IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 23

Second, hydropower's reputation
as a low carbon energy solution has
come under major scientific scrutiny
in recent years. According to the lat-
est science, reservoirs in different
natural belts are responsible for dif-
ferent levels of emissions. In many
rocky regions low on vegetation
and population, such as in Iceland
and other northern mountainous
regions, the production of electric-
ity from hydropower with temperate
reservoirs is a net gain in terms of
mitigating emissions from electric-
ity production. In Asia, Africa and
South America however reservoirs
inundate tropical vegetation that
decays, releasing masses of meth-
ane and soil carbon that can repre-
sent a net loss for mitigation.
While estimating emissions from
hydroelectric generation is still an
evolving field, there is broad consen-
sus among the scientific community
that methane production is a major
concern for tropical freshwater res-
ervoirs [46]-[50]. Major emission
pathways for fresh water storage
reservoirs include diffusion of dis-
solved gases at the air-water surface,
methane emission from organic mat-
ter decomposition, and downstream
dam emissions from degassing at
turbine and spillway discharge points
[47], [50]. Research now shows that
among other variables, the geogra-
phic location of reservoirs has a sig-
nificant impact on the organic matter
storage, water temperature, and sub-
sequent emissions through these
mechanisms [50]. For instance, Fearn-
side highlights the example of the
Curua-Una Dam in Brazil, where mas-
sive emissions from turbines and
spillways mean annual green-house
gas (GHG) emissions 3.6 times higher
than would be emitted by the equiva-
lent amount of diesel generated elec-
tricity, and these emissions levels are
more than a decade after the dam's
reservoir was inundated [51]. Fearn-
side and Pueyo conclude that "emis-
JUNE 2018

sions from tropical hydropower in
particular are often vastly underesti-
mated and can exceed those of fossil
fuel for decades [52, p. 384]."
Third, a major impact of the in-
creasingly available deregulated
private finance has led to a prolif-
eration of projects that are largely
managed outside the realm of inter-
national conditionality or regulato-
ry oversight. In 2013 the World Bank
reversed its two-decade old decision
to turn its back on large hydropow-
er investment, citing its improved
impact assessment guidelines. The
Word Commission on Dams (WCD)
was established in 1998 by the World
Bank and the World Conservation
Union (IUCN) as an independent,
multi-stakeholder body to review the
effectiveness of large dams and to
develop internationally acceptable cri-
teria and guidelines for their planning
and operation [53].
After WCD's establishment, the
World Bank went from a low of just
a few million dollars investment in
dams in 1999 to about $1.8 billion
in 2014. However this still amounts
to less than 2% of hydropower proj-
ect investment today, given all of the
other development finance avenues
now filling the gap. Instead of act-
ing as a primary investor, the World
Bank has stated that it now "typi-
cally acts as a 'convener,' bringing
other financiers to the table [54]."
Research finds that this switch to
private financing for projects with
such massive externalities "derisks"
megaprojects for the private sector.
"Very often this means privatizing
profits and outsourcing risks to the
public [38]."
South-South investment trends
noted above bode well for region-
al integration and set the stage for
other forms of South-South cooper-
ation, such as technical assistance
and capacity development. However,
the requisite institutional reform to
regulate such development projects
∕

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

has lagged. Much southern develop-
ment financing is not currently tied
to human-rights progress, environ-
mental impact standards, or demo-
cratic and participatory civil society
stakeholder engagement. Nationally
backed development banks such
as the Brazilian Development Bank,
China Development Bank, and the
Development Bank of Southern Afri-
ca, or the Asian International Devel-
opment Bank, the very banks now
sopping up the hydropower invest-
ment gap we discussed ea rlier,
"have abysmal records in terms of
transparency and in terms of social
and environmental safeguards [38],"
and can be looked to for "alternative
sources of finance that are perceived
to be faster, come with fewer condi-
tions and are more flexible" [29]. In
many cases the companies conduct-
ing feasibility studies are also the
same serving as financiers, builders,
and regulators of projects, which
"results in a blurring of lines between
these role[s]" and raises issues of
transparency [36, p. 322], [33].
International guidelines have al-
ways been far from perfect, as the
World Bank case study showed, but
the reduced financial involvement
of international institutions allows
project developers to ignore interna-
tional concerns, with major implica-
tion since political attention often
comes to communities most greatly
affected by environmental risks only
when larger national or international
geopolitical forces come into play.

Defining Problems
and Solutions
We argue that articulation of this
confluence of global dynamics and
their subsequent compounding
effect on impacts helps to explain
the fuller story of our large energy
infrastructure resurgence, as well as
our current dilemma. Local and
global tensions are growing between
civil communities and policy makers

23



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