Will the Environmental Community Support New Major Dam Construction?

Mark Jacobson and his colleagues have performed analysis, and argued forcefully based on that analysis, that it’s economic for the U.S., and 138 other countries, to rely solely on water, wave, and sun (WWS- only) to meet all power needs by 2050.

A paper published in 2015 (Energy Environ. Sci., 2015, 8, 2093) contains a table listing the number of new generators (and the size of each one) needed by type of generation if that goal is to met. The table below was contracted using Table 2 of that publication,

Number of Units Needing Installation (rounded):
On shore wind, 328,000;
Off-shore wind, 156,000;
Wave, 35,000;
Geothermal, 10,000;
Hydro, 3;
Tidal, 9,000;
Residential PV, 75,100,000;
Commercial/Gov. PV, 2,747,000;
Utility PV, 46,500;
CSP, 2,300.
Source: Jacobson, et. al., Energy Environ. Sci. (2015), Table 2, p. 2098

While only 3 new dams are needed, the analysis assumes that the installed capacity of one new dam is 1300MW. That means 3,900MW of new installed capacity. Putting that into context, when Grand Coulee was constructed, it had an installed capacity of just under 2,000MW. So, to reach WWS-only by 2050, he's assuming that two dams with the initial installed capacity of Grand Coulee (its capacity has since been expanded) would need to be built. That is just for the U.S.

image courtesy of tapabc.ca

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