There was a justification for this, claimed the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) some years ago. Yet its climate experts still contended that hydropower could be a crucial part of the world’s energy transition, arguing that an electric dam will produce seemingly endless energy. Under those anaerobic conditions, rotting vegetation generates methane instead.”While CO 2 also seriously harms the climate, methane emissions are far worse in the short term. Similarly, in southern Africa, water levels at the Kariba Dam’s reservoir, located between Zambia and Zimbabwe, have fluctuated drastically, impairing its ability to produce consistent energy. Hydropower won’t help solve the climate crisis, but new dam projects may lead to war over one thing key to our survival—access to fresh, clean water.

Source: Ethiopian News February 21, 2024 16:07 UTC