Energy Revolutions: A Story of the Three Gorges Dam in China

Abstract

The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest hydroelectric dam recently built in Yantse River in China whose installed generation capacity is about 10 times larger than that of the Hoover Dam. This chapter explains the revolutions in energy technologies: electricity generations from fossil fuels as well as other sources that are either low-carbon emitting or renewable such as solar PV panels, offshore wind turbines, nuclear energy are reviewed. The array of energy generation technologies is compared with the hydroelectricity system with regard to the carbon intensity of energy generation as well as the economic cost of supplying energy. This chapter explains how the current and future global warming may give an incentive to build large hydroelectric dams in some geographic locations. The global hydroelectric capacity has nearly doubled during the past two decades through the constructions of massive dams such as the Three Gorges and is predicted to increase at a faster rate in the next decade. This chapter explains the world largest dams and ongoing dam projects and sheds light on the countries that relies predominantly on hydroelectricity such as Brazil, China, and Canada.