessments, will proceed from the "stint nobody"
policy."

In the meantime, the first set of riparian information-sharing and
discussion meetings on the assessment studies for the proposed Roghun
Regional Water Reservoir and Hydropower Project (Roghun HPP) opened in
Almaty, Kazakhstan yesterday. Tajik delegation attending the meeting is
led by the First deputy Prime Minister Asadullo Ghulomov. The government
delegations of six countries (Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) are meeting on May 17-18 and a
discussion meeting for representatives of civil society will take place
tomorrow.

The World Bank has established two independent Panels of Experts:
Engineering and Dam Safety Panel and an Environmental and Social Impact
Assessment Panel. At the conclusion of his visit to Tajikistan, the
World Bank Director for Strategy and Operations for the Europe and
Central Asia (ECA) Region Mr. Theodore Ahlers said on May 12 that the
first reports outline the methodology for the assessments. According to
him, the process will continue in phases, with the next round of
consultations taking place tentatively in the fall of 2011. "We are
committed to completing the assessments as quickly as possible,
consistent with international quality standards. The final reports
should be available by the end of 2012," Mr. Ahlers said.

The consultants' recommendations will be reviewed by the Panels of
Experts, as well as the riparian governments and civil society
stakeholders in the period from September to November 2011 when the next
round of riparian consultations will take place. The draft Environmental
and Social Impact Assessment is expected to be disclosed in December 2011.

Tajikistan's plans to build the Roghun HPP have raised serious concerns
across the border in Uzbekistan. Uzbek officials argue that because it
could take up to 18 years to fill, the Roghun project will severely
reduce the amount of water flowing into Uzbekistan.

In March 2010, the government of Tajikistan and the World Bank signed a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation to achieve sustainable
development of Tajikistan's energy resources, secure supply of energy
services to the people of Tajikistan and promote balanced economic
growth. Under this document, the techno-economic, the environmental and
social impact assessments for the Roghun hydroelectricity project will
be conducted Hydropower Project (HPP).

The World Bank has reached an understanding with the Government of
Tajikistan that no new construction would commence until after the
techno-economic and environmental/social studies have been shared and
discussed with riparians, and the studies are reviewed by the
independent Bank-funded Panel of Experts to determine feasibility.
Copyright 2011 The Times of Central AsiaAll Rights Reserved
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