欢迎来到留学生英语论文网

当前位置:首页 > 论文范文 > Environmental Sciences

Sustainable Development - Ilisu Dam.

发布时间:2017-12-07
该论文是我们的学员投稿,并非我们专家级的写作水平!如果你有论文作业写作指导需求请联系我们的客服人员

Sustainable Development.

Ilisu Dam.

Probably the best place to begin an essay on any sustainable development issue is to define what sustainable development is before discussing some of the many issues connected with large dam projects. After these parameters have been established we will discuss some of the specifics of the Ilisu Dam and then, briefly, the technology of hydropower.

What is sustainable development?

A definition of sustainable development is far from easy and has been sought for many years. The Brundtland Commission, an organisation set up by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1983, was the first official body to undertake serious discussions on sustainable development and its political implications.[1] The commission was the first to formulate what has become a widely used definition of sustainability “to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.[2] This statement is the very are of sustainable development, but leaves open the question of how it is to be achieved. It should also be noted that the demands for natural and economic sustainability must themselves be sustainable socially if they are to be applicable and practicable in society.[3]

Sustainability comes in essentially three forms:-[4]

  1. Natural. This is about the sustainable use of natural resources and the sustainable exploitation of living organisms.
  2. Social. This defines the inherent stability of social organisations and its components; it defines the driving forces necessary for a society to remain stable whilst still respecting an individual’s integrity.
  3. Economic. Derived from mass balance and economic feedback principles.

Effects of large dam projects.

Dams have two main functions; the first is to act as a store for water in times of plenty to compensate for fluctuations in river flow and the demand for water and energy. The second function is to raise the level of water upstream of the dam to allow for the production of hydro electric power at the dam head. Water in the reservoir also tends to be used for irrigation of local farming land.

At a first glance dams appear to achieve a number of laudable sustainability goals, abundant supply of water, irrigation and cheap clean power generation; however there are any negative side-effects.

Large dam projects tend to attract significant criticism; they are expensive and often have a significant socioeconomic impact as well as an environmental and historical impact. There are occasional catastrophic dam failures but these are rare[5] and usually the technology is seen as less threatening than, say, nuclear power. The hydroelectric power generated by dams is a potentially sustainable form of energy with little or no CO2 emissions. If used in sufficient quantities it can also help actively reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

Most dam projects have considerable positive impacts, but these are often understated and tend to be drowned out by the wave of negativity surrounding most projects. Often dams are condemned as “harmful” by those who have little real knowledge of the technology, or those who would benefit from other forms of power generation.[6] The impact of dam projects can be local, regional, national and international[7] and can affect environments, societies and economies of peoples both upstream and downstream.[8]

Reservoir siltation affects large dam projects, and is often the result of poor basin management or poor citing of the dam. Siltation can have a massive impact on a dam reservoir, for example the Nizamsagar Dam in India lost 67% of its storage capacity within two years due to silting.[9] No cost effective way of unsilting a reservoir has yet been developed.

Loss of wildlife is also a usual side effect; large tracts of forest are often submerged, such as in Amazonia, with untold loss of wildlife, migrating fish are also unable to travel upstream to their spawning grounds.

In all areas where a dam has been constructed or is planned, a significant level of resettlement of the local population is required. This relocation often has a major negative impact on the dam construction projects. Authorities in some less developed countries have tended to neglect those in need of resettlement, and efforts are often unsatisfactory or delayed.[10] Resettlement efforts are often hampered by rapid construction schedules that allow little time for resettlement preparation or planning.

Large dams can usually be engineered to prevent some of the most notable problems, fish-ladders or bypass channels can be built. Gates can be designed to let out flood water and reduce siltation, silt traps can also be built. Controlled releases of water can be used to reduce the effects on floodplain ecology.[11]

Ilisu dam.

The Ilisu dam will be sited on the Tigris River in the south east of Turkey, only around 65km from the borders with Syria and Iraq. The dam will be around 1.8 km long and 135 m high and will cost around $2bn US, including expected interest repayments.[12] Despite the potential sustainable hydro energy that the dam would produce, opposition to the planned construction is massive.

Political problems.

It is expected that, in the 21st century, most wars will be fought over water. The claims of Turkey, Syria and Iraq on the limited waters of the Euphrates and Tigris river far exceeds the capacity of those rivers, [13] no peaceful solution has been sought yet by the Turkish government to resolve the various claims on the rivers waters. Syria has been supporting the Kurdish Guerrilla movement against the Turks in response to Turkish reluctance to negotiate. The Turks, in turn, have been supported by the British and American governments in their repression of the Kurds.

Social impact.

The Ilisu dam will flood 52 villages, 15 towns and the historic city of Hasankeyf; estimates of the expected number of people who will be displaced by the dam vary, perhaps as many as 78000.[14] Those affected by the construction have been largely ignored. Resettlement is difficult enough in theory, but in practice, in this, largely desert region of Turkey, resettlement is almost impossible. Compensation payments in Turkey for displaced people have usually been liked to land ownership and as many Kurds can not prove they own the land on which they live then no compensation is payable.

Environmental impact.

The dam will cause the loss of farming land and forests and is expected to affect the quality of drinking water downstream. A full environmental impact study was commissioned in 1997 and completed in 1998 but has never been released for general consumption.[15]

Technology.

Until relatively recently, renewable sources of energy have been largely dismissed as a means of producing mass amounts of power. One of the main advantaged of hydro power over other forms, even other renewables, is that water can be stored during times of low demand and released to generate power during periods of higher demand.[16] Hydro power has, as discussed above, many detractors and many negative side effects; however the future of hydro power technology probably lies in “small hydro. Small hydro electric plants have, by definition, less power generation capacity than large dams, like Ilisu, but have vastly reduced environmental and socioeconomic devastation. Small hydro plants are well suited to small communities in rural areas and remote settlements, particularly in industrialised countries where the cost of connecting villages to the “national grid” is relatively low. Small hydro plants typically have a power generation capacity of around 10 MW[17] whereas the Ilisu dam is expected to produce 1200 MW.[18]

Context within sustainable development.

It is vital, or course, that the Ilisu dam, and hydro power in general, should be seen within the context of wider social, economic, demographic and “green” issues. Increased building of large scale Hydro plants does produce a large amount of non-polluting electricity but they are not without massive socioeconomic and environmental problems. Smaller scale hydro plants are probably the way forward for hydro power, within the framework of sustainable development. Industry also needs to become more efficient in its power usage and we desperately need to address the domestic transportation issue, including “greener” cars[19] and a reduction in cheap air travel.

Advice for the future.

It is imperative that the governments of the world, particularly in the west, come to realise the scale of the environmental and sustainability problems facing us all. It is no longer acceptable for leaders like George W. Bush to say that he will do nothing to harm the US economy, as an excuse for failing to implement the Kyoto protocols; After all global warming by several degrees will do far worse to every economy than the necessary preventative steps taken now. Private citizens also need to become more aware of what they can do to reduce their carbon emissions, and become aware that they can and should plant trees in order that they become carbon neutral. Based upon quarterly electricity bills of £75 and car journeys of 250 miles a week an average single person would have to plant 11 trees a year to become carbon neutral, without taking into account foreign air travel.[20] A massive government investment program needs to begin immediately to plant trees and to formulate a genuine sustainable development policy; this would best be done internationally as every country will be affected by global warming. Significant investment also needs to be made in Hydro power, most feasibly in small scale plants, as well as in other renewable forms of energy. Nuclear also needs to be considered as a possible source, it is, after all, non “greenhouse gas” polluting. Politicians also need to make difficult decisions; a massive tax on airline fuel would be extremely unpopular with voters, and is the reason stated by Prime Minister Blair for not instigating such a tax, but it is absolutely necessary in order to reduce the CO2 emissions from air travel; which is set to become the single biggest source or carbon pollution over the next few years. Finally, industry, particularly the automotive industry, needs to put more effort into creating energy efficient products, be they cars, televisions etc. There is no doubt that difficult choices face all of us over the coming decades, avoiding difficult solutions is simply no longer acceptable.

Bibliography.

C. J. Barrow, Health and Resettlement Consequences and Opportunities Created as a Result of River Impoundment in Developing Countries, Water Supply and Management, 1981, 5(2), 135-50

C. J. Barrow, Developing the Environment: Problems & Management (Harlow, Essex 1995)

M. S. Boyce & A. Haney (eds.), Ecosystem Management (New Haven 1997)

J. S. Dryzek & D. Schlosberg (eds.), Debating the Earth: The Environmental Politics Reader (London 1998)

R. Gilman, Sustainability: The State of Movement, In Context, 1990, 25, 10

C. Holden, Betting on the Future, Science, 1995, 268, 1281

P. McCully, Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams (London 1996)

A. Oliver-Smith, “Involuntary Resettlement, Resistance and Political Empowerment, Journal of Refugee Studies, 1991, 4.2

C. Ponting, The Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilisations (New York 1993)

P. H. Raven & J. A. McNeely, Biological Extinction: its Scope and Meaning for us. 13-32 in L. D. Guruswamy & J. A. McNeely, Eds. Protection of Global Biodiversity: Converging Strategies, (Durham 1999)

H. H. Shugart, Terrestrial Ecosystems in Changing Environments (Cambridge 1998)

D. B. South, How can we Feign Sustainability with an Increasing Population? New For., 1999, 19, 193-212

H. Sverdrup & I. Stjernquist, Developing Principles and Models for Sustainable Forestry in Sweden (London 2002)

World Bank, China: Involuntary Resettlement, June 8, 1993

World Bank, Inventory of Dams Related to World Bank Projects, 1985

http://www.futureforests.com

http://www.rivernet.org/turquie/ilisu.htm#The

http://www.ilisu.org.uk/index.html

1


Footnotes

[1] Sverdrup & Stjernquist, 2002, 21.

[2] Sverdrup & Stjernquist, 2002, 21; cf. Holden, 1995.

[3] Gilman 1990; Dryzek & Schlossberg 1998; Ponting 1993.

[4] Sverdrup & Stjernquist, 2002, 22.

[5] Barrow, 1995, 229f.

[6] Oil companies for example.

[7] As with the Ilisu dam, see later.

[8] Barrow, 1995, 226.

[9] Barrow, 1995, 226.

[10] Barrow, 1981.

[11] Barrow, 1995, 232.

[12] http://www.rivernet.org/turquie/ilisu.htm#The

[13] By 55% and 12% respectively; http://www.rivernet.org/turquie/ilisu.htm#The

[14] http://www.rivernet.org/turquie/ilisu.htm#The

[15] http://www.ilisu.org.uk/enviro.html

[16] McCully, 1996, 11.

[17] McCully, 1996, 227.

[18] http://www.ilisu.org.uk/aboutdam.html

[19] Such as the Ford Pinto.

[20] http://www.futureforests.com allows you to calculate your own carbon emissions over a year, and to pay to plant trees in order that you become carbon neutral.

上一篇:Challenges of oil and gas exploration activities facing the Arctic region 下一篇:Air Pollution, Water Pollution And Land Pollution