Establishing eco-environmental monitoring networks for China hydropower reservoirs

The Paris Agreement provides a global framework for sustainable development, and China has pledged to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The "dual-carbon" goals, announced by President Xi Jinping at the 75th United Nations General Assembly, underscore the country’s commitment to addressing climate change. However, thermal power still accounted for 67% of China's energy mix as of 2022. Hydropower could play a pivotal role in China's energy transition, acting as a cornerstone for achieving its ambitious green and low-carbon development goals. The rapid growth of hydropower has already been a game changer. Over the past four decades, China's installed hydropower capacity surged from a modest 20 GW to an impressive 368 GW, making it the global leader. Nevertheless, with only 37% of its profitable hydropower potential developed (in terms of electricity generation), lower than that of Brazil, the United States, and Canada, China still has considerable room to expand.

Hydropower production typically involves damming rivers to create reservoirs, which provides the necessary head potential energy. This process often leads to several well-documented ecological and environmental concerns, covering physical, chemical, and biological aspects such as river fragmentation; alteration of hydrodynamic, hydrothermal, and nutrient regimes; greenhouse gas emissions; as well as destruction of fish habitats. The impacts of hydropower development, both positive and negative, have been debated for a long time. This controversy stems from two main reasons. First, stakeholders have differing priorities, such as economic growth, energy needs, or environmental protection. Second, our understanding of the negative impacts of dams remains limited. Many effects, like ecosystem changes, biodiversity loss, and social disruptions, are complex and hard to measure and quantify. Nevertheless, these adverse eco-environmental impacts pose major challenges to making hydropower a more sustainable and eco-environmentally friendly development.