Articles | Volume 6, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-195-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-195-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Framing hydropower as green energy: assessing drivers, risks and tensions in the Eastern Himalayas
R. Ahlers
Independent researcher, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
J. Budds
School of International Development, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
Water Resources Management, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
V. Merme
Independent researcher, The Hague, the Netherlands
M. Zwarteveen
Integrated Water Systems and Governance, UNESCO-IHE, Governance and Inclusive Development, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Water Resources Management, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
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54 citations as recorded by crossref.
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52 citations as recorded by crossref.
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- Sacrificing the local to support the national: Politics, sustainability, and governance in Nepal’s hydropower paradox A. Crootof et al. 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102206
- The ‘Double-Exposure’ of Riverine Communities in Northeast India to Dams and Climate Change C. Rampini 10.2139/ssrn.4175864
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- To dam or not to dam in an age of anthropocene: Insights from a genealogy of media discourses S. Flaminio et al. 10.1016/j.ancene.2021.100312
- Glacial change and hydrological implications in the Himalaya and Karakoram Y. Nie et al. 10.1038/s43017-020-00124-w
- More dams, more violence? A global analysis on resistances and repression around conflictive dams through co-produced knowledge D. Del Bene et al. 10.1007/s11625-018-0558-1
- A river runs through it? Exploring the contestation of Environmental Impact Assessment procedures for small hydropower projects M. Niță et al. 10.1016/j.erss.2023.102943
- Disputing the ‘National Interest’: The Depoliticization and Repoliticization of the Belo Monte Dam, Brazil E. Atkins 10.3390/w11010103
- Power production and environmental opinions – Environmentally motivated resistance to wind power in Sweden J. Anshelm & H. Simon 10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.211
- Ecología política de las hidroeléctricas J. Arias-Henao & D. Roca-Servat 10.11144/Javeriana.cdr19.epha
- News discourse and readers’ comments: Expanding the range of citizenship positions? Z. Pinto-Coelho et al. 10.1177/1464884917707595
- Representations of dams: infrastructures, concessions and controversies S. Flaminio 10.1051/lhb/2020010
- Hydro-energy cooperation in South Asia: Prospects for transboundary energy and water security U. Saklani et al. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.013
- Renewable Electricity Production in Mountain Regions: Toward a People-Centered Energy Transition Agenda C. Scott et al. 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-21-00062
- Transboundary ‘hydro‐hegemony’: 10 years later J. Warner et al. 10.1002/wat2.1242
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- Are Himalayan ecosystems facing hidden collapse? Assessing the drivers and impacts of change to aid conservation, restoration and conflict resolution challenges S. Dhyani 10.1007/s10531-023-02692-x
- Anticipating the impact of glaciers, landslides and extreme weather events on vulnerable hydropower projects and the development of an integrated multi-hazard warning system (IMWS) A. Kumar et al. 10.1016/j.seta.2024.103791
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- Mountains of Our Future Earth: Defining Priorities for Mountain Research—A Synthesis From the 2015 Perth III Conference E. Gleeson et al. 10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-16-00094.1
- The Consensual Politics of Development: A Case Study of Hydropower Development in the Eastern Himalayan Region of India D. Joshi et al. 10.53037/na.v5i1.9
- Watered down? Civil society organizations and hydropower development in the Darjeeling and Sikkim regions, Eastern Himalaya: A comparative study D. Joshi et al. 10.1080/14693062.2018.1557035
- Mapping research on hydropower and sustainability in the Brazilian Amazon: advances, gaps in knowledge and future directions S. Athayde et al. 10.1016/j.cosust.2019.06.004
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- Governing the transition to renewable energy: A review of impacts and policy issues in the small hydropower boom S. Kelly-Richards et al. 10.1016/j.enpol.2016.11.035
- Where walls of power meet the wall of money: Hydropower in the age of financialization R. Ahlers 10.1002/sd.1994
- Identification of Major Threats of Climate Change, Hazards, and Anthropogenic Activities on Biodiversity Conservation in the Buxa Tiger Reserve, India U. Das et al. 10.1007/s00267-024-01998-y
- Greening small hydropower: A brief review C. Shiji et al. 10.1016/j.esr.2021.100676
- Dammed and diversionary: The multi‐dimensional framing of Brazil's Belo Monte dam E. Atkins 10.1111/sjtg.12206
- We Have Eaten the Rivers: The Past, Present, and Unsustainable Future of Hydroelectricity in Vietnam G. Sasges & A. Ziegler 10.3390/su15118969
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Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 23 Nov 2024
Short summary
Ambitious hydropower plans in the Eastern Himalayas prominently involve the private finance sector. We question the framing of hydropower as green energy, interrogate its links with climate change, and examine its potential for investment and capital accumulation and show a number of serious contradictions. Impacts cannot be simply predicted, controlled or mitigated. More focus on political economic drivers and geo-ecological uncertainties infused with localized understandings is sorely needed.
Ambitious hydropower plans in the Eastern Himalayas prominently involve the private finance...
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