Meet the Siblings Making Hydropower That Actually Protects Rivers and Fish

Hydropower is the world’s biggest source of renewable energy, generating about 16% of the global electricity supply. And it will continue to play a key role as the world looks to meet net-zero targets, not least of all because, like a battery, it can store massive amounts of energy for later and quickly release it in moments of peak demand. But despite being better for the climate, it’s becoming increasingly clear that renewable energy sources can have a negative impact on the environment. Just 37% of the world’s 246 longest rivers remain free-flowing—without any human-made dams, reservoirs, or other structures controlling how and when the water moves—according to a 2019 Nature study by a group of international researchers led by McGill University and the World Wildlife Fund. Not only can hydropower disrupt local communities, but it can also impact ecosystems, water quality, and biodiversity. One in five fish, for example, that passes through a conventional turbine suffers fatal injuries, according to a team of researchers at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Germany. This can have especially damaging effects on migratory species, like salmon, sturgeon, and eels, whose spawn may have to travel through these dangerous downstream routes to get to the sea. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Siblings Gia and Abe Schneider, however, are trying to change this. They founded the company Natel Energy in 2009 to ...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized climate climate change Climate Innovators Climate Is Everything energy healthscienceclimate overnight Source Type: news