Imagine one of the last big rivers high in the Himalayas of Tibet being harnessed for hydroelectricity. Now that a railway has been constructed to Tibet, China is planning a series of projects on the Tsangpo/Brahmaputia river which winds its way through the mountains to eventually join the Ganges in India.According to Jonathan Watts at the Guardian, the biggest of the projects will be a huge plant at the great bend. It would involve the construction of a series of tunnels, pipes, reservoirs and turbines to exploit the spectacular 2,000-metre fall of the river as it curls down towards India.
One plan is a giant 38 gigawatt hydropower plant that would be more than half as big again as the Three Gorges dam, with a capacity nearly half as large as the UK's national grid.
"This dam could save 200m tonnes of carbon each year. We should not waste the opportunity of the biggest carbon emission reduction project. For the sake of the entire world, all the water resources than can be developed should be developed." That CO2 saving would be huge according to analysts.
Tapping the power of the river as it bends and plunges from the Himalayan roof of the world down towards the Indian and Bangladeshi flood plains has long been a dream of the world's hydro-engineers. One wonders, however, about the environmental costs and the displacement of traditional communities along the way.
The projects under consideration also encourages one to think about the other great hydroelectric projects in the world which tap nature's great power and which provide a relatively clean source of energy. Are these mega projects always above reproach?
