INFEWS/T3: Rethinking Dams: Innovative hydropower solutions to achieve sustainable food and energy production, and sustainable communities

[1639115] emilio F. moran水电大坝是全球能源生产的重要组成部分，但它们也造成了严重的负面环境和社会后果。该项目将研究一种看待水电的新方式，它不仅将能源生产作为目标，而且将其作为一个综合系统，可以产生除电力之外的生态、经济和社会效益。该研究将模拟各种情景，以评估如何以新的方式部署水电技术，例如通过将河流沉积物作为肥料施用于农田来提高粮食产量，或者通过将水电技术改为较小的水坝和流内涡轮机来减少对河流生态和鱼类生产力的负面影响。在培训学生和博士后的同时，还将开发一个基于网络的决策支持系统，向利益相关者通报替代性水电设计和地点，提供增加利益相关者利益的选择，并为决策者、科学家和地方机构管理其粮食、水和能源资源提供持久的遗产。重新设计的水力发电方案可能会改变人们对水力发电的看法，用自下而上的方法取代自上而下的方法，这种方法要求一心一意地将能源生产最大化，这种方法考虑到粮食、能源和水系统相互联系的复杂性。该项目将产生创新的解决方案，提高美国、欧洲和世界各地对水电开发的接受度。据估计，目前全世界有3700座大型水坝正在规划或建设中，在可预见的未来，它们将继续在能源生产中发挥重要作用。这项研究的目标是为水电开发创新的解决方案——不仅为国家电网提供能源，而且要融入周围的食物、水和制度系统。该团队包括水利工程师、水文地质学家、气候学家、生物学家和社会科学家，他们携手合作，为水电开发提供变革性解决方案，同时确保社会和环境效益大于成本。研究小组将评估土地覆盖的变化，以了解水坝内部和周围的森林砍伐风险，并确定可以从沉积物应用中受益的农业地区。与不同景观和社会生态环境下的土地覆盖变化（包括国际合作）相关联的水文和气候耦合模型将确定更好的水电解决方案，包括将沉积物转移到农场和/或安装流内涡轮机的地点的方法。制度和治理分析将考察影响民间社会从水电中获益方式的多层次因素。该项目将提供创新的解决方案，利用水力发电生产可再生能源，增加粮食产量，并减少对环境和社会的负面影响，这些负面影响降低了美国、欧洲和世界各地对水力发电的接受度。

1639115Emilio F. MoranHydropower dams have been an important part of worldwide energy production, but they also have resulted in substantial negative environmental and social outcomes. This project will study a new way to think about hydropower, one that looks not just at energy production as the goal, but as an integrated system that can generate ecological, economic, and societal benefits beyond electricity. The study will model scenarios to assess how hydropower technologies can be deployed in new ways, such as through enhancing production of food by applying river sediments on cropland as fertilizer, or by changing hydropower technology toward smaller dams and in-stream turbines to reduce negative outcomes on river ecology and fish productivity. Along with the training of students and postdocs, a web-based decision support system will be developed to inform stakeholders about alternative hydropower designs and locations, offer options to increase benefits to stakeholders, and serve as a lasting legacy for policy makers, scientists, and local institutions in managing their food, water and energy resources. The scenarios for redesigned hydropower will potentially transform how hydropower is viewed, replacing a top-down approach that mandates a single-minded focus on maximizing energy production with a bottom-up approach informed by the complexity interlinking the food, energy, and water systems. The project will generate innovative solutions that will improve the acceptability of hydropower development in the US, Europe, and across the world.An estimated 3,700 major dams are currently either planned or under construction worldwide, and they will continue to play significant roles in energy production in the foreseeable future. This study's goal is to develop innovative solutions for hydropower-- not just to produce energy for the national grid, but woven into the surrounding food, water, and institutional systems. The team includes hydroengineers, hydrogeologists, climatologists, biologists and social scientists working in tandem to offer transformative solutions for hydropower development while ensuring that social and environmental benefits outweigh costs. The research teams will assess land cover change to understand deforestation risk in and around dams, and identify agricultural areas that can benefit from sediment application. Coupled hydrological and climate models, linked to land cover changes in different landscape and socio-ecological settings, including international collaborations, will identify better hydropower solutions including ways to move sediments to farms and/or locations for in-stream turbines. Institutional and governance analysis will examine the multi-tiered dimensions that intrude upon the way civil society benefits from hydropower. The project will generate innovative solutions to produce renewable energy from hydropower, increase food production, and lessen negative environmental and social impacts that have reduced the acceptability of hydropower development, in the US, Europe and across the world.