Suchergebnisse

Construction delays are a common phenomenon in the history of hydropower projects in the world generally and in Pakistan particularly. This research presents the case study of Diamar Basha Dam, one of the most delayed hydropower projects with a checkered history in Pakistan. Feasibility studies of Diamar Basha Dam have been carried out over the last 26 years and there seem to be no signs of its construction to date because of financial issues and territorial disputes with neighbors. It has also given a bird's eye view of unfathomable political conditions of the Kashmir dispute after the British colonization that gave rise to a new political identity to Gilgit Baltistan. The peaceful and fair solution to this political quagmire has been presented in this paper by employing Hall's Tri-Dimension Model. If all three nuclear powers agreed on the given solution then this could ultimately lead to a healthier economic future of the entire region and could play a pivotal role in changing the face of South Asia because a country can make significant economic progress by harnessing adequately its water resources. The progressive economic future of the country largely hinges on hydropower plants because their advantages outweigh their disadvantages.

AbstractThis paper examines the impact of foreign direct investment and especially the role of hydropower projects in achieving national development goals in the Lao PDR. It focuses on the environmental and social impacts of large‐scale projects by using the Theun‐Hinboun hydropower project as an example of controversies related to development interventions affecting livelihoods dependent on the natural resource base. Findings suggest that even though the Theun‐Hinboun hydropower project has evolved into a kind of model project, several questions related to the final impact on poverty reduction, mitigation of environmental and social impacts and the participation of project affected people remain open. The relative success of Theun‐Hinboun may not be easily repeated, especially as planned new hydropower schemes cause even more profound impacts on still largely subsistence based livelihoods and the environment. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The current discussion about global warming and the possibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through hydropower has given a new turn to the debate about dams, resulting in the re-evaluation of this otherwise disputed technology. This trend materializes in the massive financial support that the United Nation's carbon offsetting scheme Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) mobilizes for the construction of new hydropower plants in developing countries. As defined in the Kyoto Protocol, CDM projects are supposed to avoid greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously contributing to sustainable development. The objective of this chapter is to analyze to what extent carbon-offsetting-dams are able to live up to this 'win-win' expectation. By identifying considerable challenges and constraints it is argued that the contribution of large hydropower projects to climate protection as well as their sustainability impact is in many cases highly doubtful. Given the controversial effects large dams may have on the local level it is discussed in which respect carbon-offsetting-dams constitute a form of 'carbon colonialism' that results in the exacerbation of one of the most problematic aspects of global warming: the asymmetries of problem causation and burdensharing.

<p>The increasing global demand for energy combined with the ongoing quest for clean, renewable energy has been a topic of perceived interest among countries of developed and developing world. Construction and operations of dams have always been associated with changes in the physical, biological and social environment. No doubt electricity generation is the need of the hours for development, but the large projects do involve the submersion of large track of land and the displacement of people. Socio-economic and cultural impacts arising from project construction and environmental transformations are rooted in the complex interactivity between social and biophysical environments. Human communities are integral components of their environment as well as potential agents for environmental change. Hence environmental changes in settled areas are often profoundly interlinked with subsequent changes that occur within society. This paper focuses on the impacts of Hydro-electric power projects in the Himalayan region of Sikkim with special reference to the Dzongu which focus on demographic and Socio-economic changes. While benefits such as employment have accrued to the rural community from these economic development projects, changes in land use and in people's occupations may have adverse impacts on their future livelihoods. The interests of local must be listened to and taken care of during the planning and the policy makers must adopt a model or strategies so that the impacts and effects of such type developmental activities can be minimized and local people who are living in the vicinity as well as who have sacrificed their belongings. To maximize the positive impacts and mitigate the negative environmental, social and economic impacts, sustainability of water resources projects is required.</p><p>Keywords: Dzongu, Hydropower, Lepcha, Sikkim, Socio-economic impact.</p>

In den vergangenen Jahrzehnten hat eine zunehmende Sensibilisierung bzgl. der Vermeidung von Umweltbelastungen im Zusammenhang mit dem Abbau und dem Verbrauch natürlicher Ressourcen stattgefunden. Das Thema ist nicht nur Gegenstand von Wissenschaft und Politik, sondern wird von einer breiten Öffentlichkeit diskutiert. Da Energieerzeugung stets an die Nutzung und insofern auch an die Belastung natürlicher Ressourcen gebunden ist, betrifft diese Thematik Energieversorgungsunternehmen in besonderem Maße. Externe Effekte lassen sich in positive und negative externe Effekte unterteilen. Dabei werden im weitesten Sinne Vorteile als "Nutzen" und Nachteile als "Kosten" bezeichnet. Externe Kosten entstehen, wenn einem Dritten, häufig der Allgemeinheit, ein Schaden oder eine Beeinträchtigung zugefügt wird, ohne dass der Betroffene dafür eine Entschädigung erhält. Bei externen Nutzen werden umgekehrt einem Dritten, häufig der Allgemeinheit, durch ein Vorhaben Vorteile zuteil, ohne dass der Nutznießer diese abgilt. Der Fokus der vorliegenden von der Stiftung Energieforschung Baden-Württemberg geförderten Arbeit liegt auf der in Deutschland hauptsächlich vorkommenden Laufwasserkraftnutzung. Zu den externen Kosten der Laufwasserkraftnutzung zählt beispielsweise die Entnahme von Wasser aus Flüssen, bei der auf Teilstrecken des Flusses der Lebensraum von Fischen verändert wird, wofür der Wasserkraftbetreiber keine Entschädigung zahlen muss. Externe Nutzen der Wasserkraft entstehen z. B. durch die Schaffung zusätzlicher Arbeitsplätze, den Schutz gegen Hochwasser oder die Errichtung eines Erholungsgebietes durch einen Stausee. Da aufgrund der fehlenden Kompensation für diese externen Effekte, unabhängig davon ob Nutzen oder Kosten, keine Preise existieren, können diese bislang nahezu nicht oder nur sehr schwer bewertet werden. Darüber hinaus ist der durch sie entstehende Schaden oder Nutzen von sehr unterschiedlichem Wert für die einzelnen Individuen. Bei einer Berücksichtigung externer Effekte müssen neben der hauptsächlich auf die Wirtschaftlichkeit eines Projekts ausgerichteten Zielsetzung des Unternehmens auch die gesamtwirtschaftlichen, gesellschaftlichen und ökologischen Aspekte mit einbezogen werden. Zunächst erfolgte eine Katalogisierung aller potentiellen externen Effekte in Form einer allgemeinen Bewertungsmatrix, in der die Wirkungszeit und der Wirkungsbereich der Auswirkungen berücksichtigt wird, wobei insbesondere die Nutzen der Wasserkraftnutzung herausgearbeitet werden, da diese in vorangegangenen Studien und bei der Betrachtung mit anderen Energieerzeugungsformen oft vernachlässigt wurden. Eine Quantifizierung externer Effekte gestaltet sich vor allem aufgrund der Tatsache als schwierig, da die Wertvorstellungen der unterschiedlichen Individuen sehr variieren. Daher beschränkt sich bislang die Einbeziehung der ökologischen und sozialen Auswirkungen meist auf eine verbale Beschreibung im Vergleich zum "idealen" Zustand. Vor diesem Hintergrund würde sich eine monetäre Quantifizierung aufgrund ihrer guten Allgemeinverständlichkeit anbieten. Jedoch ist sie in der Realität häufig schwer umsetzbar, da in den meisten Fällen Preise für die externen Effekte nicht existieren. Aus diesem Grund wurden auch nicht-monetäre Verfahren zur Quantifizierung entwickelt, die im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit diskutiert werden. Sowohl die Katalogisierung der externen Effekte als auch die Quantifizierungsansätze stellen eine grundlegende Voraussetzung für die Durchführung eines Bewertungsverfahrens dar. Erst auf Basis eines Bewertungsverfahrens lassen sich unterschiedliche Alternativen hinsichtlich ihrer Umweltverträglichkeit bewerten und ranken. Die Nutzwertanalyse kristallisiert sich als das am besten geeignete Verfahren für eine Bewertung externer Effekte heraus. Daher bildet die Nutzwertanalyse auch die Basis für das erarbeitete Simulations- und Bewertungsverfahren für externe Effekte der Laufwasserkraftnutzung. So gehen die bereits ex ante entwickelten Erkenntnisse bezüglich der Katalogisierung und Quantifizierung der externen Effekte in das Bewertungsverfahren mit ein. Das erarbeitete Verfahren bietet die Möglichkeit, im Vorfeld eines Projekts alle positiven und negativen Aspekte herauszuarbeiten und so mit allen Interessensgruppen schon frühzeitig in Dialog zu treten. Bei einer rein wirtschaftlichen Betrachtung auf monetärer Basis werden die externen Nutzen, aber auch die Kosten, vernachlässigt. Werden auch externe Effekte berücksichtigt, führt dies zu einer Verschiebung des Rankings von Alternativen. Eine Integration externer Effekte in die Betrachtung ist hilfreich, um eine wirtschaftlich, ökologisch und soziologisch optimale Alternative zu entwickeln. Dabei kann es sich um einen Projektvergleich innerhalb des Wasserkraftsektors handeln oder aber um den Vergleich verschiedener Energieerzeugungsformen gehen. ; Ecological and social impacts play an important role with regard to energy production issues. Over the last decades there have been growing concerns on behalf of the public with respect to the reduction of the environmental impacts of energy production and the exploitation of the limited natural resources. These ecological and social impacts concern mainly the externalities. Nuclear accidents or the air pollution of a coal power plant are examples of dramatic externalities of energy production. Hydropower plants have also positive and negative effects. Even people not involved in hydropower development are effected by them. It is therefore important when setting up a project to study potential externalities from hydropower energy production in detail. External costs and benefits can be distinguished in discussing these externalities. Their main characteristic is the fact that non-effected public are subject to a positive or a negative impact and may not be compensated for the negative impacts or may not have to pay for benefits. The degree of acceptance of any kind of energy production project depends mainly on the proportion of these impacts, that is, which effects occur and how great their positive effects are in relation to their negative impacts. For the local government as well as for the public it is reasonable to agree to a hydropower project if the balance between the two is inclined on the positive side. This study, supported by the "Stiftung Energieforschung Baden-Württemberg", examined the externalities of hydropower energy production to provide an improved tool for comparison to other forms of energy production (e. g., nuclear or coal) and for comparison between different alternatives in projecting a hydropower plant. Since Baden-Württemberg harnesses hydropower resources mainly by run-of-river plants, this study focuses on this type of plants. At the beginning of the study a list of all potential external costs and benefits arising in the context of run-of-river plants had to be made. For reasons of clearness, they were categorized into 13 groups. These groups were further subdivided into subsections to facilitate a logical overview. These parameters form the basis for the evaluation of the externalities. To obtain an impartial evaluation, common methods are used including e. g., the value benefit analysis. Since the valuation of externalities on a monetary scale is difficult or sometimes not possible at all, the realisation of a traditional cost-benefit-analysis is not feasible. For the final evaluation in this study it is totally dispensed with a monetary evaluation and preference is given to a value benefit analysis. The value benefit analysis is based on a valuation on a weighting scale with a certain number of value digits; in this study a scale of six value digits was chosen. For the interpretation of the results after evaluation, costs get a negative and benefits a positive sign. Is the final sum of all single subsections a positive value the benefits of this plant or this alternative outweigh the costs. In case of a comparison between alternatives it can easily be shown which one has the greatest external benefits or which one causes the biggest external costs. The final selection of an alternative depends on the complete cost-benefit-analysis which includes the internal and external effects. During the feasibility study which includes an environmental impact assessment it is important to show on the one hand clearly that there might be impacts on the ecological balance and on the other hand to stress that there are solutions for most of the critical aspects as well as clear advantages for the public especially compared with other ways of energy production. When both the negative and also the positive aspects of a project are presented, the public is more willing to accept its negative effects. In the feasibility study the best location of a project and the best alternative have to be found. Each one has advantages or disadvantages which have to be evaluated in the study. The inclusion of secondary benefits can completely change the ranking of competing options. It is obviously essential that multipurpose aspects have to be taken into account when evaluating projects. The study concludes that externalities should be included in calculating the "true" unit energy cost for hydropower; and "true" hydropower energy cost should be used in cost comparisons with other forms of power generation in order to justify the subsidies and other benefits (e. g., in form of acts) hydropower receives from the government.

AbstractThis study is an attempt to determine whether the need to get hydropower project appraisals perfectly right during the pre-construction phase, so as to prevent significant overruns along with benefit shortfalls, should supersede the need to deliver projects at the earliest possible time so as to meet the needs of the people. To achieve the study objective, we test whether the Hiding Hand principle is predominantly benevolent or malevolent. We argue that if the Hiding Hand is benevolent, then project stakeholders are better off focusing on the quick delivery of power projects; however, if it is malevolent, then more attention should be given to perfecting project appraisals. It transpires from the statistical analysis that the Benevolent Hiding Hand dominates the Malevolent Hiding Hand in the selected World Bank-financed hydropower projects (33% v. 21%), and that ultimately, 75% of the projects were even more successful than anticipated—while 25% of the projects failed. Our findings further show that while a total loss of 2.335 billion USD in the sampled dams was caused by the Malevolent Hiding Hand, 11.259 billion USD was gained as a result of the Benevolent Hiding Hand. The predominance of the Benevolent Hiding Hand justifies placing some weight on proceeding with hydropower projects that show significant promise even if all the implantation risks are not fully quantified at the appraisal stage, especially in developing countries.

This study aims to specify the contextual conditions that allow for the success of community renewable energy projects, against the background of the expanding use of renewable energy. It analyzes cases where farmers invested in organizations to establish ownership of hydropower plants in the Chugoku region, Japan. Community renewable energy projects derived from local initiatives to provide an alternative energy resource and serve as a catalyst for rural development. However, the costs of small hydropower plant construction and the expert knowledge required for their operation could hinder the diffusion of the technology. Population decline and aging in rural communities also constrain the development of community renewable energy projects. This study presents cases that illuminate the conditions enabling these organizations to succeed in securing the necessary resources for the operation of their renewable energy plants. The survey illustrates how studied organizations have opted to collaborate with external actors to construct or refurbish their plants. The findings indicate that as building partnerships with external actors often becomes essential, it is vital to develop a business-minded framework in which both communities and external actors can financially benefit from introducing small hydropower projects. The cases also reveal that in building collaborative relationships, broad disparities exist between communities and external actors in financial power and expert knowledge, which give the latter substantial advantages in negotiations. An additional important claim derived is that, for an effective partnership that enables a successful community renewable energy project, a third party with expert knowledge and the ability to audit partnership-building processes could play a crucial role in securing community initiatives and independence.