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As huge hydroelectric dams blocked most major rivers in northern Manitoba, life for some First Nations forever changed. Five Cree Nations share their stories of the long road back to [...]

For decades, the Mekong River has been a site of ongoing tensions between China-backed infrastructure and communities relying on the mighty Mekong for their lives and livelihoods. In Thailand, tensions have escalated into actions against ecologically damaging hydropower dam development and the blasting of river rapids for Chinese navigation in a Thai border town. This article examines how Chinese transnational infrastructure has been reconfiguring power relationships among actors at multiple scales. Based on my fieldwork, I offer a narrative of the concerted efforts by one small community-based environmental group in northern Thailand, some of whose activism has prodded Chinese planners and project managers into responding to widespread criticism of ecological damage caused by its hydropower and riparian infrastructure and ignoring the needs of downstream local communities. The interactions between Chinese agencies and local NGOs will be discussed through the concept of a moral ecology of infrastructure, which contributes to transcending infrastructure and the environment, enabling a broadened understanding of human and nonhuman relations in more recent retrofitting of the dams and waterway projects. I argue that the reconfigured 'Green' Belt and Road Initiative is a contingent process in which multiple transnational actors claim decision-making power over the retrofitting and redevelopment of the Mekong's ecological infrastructure., Since the Belt and Road initiative (BRI) was launched in 2013 as a cornerstone of China's foreign policy, large-scale Chinese infrastructural projects have been hyped as part of a lucrative [...]

Decarbonisation of the Nordic power sector entails substantial variable renewable energy (VRE) adoption. While Nordic hydropower reservoirs can mitigate VRE output's intermittency, strategic hydro producers may leverage increased flexibility requirements to exert market power. Using a Nash-Cournot model, we find that even the current Nordic power system could yield modest gains from strategic reservoir operations regardless of a prohibition on 'spilling' water to increase prices. Instead, strategic hydro producers could shift generation from peak to offpeak seasons. Such temporal arbitrage becomes more attractive under a climate package with a [euro] 100/t C[O.sub.2] price and doubled VRE capacity. Since the package increases generation variability, lowers average prices, and makes fossil-fuelled plants unprofitable, strategic hydro producers face lower opportunity costs in shifting output from peak to off-peak seasons and encounter muted responses from price-taking fossil-fuelled plants. Hence, a climate package that curtails C[O.sub.2] emissions may also bolster strategic hydro producers' leverage. Keywords: Electricity markets, Equilibrium modelling, Hydropower, Market power, Carbon policy, 1. INTRODUCTION Future climate packages in OECD countries envisage deep decarbonisation of the power sector by relying upon variable renewable energy (VRE) sources, viz., wind and solar power. For example, [...]

It all started so well. Within three years of the first hydropower project at an English inventor's home in 1878, there was an electricity plant at Niagara Falls, and soon [...]

Richard Foster Yarde (1939-2011) created Cunard Street, Interior II in 1980 as part of his Apartment Series. It stemmed from some earlier work in which he was interested in the [...]

Anthropogenic rivers: The production of uncertainty in Lao hydropower By JEROME WHITINGTON Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2018. Pp. xvi, 266. Notes, Bibliography, Index. In a stirring attempt to understand [...]

Over the past year, procurement in the public sector has attracted increased attention as governments have fought COVID-19--first by trying to provide the vast array of equipment needed by the [...]

Migration rates, delay, timing, and success of acoustic-tagged Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) presmolts (n = 120) and smolts (n = 57) are reported as they moved through the large Mactaquac Generating Station (MGS) reservoir and subsequently the lower Saint John River (SJR). The potential relationship between fish movements and the MGS operations was examined directly and via a hydrodynamic model. Migration rates were 15.4-29.3 km * [day.sup.-1] within the river sections and 5.0-13.3 km-day-1 through the reservoir, a significant reduction of 32%-57%. Migratory timing was temporally mismatched with dam operations such that only a few (n = 3) smolts had the option of dam passage via spill. Migration success estimated as apparent survival was high through the reservoir (81%-100%), declined by 8%-32% during passage at the MGS, and additional losses (27%-55%) occurred during the migration to the lower SJR, such that overall survival to the estuary for the groups tagged as autumn presmolts was 61%-65%, and survival for those tagged as spring smolts was 6%-10%. Le present article fait etat des vitesses, retards, moments et succes de la migration de saumons atlantiques (Salmo salar) dotes d'etiquettes acoustiques aux stades de pre-saumoneau (n = 120) et de saumoneau (n = 57), durant leurs deplacements a travers le grand reservoir de la centrale electrique de Mactaquac (CEM), puis dans le cours inferieur du fleuve Saint-Jean (FSJ). Le lien potentiel entre les deplacements des poissons et les activites a la CEM a ete examine directement et par l'entremise d'un modele hydrodynamique. Les vitesses de migration etaient de 15,4-29,3 km * [jour.sup.-1] dans les tronqons du fleuve et de 5,013,3 kmjour-1 dans le reservoir, pour une baisse significative de 32-57%. Le moment de la migration etait decale dans le temps par rapport aux activites au barrage, de sorte que seuls quelques saumoneaux (n = 3) avaient l'option de franchir le barrage par l'evacuateur. Le succes de migration, estime comme etant le taux de survie apparent, etait eleve dans tout le reservoir (81-100%) et diminuait de 8-32% durant le passage dans la CEM, d'autres pertes (27-55%) se produisant durant la migration dans le cours inferieur du FSJ, de sorte que les taux de survie globaux une fois l'estuaire atteint pour les groupes etiquetes comme etant des pre-saumoneaux de l'automne etaient de 61-65%, et pour ceux etiquetes comme des saumoneaux du printemps etaient de 6-10%., Introduction Migration of diadromous fishes is challenged worldwide by hydropower stations and the reservoirs they create, risking loss of some species such as eels (Anguilla spp.), shads (Alosa spp.), and [...]

Hydrostatic pressure is known to protect fish from damage by total dissolved gas (TDG) supersaturation, but empirical relationships are lacking. In this study we demonstrate the relationship between depth, TDG, and gas bubble trauma (GBT). Hydroelectric dams generate TDG supersaturation that causes bubble growth in the tissues of aquatic animals, resulting in sublethal and lethal effects. We exposed fish to 100%, 115%, 120%, and 130% TDG at 16 and 63 cm of depth and recorded time to 50% loss of equilibrium and sublethal symptoms. Our linear model of the log-transformed time to 50% LOE ([R.sup.2] = 0.94) was improved by including depth. Based on our model, a depth of 47 cm compensated for the effects of 4.1% ([+ or -]1.3% SE) TDG supersaturation. Our experiment reveals that once the surface threshold for GBT from TDG supersaturation is known, depth protects rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) from GBT by 9.7% TDG supersaturation per metre depth. Our results can be used to estimate the impacts of TDG on fish downstream of dams and to develop improved guidelines for TDG. S'il est bien etabli que la pression hydrostatique protege les poissons de lesions causees par une sursaturation en gaz totaux dissous (GTD), des relations empiriques manquent pour decrire cet effet. Nous demontrons la relation entre la profondeur, les GTD et l'embolie gazeuse. Les barrages hydroelectriques produisent une sursaturation de GTD qui cause la croissance de bulles dans les tissus d'animaux aquatiques, entramant des effets subletaux et letaux. Nous avons expose des poissons a des degres de saturation des GTD de 100 %, 115 %, 120 % et 130 % a des profondeurs de 16 cm et 63 cm et avons note le temps ecoule avant une perte d'equilibre (PE) chez 50 % des poissons et l'apparition de symptomes subletaux. L'inclusion de la profondeur ameliorait notre modele lineaire des valeurs log-transformees du temps pour atteindre une PE de 50 % ([R.sup.2] = 0,94). Selon notre modele, une profondeur de 47 cm compense les effets d'une sursaturation de 4,1 % (erreur type [+ or -]1,3 %) des GTD. Notre experience revele que, une fois que la valeur seuil de sursaturation en GTD entramant l'embolie gazeuse a la surface est connue, la profondeur protege les truites arc-en-ciel (Oncorhynchus mykiss) de l'embolie gazeuse a raison d'une augmentation de 9,7 % de la sursaturation des GTD par metre de profondeur. Nos resultats peuvent etre utilises pour estimer les impacts des GTD sur les poissons en aval de barrages et pour elaborer de meilleures directives relatives aux GTD. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction The recent increase in dam construction is altering freshwater habitats worldwide. The International Commission On Large Dams has registered over 59 000 dams with a height that exceed 15 [...]

'Democracy in government is almost impossible until we have a democracy in industrialism to the extent of public ownership of all the great agencies such as transportation by rail, water [...]

Abstract Ethiopia's current economic plans call for extensive development along its riverine resources in lowland regions, areas typically occupied by pastoral and agro-pastoral peoples. These plans include the development of [...]

ENERGY DEVELOPMENT River turbines permission challenge foiled again An Oxfordshire parish council has lost a further legal challenge to a district council's decision to permit a three-turbine hydroelectric power plant [...]

IN HIS 1932 BOOK, HUMAN GEOGRAPHY OF THE SOUTH: A STUDY IN Regional Resources and Human Adequacy, sociologist Rupert B. Vance declared, 'There are two great economic complexes that may [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2007.05.044 Byline: Thor BA[cedilla]ckman, Stein-Erik Fleten, Erik Juliussen, HA[yen]vard J. Langhammer, Ingemar Revdal Keywords: OR in energy; Real options; Continuous scaling; Project evaluation; Hydropower Abstract: This paper presents a method for assessing small hydropower projects that are subject to uncertain electricity prices. We present a real options-based method with continuous scaling, and we find that there is a unique price limit for initiating the project. If the current electricity price is below this limit it is never optimal to invest, but above this limit investment is made according to the function for optimal size. The connection between the real option and the physical properties of a small hydropower plant is dealt with using a spreadsheet model that performs a technical simulation of the production in a plant, based on all the important choices for such a plant. The main results of the spreadsheet are simulated production size and the investment costs, which are in turn used for finding the value of the real option and the price limit. The method is illustrated on three different Norwegian small hydropower projects. Author Affiliation: Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway Article History: Received 23 June 2005; Accepted 23 May 2007

Byline: S. Vicuna (1), R. Leonardson (1), M. W. Hanemann (2), L. L. Dale (3), J. A. Dracup (1) Abstract: Climate change is likely to affect the generation of energy from California's high-elevation hydropower systems. To investigate these impacts, this study formulates a linear programming model of an 11-reservoir hydroelectric system operated by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in the Upper American River basin. Four sets of hydrologic scenarios are developed using the Variable Infiltration Capacity model combined with climatic output from two general circulation models under two greenhouse-gas emissions scenarios. Power generation and revenues fall under two of the four climate change scenarios, as a consequence of drier hydrologic conditions. Energy generation is primarily limited by annual volume of streamflow, and is affected more than revenues, reflecting the ability of the system to store water when energy prices are low for use when prices are high (July through September). Power generation and revenues increase for two of the scenarios, which predict wetter hydrologic conditions. In this case, power generation increases more than revenues indicating that the system is using most of its available capacity under current hydrologic conditions. Hydroelectric systems located in basins with hydrograph centroids occuring close to summer months (July through September) are likely to be affected by the changes in hydrologic timing associated with climate change (e.g., earlier snowmelts and streamflows) if the systems lack sufficient storage capacity. High Sierra hydroelectric systems with sufficiently large storage capacity should not be affected by climate-induced changes in hydrologic timing. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California, 612 Davis Hall, Mail Code 1710, Berkeley, CA, 94720-1710, USA (2) Department of Agricultural Resource Economics, University of California, Mail Code 3310, Berkeley, CA, 94720-3310, USA (3) Environmental Energy Technologies Division, University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory One Cyclotron Road, MS: 90-4000, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA Article History: Registration Date: 29/10/2007 Received Date: 02/08/2006 Accepted Date: 05/10/2007 Online Date: 23/11/2007

This article outlines an approach, based on ecosystem services, for assessing the trade-offs inherent in managing humans embedded in ecological systems. Evaluating these trade-offs requires an understanding of the biophysical […]

Since the early 1900s, foreign direct investments (FDIs) have greatly affected Norwegian society, especially peripheral communities. This article analyses how transnational corporations (TNCs) use territory down to the local level, and how this complex relationship between firms and spaces is shaped by attributes related to the TNC and the characteristics of the local economy. An extensive literature discusses different types of effects and spillovers, such as vertical supply linkages and spin-offs, but theoretical explanations of outcomes are more difficult. The literature links positive as well as negative outcomes to local conditions and to the investment motives of the entity making the FDI, but says little about how these vary with types of business, communities and national economies, and how these interactions generate different outcomes. We conclude that FDIs have different abilities to transform an area. We argue that FDI can trigger path-dependent dependency when it is dominated by economic capital and path-dependent development when it consists of a balance of economic capital, social networks and knowledge. This variation in the effects of FDI is illustrated by an empirical analysis of two industrial towns in Western Norway, one with natural resources and the other with intangible technology resources., Depuis le debut des annees 1900, les investissements directs d l'etranger (IDE) ont grandement marque la societe norvegienne, notamment dans les communautes peripheriques. Cet article presente une analyse de la [...]

State and local governmental units issued nearly $2.1 trillion of tax-exempt bonds between 1996 and 2002. The majority ($1.5 trillion) of these tax-exempt bonds were Governmental bonds, the proceeds of [...]

North America's Columbia River is the country's prime hydroelectric source and the great potential of this river made electric power synonymous with political power for thirty years. The struggle of state and country leaders, politicians and others of similar ilk to exercise control over the Columbia River issue is outlined in detail.

The aim of this work is to build a model able to simulate a hydrothermal electric power market based on simple bids to a power exchange. The model studies the behavior of different market agents in a short-term horizon and delivers information about spot prices, use of water, and other relevant variables. Initially, a thermoelectric market is simulated through a static model based on Cournot concepts. The addition of hydroelectric power stations and time dependencies is made later, using a dynamic programming algorithm to build a dynamic model. In each stage and state of the dynamic programming, a Nash-Cournot equilibrium is determined to assess the behavior of the thermoelectric power stations (static model). Different strategies that firms can follow and the consequences of each one of them are analyzed. Market power mitigation effects of physical and financial bilateral contracts are also investigated. A case study with data on the Chilean power system is presented and analyzed. Index Terms--Cournot, electric market, game theory, market power, oligopoly, power sector deregulation.