Droughts pose global risk to hydropower
Severe droughts are putting global hydropower at risk
Location: Santiago, Chile
(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PUBLIC WORKS MINISTER, ALFREDO MORENO, SAYING: "We are facing the worst hydrological crisis, the worst drought in our history.”
Location: Boulder City, Nevada
(SOUNDBITE) (English) PATTI AARON, SPOKESWOMAN, BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, LOWER COLORADO REGION, SAYING: "We're in the twenty second year of drought and the lake was about 95 percent full in year 2000, and now, we're at thirty five percent."
Location: Wuwei, China
(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 69-YEAR-OLD SHEPHERD, DING YINHUA, SAYING: "There wasn't a single raindrop from the sky.”
Hydropower is the world’s top source of zero-emissions energy and makes up close to 16% of world electricity generation
Source: International Energy Agency
Climate-driven droughts have triggered the biggest disruptions
in places like the western U.S., Brazil and China
leading governments to rely more heavily on fossil fuels
At the huge 2,000 megawatt Hoover Dam on the Colorado River
where one megawatt can power up to 1,000 homes
production was down about 25% in July
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom authorized the use of diesel generators and engines that emit more greenhouse gases
In Brazil, hydroelectric power is the top source of electricity at 61%
Drought recently cut water flows into hydro dams to a 91-year low
The country is seeking to activate thermoelectric plants to offset the drop in hydropower
More disruptions are expected globally
as the impact of climate change and rising temperatures persist
