Reducing greenhouse gas emissions of Amazon hydropower with strategic dam planning
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions of Amazon hydropower with strategic dam planning
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DOI：
10.1038/s41467-019-12179-5
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发表时间：
2019-09-19
影响因子：
16.6
通讯作者：
Flecker, Alexander S.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Almeida, Rafael M.;Shi, Qinru;Flecker, Alexander S.
亚马逊河流域是世界上最大的尚未开发的水电前沿之一，在整个亚马逊河流域已经提出了数百座大坝。虽然水电是一种潜在的清洁可再生能源，但有些项目每单位发电产生的温室气体排放量很高（碳强度）。在这里，我们展示了拟议中的亚马逊高地水坝的碳强度（中位数= 39 kg CO（2）eq MWh（-1），100年的地平线）通常与太阳能和风能相当，而一些低地水坝（中位数= 133 kg CO（2）eq MWh（-1））可能超过化石燃料发电厂的碳强度。基于158个现有的和351个拟议的水坝，我们提出了一个多目标优化框架，表明亚马逊水电的低碳扩张依赖于战略规划，这通常与在更高海拔和更小的河流中放置水坝有关。最终，考虑到温室气体排放沿着社会和生态外部性的流域规模的水坝规划将对考虑新水电的可持续能源开发具有决定性意义。
Hundreds of dams have been proposed throughout the Amazon basin, one of the world's largest untapped hydropower frontiers. While hydropower is a potentially clean source of renewable energy, some projects produce high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per unit electricity generated (carbon intensity). Here we show how carbon intensities of proposed Amazon upland dams (median = 39 kg CO(2)eqMWh(-1), 100-year horizon) are often comparable with solar and wind energy, whereas some lowland dams (median = 133 kg CO(2)eq MWh(-1)) may exceed carbon intensities of fossil-fuel power plants. Based on 158 existing and 351 proposed dams, we present a multi-objective optimization framework showing that low-carbon expansion of Amazon hydropower relies on strategic planning, which is generally linked to placing dams in higher elevations and smaller streams. Ultimately, basin-scale dam planning that considers GHG emissions along with social and ecological externalities will be decisive for sustainable energy development where new hydropower is contemplated.