Hydropower versus irrigation—an analysis of global patterns
Numerous reservoirs around the world provide multiple flow regulation functions; key among these are hydroelectricity production and water releases for irrigation. These functions contribute to energy and food security at national, regional and global levels. While reservoir operations for hydroelec...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
IOP Publishing
2017
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95861 |
| _version_ | 1855517038042152960 |
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| author | Zeng, Ruijie Cai, Ximing Ringler, Claudia Zhu, Tingju |
| author_browse | Cai, Ximing Ringler, Claudia Zeng, Ruijie Zhu, Tingju |
| author_facet | Zeng, Ruijie Cai, Ximing Ringler, Claudia Zhu, Tingju |
| author_sort | Zeng, Ruijie |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Numerous reservoirs around the world provide multiple flow regulation functions; key among these are hydroelectricity production and water releases for irrigation. These functions contribute to energy and food security at national, regional and global levels. While reservoir operations for hydroelectricity production might support irrigation, there are also well-known cases where hydroelectricity production reduces water availability for irrigated food production. This study assesses these relationships at the global level using machine-learning techniques and multi-source datasets. We find that 54% of global installed hydropower capacity (around 507 thousand Megawatt) competes with irrigation. Regions where such competition exists include the Central United States, northern Europe, India, Central Asia and Oceania. On the other hand, 8% of global installed hydropower capacity (around 79 thousand Megawatt) complements irrigation, particularly in the Yellow and Yangtze River Basins of China, the East and West Coasts of the United States and most river basins of Southeast Asia, Canada and Russia. No significant relationship is found for the rest of the world. We further analyze the impact of climate variables on the relationships between hydropower and irrigation. Reservoir flood control functions that operate under increased precipitation levels appear to constrain hydroelectricity production in various river basins of the United States, South China and most basins in Europe and Oceania. On the other hand, increased reservoir evaporative losses and higher irrigation requirements due to higher potential evaporation levels may lead to increased tradeoffs between irrigation and hydropower due to reduced water availability in regions with warmer climates, such as India, South China, and the Southern United States. With most reservoirs today being built for multiple purposes, it is important for policymakers to understand and plan for growing tradeoffs between key functions. This will be particularly important as climate mitigation calls for an increase in renewable energy while agro-hydrological impacts of climate change, population and economic growth and associated dietary change increase the need for irrigated food production in many regions round the world. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace95861 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| publisherStr | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace958612025-02-19T13:42:02Z Hydropower versus irrigation—an analysis of global patterns Zeng, Ruijie Cai, Ximing Ringler, Claudia Zhu, Tingju food production economic growth water power machine learning water reservoirs population irrigation climate change mitigation food security hydraulic structures hydroelectric power flood control irrigation sources energy climate change Numerous reservoirs around the world provide multiple flow regulation functions; key among these are hydroelectricity production and water releases for irrigation. These functions contribute to energy and food security at national, regional and global levels. While reservoir operations for hydroelectricity production might support irrigation, there are also well-known cases where hydroelectricity production reduces water availability for irrigated food production. This study assesses these relationships at the global level using machine-learning techniques and multi-source datasets. We find that 54% of global installed hydropower capacity (around 507 thousand Megawatt) competes with irrigation. Regions where such competition exists include the Central United States, northern Europe, India, Central Asia and Oceania. On the other hand, 8% of global installed hydropower capacity (around 79 thousand Megawatt) complements irrigation, particularly in the Yellow and Yangtze River Basins of China, the East and West Coasts of the United States and most river basins of Southeast Asia, Canada and Russia. No significant relationship is found for the rest of the world. We further analyze the impact of climate variables on the relationships between hydropower and irrigation. Reservoir flood control functions that operate under increased precipitation levels appear to constrain hydroelectricity production in various river basins of the United States, South China and most basins in Europe and Oceania. On the other hand, increased reservoir evaporative losses and higher irrigation requirements due to higher potential evaporation levels may lead to increased tradeoffs between irrigation and hydropower due to reduced water availability in regions with warmer climates, such as India, South China, and the Southern United States. With most reservoirs today being built for multiple purposes, it is important for policymakers to understand and plan for growing tradeoffs between key functions. This will be particularly important as climate mitigation calls for an increase in renewable energy while agro-hydrological impacts of climate change, population and economic growth and associated dietary change increase the need for irrigated food production in many regions round the world. 2017-03-01 2018-07-04T08:20:40Z 2018-07-04T08:20:40Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95861 en Open Access IOP Publishing Zeng, Ruijie; Cai, Ximing; Ringler, Claudia; Zhu, Tingju. 2017. Hydropower versus irrigation—an analysis of global patterns. Colombo, Sri Lanka: CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE). 12(3):4-6 doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5f3f |
| spellingShingle | food production economic growth water power machine learning water reservoirs population irrigation climate change mitigation food security hydraulic structures hydroelectric power flood control irrigation sources energy climate change Zeng, Ruijie Cai, Ximing Ringler, Claudia Zhu, Tingju Hydropower versus irrigation—an analysis of global patterns |
| title | Hydropower versus irrigation—an analysis of global patterns |
| title_full | Hydropower versus irrigation—an analysis of global patterns |
| title_fullStr | Hydropower versus irrigation—an analysis of global patterns |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hydropower versus irrigation—an analysis of global patterns |
| title_short | Hydropower versus irrigation—an analysis of global patterns |
| title_sort | hydropower versus irrigation an analysis of global patterns |
| topic | food production economic growth water power machine learning water reservoirs population irrigation climate change mitigation food security hydraulic structures hydroelectric power flood control irrigation sources energy climate change |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95861 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zengruijie hydropowerversusirrigationananalysisofglobalpatterns AT caiximing hydropowerversusirrigationananalysisofglobalpatterns AT ringlerclaudia hydropowerversusirrigationananalysisofglobalpatterns AT zhutingju hydropowerversusirrigationananalysisofglobalpatterns |