three gorges dam
DESCRIPTION
Travel & Tourism. Three Gorges Dam. Hydro-Electricity Backgrounder. Hydro-electricity is energy created by falling water The water must fall a considerable distance to have enough energy to push a heavy turbine and a generator Dams provide this vertical distance. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Travel & Tourism
Three Gorges Dam
Hydro-Electricity Backgrounder
Hydro-electricity is energy created by falling water
The water must fall a
considerable distance to
have enough energy to
push a heavy turbine
and a generator
Dams provide this
vertical distance
Water Power Advantages
• It is clean and renewable
• It leaves no waste
• The reservoirs that form
behind dams offer
recreational opportunities
and provide drinking water
• Dams may control flooding
Water Power Disadvantages
• Dam construction can disrupt existing land and river ecosystems
• The newly created flood plain may displace a number of settled people
• The cost of constructing a dam has soared
• Hydroelectricity is an option limited to areas that have rivers and streams
Dams Around the World
Three Gorges Dam
Three Gorges Dam
Three Gorges Dam – July 2000
Three Gorges Dam – May 2006
Three Gorges Dam
Three Gorges Dam
Three Gorges Dam
Three Gorges Dam – Locks
Three Gorges Dam Backgrounder
• 40 to 80 million people worldwide have been have been physically displaced, usually by being “flooded out”, by the construction of dams
• With the completion of the Three Gorges Dam, an estimated 2 million people will be displaced
• Most dams provide benefits for a country or region as a whole while the people who are most affected and bear the brunt of the costs usually live in the river valley or close to the river’s edge
• The Three Gorges Dam , at more than 182 m high and 2.4 km wide, with a 640 km long reservoir will be one of the few man made structures visible from space
Three Gorges Dam Issues
Political• Countries not showing support, but Multinational
Companies are.
Economic• Provide inexpensive energy • Will help with economic development• Increase shipping into interior of China• Cost of $25 Billion
Three Gorges Dam Issues
Social• Will stop flooding and will save lives• Will displace 1 million to 2 million people• Loss of farming land (people will be moved to insufficient
farm land)• Loss of cultural sites (ancient temples, monuments),
burial grounds
Environmental• Less coal needed• Change the ecosystem for the fish• May threaten endangered species• Lake will not allow for movement of wastes