More On Sustainability — Part II
March 3rd, 2007
Submitted By: Derrick Fischer
I ran into this video on the Three Gorges Dam, from a link on Google Earth. Some of you may have seen this already if you watched the Discovery Atlas episode done on China. Anyway, it summarizes a few of the pros and cons of building the largest dam in the world. This dam is going to tame the devastating effects of the Yangtze River during a flood, and provide China with a clean source of energy to cover 10% of their annual electricity demands. However, according to the video and these two articles found here and here, this great feat of Chinese engineering comes at a great cost. Over one million people were forced off their land with minimal reimbursement. 1,200 towns and villages with centuries of history will be buried beneath the water. This is just another example that China is not afraid to do whatever it takes to pull their country into the 21st century.
This project is a major step forward in terms of providing China with a clean renewable source of energy. However, do the benefits outweigh the costs?
Is this another project designed to benefit the rich (those who can afford and receive the electricity) at the cost of the poor (those who are removed from their homes and left with a stagnant polluted lake)?
Is this how China should be dealing with their power crisis, or should they be spending their money on finding ways to use less electricity (i.e. more efficient buildings), or a mixture of both? Your thoughts?
Entry Filed under: Pre-Departure, Beijing, China, Misc.
5 Comments Add your own
1. Chris Carr | March 3rd, 2007 at 8:11 pm
Good post. Fascinating and controversial subject. And it does not stop there — China is currently trying to get off the ground several HUGE water diversion projects that will take water from its south to its north. Click here for details and a map that shows what they seek to accomplish (click on the “North South Water Diversion” box).
2. Bonnie Morse | March 3rd, 2007 at 8:59 pm
It is amazing thinking of the scale of this project and the logistics China must accomplish to complete it. Certainly it would be near impossible to move one million people in the United States to make way for a new dam. While I believe the costs of this project will be high in terms of the displacement of people and loss of historical landmarks, I think China currently has no choice. If China is to continue its growth it must provide a reliable source of power to meet its needs. Furthermore, I think this could be a first step towards sustainable energy sources later down the road. Although a dam is one of the least environmentally friendly power sources, it will give China increased stability so it can focus on other environmental problems like pollution in rivers and the atmosphere.
Dr. Carr, I know the logistics of our trip to China are relatively set it stone now, but will we have any chance to see some of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam?
3. Chris Carr | March 3rd, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Hi Bonnie.
Good question.
Sorry. Three Gorges is pretty far away from where we will be traveling.
4. Lee Smith | March 4th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
The US faced a lot of these same issues back in the 1930’s and 40’s when it built the Central Valley Project and the rest of the state water project canals. I am sure China could learn a great deal from California’s experiences in large water projects and there effects over time. That website from Carr’s post above is very interesting. I can not imagine the kind of pollution they are addressing. The sight says something like 42% of China’s major cities do not have a sewage treatment plant. When you think about major problems like this what is the lesser of two evils, displacing people or permanently destroying the environment? Though one!!
5. James Towers | March 22nd, 2007 at 11:17 pm
So everyone is talking about how this dam was built for the purposes of addressing China’s growing energy needs, but from my research it seems that there might be another pretty powerful reason. Because of the lock system developed at the dam, China will be able to transport ocean liners down the Yangtze. OCEAN-FREAKING-LINERS!!! in the middle of China. How much time and cost will that cut off of Wilmar’s logistics if it can directly export from central and eastern China. This will open up huge amounts of China, and will hopefully move some of the concentration of people away from the coast. I think that this is the biggest sustainable regard that the dam gives China. It is now able to ship from the much more of the country.
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