by Halsey W. Snow, Ph.D.
In our Clean Energy Transition it's become easy to think of the main culprit as our voracious appetite for fossil-fuel energy, and the resulting CO2 “greenhouse gas” (GHG) emissions which are – without a doubt – one of the biggest factors creating climate change. But there are other GHG emissions which contribute to Climate Change, such as methane – the primary source being natural gas and the myriad leaks in all the systems of storage and delivery, not to mention it's widespread use for home heating, cooking, etc. And then there's water vapor.
WHAT? Water vapor? Yes, the very stuff of clouds and humidity. Identified by NASA as a significant contributor to Climate Change, water vapor in our atmosphere has been increasing, especially in the arctic. Why this is a problem has to do with its source and its effects. The effects are – as with CO2 – warming of the Earth and the oceans, and the resulting melting of the icecaps. Increased water vapor creates increased cloud cover, trapping heat and adding to the existing pool of residual heat.
It's the SOURCE we need to be more concerned about. The source of much of this additional water vapor in the atmosphere is none other than that allegedly “clean, green” hydropower dams. All the many mega-dams (defined as a dam more than 400 feet tall) on almost all of the rivers in the sub-arctic of Canada and Siberia. This comes from the newly created (although many are decades old now) inland seas (i.e., “reservoirs”) behind these dams. Where once there was a free-flowing river, which froze in the winter (no evaporation there) now is flowing – at a greatly reduced rate - year-round, so that it can power those electric generators year-round. “Green?” - not by any known definition of that term. “Clean?” - let's take a look at that.
By “clean energy” we usually mean that the production of the energy takes nothing away from the Earth or the natural resources which are used in the creation of it, and adds nothing back into the environment which could be potentially harmful. It's important to recognize that there are two kinds of large-scale hydropower. One is referred to as “Flow-Through” - the best example being Niagara Falls in New York/Ontario. A part of the Niagara river is diverted, but soon rejoins the rest of the river downstream, and there is no “impoundment” of water, so the river continues to flow freely.
Impounded Reservoir Hydropower is the second type, and this has become a serious problem world-wide, the effects of which have been known since the beginning. Most of the hydropower now being used and in the planning stages is of this type. Our concerns focus primarily on the Arctic regions, where the impounded rivers have created sea-sized reservoirs, which not only increase the level of evaporation, but also: 1. melt the permafrost (not green); 2. release more methane gas (not clean); 3. steals lands from indigenous peoples and artificially restricts their traditional food supplies (not renewable); 4. cause ecological disasters downstream for the fish and other wildlife which depend on the river for their lives and sustenance; 5. accumulate methyl mercury in quantities much greater than exist naturally in a free-flowing river, thus poisoning the food supply in the impounded inland sea (not clean or green); and 6. make rivers which once froze in the winter to flow all year, with warmer water being released into the Arctic Ocean year-round.
When an arctic or sub-arctic river freezes in the winter, what comes with the Spring thaw is what is referred to as the “Spring freshet” - a huge burst of cold, fresh water released into the polar seas. The change which has resulted from the mega-dams in the Arctic is the drastic diminution of this Spring Freshet, and the multitude of minerals and other sources of food for the oceanic food chain, which is now being starved (CO2 removing plankton) by the withholding of the rivers' waters in the impounded reservoirs. And the loss of energy in the mixing of freshwater and saltwater due to the storage of the spring freshet moves the circulation system of coastal seas towards stagnation, which favors other plankton besides diatoms. Consequently, the marine ecosystem suffers along with the natural removal of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Could anyone think of a worse way to treat one of the most sensitive ecosystems on the planet? All for the pleasure – and profit - of having enough electrical power to export to the power-hungry US, and feed the growing population of Russia. Clean? Green? Renewable? Not by a long shot!
For more information or to get involved, contact the NECAPA group at necapa.me@gmail.com and get on their notification list for monthly education & action meetings.
Halsey Snow, Casco Maine 10/04/24
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The New England Canadian Provinces Alliance (NECAPA) is a Sierra Club Grassroots Network team working in New England and the Canada Provinces of Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, on developing an educational, advocacy and action campaign against the green-washing of mega-dams, and promoting green energy and climate justice.
Ref.: Kasprzak, Stephen M. ARCTIC BLUE DESERTS – Flatlining the Arctic's Pulse./ 2021, Tall Pine Publishing, Kennebunkport, Maine, USA
Submitted for publication in Green Energy Times, Issue 86 (Nov-Dec 2024)