The World’s Biggest Source of Clean Energy - hydropower - Is Evaporating Fast
From California to Germany and China, climate change-fueled heatwaves and droughts have shrunk rivers that feed giant hydropower plants.
China’s Three Gorges Dam is an awe-inspiring sight, a vast barrier across the Yangtze River
Dams are the world’s largest source of clean energy, yet extreme weather is making them less effective in the battle against climate change.
Globally, hydropower generates more electricity than nuclear and more power than wind and solar combined.
Grid operators can use them as a dispatchable source — one that can be almost instantly switched on when it’s needed, similar to coal or gas.
Except when there’s no water.
The worst drought in 1,200 years this year in the US West means parched reservoirs can only churn out half of the power they normally supply to California, increasing the risk of rolling blackouts across the state.
Lake Mead, the reservoir behind the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Western US, provides 90% of Las Vegas’s water supply as well as feeding cities such as Los Angeles and irrigating hundreds of thousands of acres of crops.
Bloomberg News 26 October 2022
The Mississippi River Is Drying Up, Disrupting a Vital Supply Lane
WSJ 21 October 2022
https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-mississippi-river-is-drying-up.html
Global temperatures will increase between 2.1 and 2.9 Celsius by the end of the century even if current climate promises are kept, updated IPCC alert urging faster action say
MarketWatch 26 October 2022
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