Three Gorges Dam - the British view
The Three Gorges Dam in China is the world's largest hydro-electric power project, and .
The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ used the Environmental Information Regulations to get three reports from the British Embassy in Beijing on the dam's environmental impact.
A ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ environment correspondent described these reports to me as 'a wonderful synthesis of research'. Given this, it seems like a good idea to put them into the public domain for those who are interested in the subject:
• Three Gorges Dam - June 2003 egram
• China's Hydro Energy Policy - December 2005
• Scenery and Sturgeon Make Way for Concrete - December 2005
It's good to know that our people in Beijing are capable of top-quality work. However the Foreign Office has decided not to give us all of their words of wisdom from the third document, since that 'would be likely to prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and China'.
But the Foreign Office did leave in this final concluding and evocative (if not perfectly grammatical) detail: 'And at the Dam itself, described in the official promotional video as an example of harmony between man and nature, gardeners were resorting to painting the grass green for the benefit of the tourist's cameras.'
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China is in a catch-22 situation ... They are short of electrical power due to their exponential expansion of industry, they are short of water, they are proposing to dam more rivers in order to create more power at the expence of water supplies to irrigate arable areas. The result ... DISASTER.
The primary problem is .. corruption .. need I say more?
There are many positive and negative externalities - I've mainly been studying effects on the government, local community and pressure groups. Overall, I agree about the Catch-22 situation. China need energy, and the renewable idea sounds great, but unlike its plans to supply 10% of the energy required, the dam will only supply 3%.
I wouldn't go as far as calling the dam a 'disaster', but there are detrimental effects, such as the migration of 1.9 million people and the corruption leading to compensation failing to materialise. Overall, it sounds like a bad idea, but are there any other alternatives for China - they need flood protection on the Yantze river, but also energy. This makes the Three Gorges Dam seem an ideal solution - but it just isn't, I'm sure you're agree.
Watching China developing things that are detrimental to something else makes unhappy viewing. They undoubtably have a catch-22 situation on their hands. While disaster is a powerfull word, there are definately some problems ahead for the Chinese people.
this is gonna be a waste of money
i think that this dam is the reason that the river dolphin is extinct (or at least almost)
Hannah Flop
13 years old
I think that the three gorges dam is against mother nature!As Miss Flop has commented this may be the reason why the river dolphins are near extinction. $25billion!!! you could have spent that on contraception to reduce the amount of births in China, this would benefit the country immensely.On the other hand it would bring so much more money from tourism and HEP, (as if china doesnt have enough!!!)
I need the official video about the three gorges dam project... any idea about where can I get it?
thank you very much!
adriana