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Hydropower - a Faustian bargain
It is the most widely used renewable source of power but carries its own risks
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While hydroelectric generation itself emits no greenhouse gases, dams and reservoirs emit significant amounts of methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.
PHOTO: AFP
Brahma Chellaney
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The era of cheap oil and gas is over. Russia's war in Ukraine - or, more specifically, Europe's ambitious effort to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels at a time when international supplies are already tight - is driving up global energy prices and raising the spectre of a global energy crisis. Alternative sources of energy are looking more appealing by the day, as they should.
But the embrace of hydropower, in particular, carries its own risks.
