Three Gorges Dam Project Analysis - Essay Example

Three Gorges Dam Project The Three Gorges Dam Project is one of the most monumental projects in the 5000 years of Chinese history besides the Great Wall. The construction of the dam started on 14th of December 1994 and the project apparently cost an incredible amount of monetary, environmental, and human resources and finally got completed on 20th may 2006.This project was faced by one of the biggest controversies in China during its construction since it touched on sensitive issues ranging from aspects of population relocation, environmental damage, archeological heritage destruction to the economical benefits, clean power, and the most important: energy supply. The whole project is generally a hydroelectric engineering power generator constructed along Yangtze River; the longest river in China which runs across half of the land, horizontally into the Pacific. The project is the world’s biggest power station as far as installed capacity (22,500MW) is concerned. In addition, Three Gorges Dam is the 2nd biggest functional hydroelectric project in regard to annual energy production, generating in 2012 over 98.1Twh plus 83.7 Twh last year (Trouw, 2014). History The idea of building a huge dam on River Yangtze was initially the brainchild of Sun Yat-Sen in 1919.He envisioned a dam with a capacity of producing 22 GW of power being feasible downstream Three Gorges. The government, in 1932, under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek started preliminary plans on the Three Gorges. Japanese military occupied Yichang in 1939 and began surveying the area. The Otani plan design for the dam was finished in expectation of a possible defeat of China by Japanese. Engineer John Savage of US bureau of reclamation in 1944 designed a proposal of the dam project paving way for 54 Chinese engineers to leave for US to receive specialized training. The initial concept was for the dam to be utilized for unique movement of ships; however the project was stopped in 1947 due to Chinese Civil war. The project was in 1949 supported by Mao Zedong, though he started Gezhouba Dam. The idea would re-emerge in 1980s and finally the approval came from the National People’s Congress in 1992.Construction of the dam started in earnest in 14th of December 1994 and was expected to be complete and fully operational by 2009.However, additional projects like the underground power facility with 6 extra generators delayed complete operations till the May of 2012(Trouw, 2014). Controversy The project has come with its own share of controversy. In 1958, for instance, engineers who spoke negatively regarding the dam after the Hundred Flowers Campaign were jailed. The second example is that of a journalist by the name of Dai Qing who was jailed for 10 months in 1989 after criticizing the Three Gorges project and by extension, Li Peng, former Chinese premier and soviet-trained engineer who spearheaded the dam’s construction saying, “the most environmentally and socially destructive project in the world. By severing the mighty river and slowing the flow of its waters, the dam will cause pollution from industrial and residential sources to concentrate in the river, rather than be flushed out in the sea, the result of a poisoned river (Hvistendahl, 2008). Dimensions and compositions The dam measures 2335m in length having a height of 185 m above sea level and is built of steel and concrete. The entire project consumed 27.2 million m3 of concrete, particularly for constructing the dam wall, 463,000 tones of steel, in addition to moving around 102.6 million m3 of earth. When at its maximum, the water level reaches a height of 175m long, having a top of 110 metres, dam reservoir is around 660 km lengthwise and 1.12 km in width. The dam also contains 39.3 km3 of water; in addition to a surface area of 1045 km2. The reservoir on completion flooded a total area of 632 km2 (Kite, 2011). Power producing capacity China Yangtze Power manages the production of power. The three Gorges Dam claims the title of the world’s biggest hydroelectric power station having 34 generators, every one capable of generating 700 MW as well as 2 plant power generators, every one with a capability of 50MW, all totaling to a capacity of 22,500MW.Of the 32 key generators, 14 are installed on the northern side of the dam, 12 on the southern side. The outstanding 6 are located in the underground power facility in the mountain south of the dam. The core generators weigh around 6,000 tons each and capable of generating over 700MW of power. When fully operational, the expected generation capacity will surpass 100TWh.In addition; the dam provides a huge amount of electricity to China’s economy which is an equivalent to 18 nuclear power plants. Three Gorges Dam supports one ninth of all the power used in China (Trouw, 2014). Project justification and Economics The three Gorges Dam Project was mainly approved by Chinese government officials and some scientists because China is a developing country that is “energy-hungry”, and therefore requires abundant supply of continuous energy to support its enormous daily consumption of power in businesses as well as ongoing projects. The hydro-power station would also come in handy since it generates a huge amount of clean energy using water instead of burning coal which apparently would directly pollute the environment through the production of greenhouses gases thus leading to smog in Beijing. Currently, China is burning 50 million tons of coal so as to keep the utilization of electricity in balance (Kite, 2011). The dam therefore would greatly reduce the emission of green house gases such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide which are produced as a result of burning coal, something that would impact environment positively, hence sustaining it. This point was particularly raised and announced by the advocates of the project so as to ensure they got approval from the citizens. They therefore stated that the dam would bring a lot of benefits ranging from clean power generation, which is eco-friendly, controlling of floods as well as drought by unleashing or adjusting the water stream from the dam to the downstream rivers in addition to creation of employment(Trouw, 2014). For instance, during the 1950s times were witnessed when several parts of the Yangtze River would be flooded all over because of huge rainfalls something that caused consequent death of human life, loss of agricultural grains and a lot of efforts in reconstruction. The construction of dam would therefore prevent as well as control such disasters as drought and flooding. Besides the control of the Yangtze waters and clean energy production, advocates also argued that the dam would bring with it several huge economic benefits to China since the dam was built with various lock systems, allowing and bringing ships 1500 miles inland to the cities of the Yangtze River. This therefore means that the businesses and economy of these cities will have benefited from cheap shipping cost and relatively ease of access (Trouw, 2014). Another advantage of this massive project is the fact that there is no pollution caused by the dam because there is cleaning of the river along the construction of the dam. Thus there are claims that 90% of the waste water has been treated. The project on the whole has been described as being “environmentally sound”, according to Guo Shuyan, deputy director of the Three Gorges Project Commission under the State Council (Kite, 2011). Cost The Chinese government approximated that the dam project would spend 180 billion Yuan (US $22.5 billion).Consequently, by the late 2008, spending had totaled to 148.365 billion yuan, in which 64.613 billion Yuan was used on construction, 68.557 billion was used for relocating affected people, in addition to 15.195 billion Yuan on the process of financing. The government estimates that the entire cost will be fully recovered the moment the dam becomes operational; generating 1000 terawatts of electricity, with a potential for yielding 250 billion Yuan (Kite, 2011). The entire recovery of the full cost is anticipated to happen a decade after the dam begins to operate fully. Funding mostly came from the Three Gorges Dam Construction Kitty, gains from the Gezhouba Dam, China Development Bank loans as well as foreign and domestic commercial banks loans, corporate bonds, in addition to income before as well as after the dam becomes fully operational. There were extra charges imposed. Thus, each province acquiring power from the dam to pay 7 Yuan per MWh extra, and other provinces would pay an extra charge of 4 Yuan per MWh. However it is crucial to note that Tibet pays no such surcharges (Trouw, 2014). Environmental impact The Three Gorges Dam project has not been without its own environmental issues. There are two key risks that have uniquely been recognized with the project. First and foremost is that projections on sedimentation have not been agreed upon. The second risk is that the Three Gorges Dam is located on a seismic fault. Currently the region around the dam (80% of the land) is undergoing erosion, and in the process is depositing around 40 million tons of sand into the river yearly. Since the flow is slow above the dam, a lot of sedimentation will finally take place above the dam instead of settling downstream, meaning less sedimentation at the downstream. Absence of sedimentation downstream implies downstream banks will become more susceptible to flooding. Secondly, Shanghai which is over 1600 km away, sits on a huge sedimentary plain, meaning any arriving sediment strengthens the bed on which Shanghai sits-less tonnage of arriving silt means Shanghai will be vulnerable to inundation. Finally, benthic silt buildup results in biological damage as well as reducing aquatic biodiversity (Hvistendahl, 2008). Another key consequence of main concern is landslides and earthquakes. The reservoir experiences erosion which is caused by rising water levels, leading to constant main landslides that have resulted in noticeable disturbance on the surface of the reservoir, comprising of 2 incidents in the May of 2009.Thus around 20,000 to 50,000 m3 of material fell into Wuxia Gorge-a flooded section of the Wu River. Several scientists fear that the Three Gorges Dam may generate severe earthquakes, since the reservoir lies on 2 main faults: the Zigui-Badong and the Jiuwanxi. A geologist in Sichuan province, Fan Xiao, claims that landslides are closely and directly associated with filling the reservoir. This happens when water first trickles into soil that is loose at the foundation of region’s rocky cliffs, meanwhile destabilizing the earth around the dam thus making it susceptible to slides. There is also fluctuation of water level which is caused by engineers partly draining the reservoir in summer so as to contain flood waters, and then raising it again when the flooding season ends so as to produce power. This sudden change in the pressure of the water disturbs the land further. Scholars at South China Normal University at Guangzhou carried out a study and published it in Tropical Geography –a Chinese journal forecast that such tinkering related with water level may trigger action in the 238 areas that are landslide-prone (Kite, 2011). This is actually what took place to 99 Miaohe villagers 17 km upstream of Yangtze who watched as the region behind their dwellings split into a 200 meter wide fracture in 2007, immediately after lowering of the reservoir water to take care of the summer floods. The government officials assisted in evacuation efforts and settled them in a mountain tunnel for 3 months. According to Xiao there is strain on the faults due to changing water level. He further explains that, “When you alter the fault line’s mechanical state, it can cause fault activity to intensify and induce earthquakes.”(Kite, 2011). Waste management is another potential recipe for disaster since the project catalyzed enhanced upstream wastewater treatment in the region of Chongqing as well as its suburban regions. Over 50 new facilities could handle 1.84 million tons each day as of April 2007, which approximates to 65% of the total requirements. Around 32 landfills, handling 7664.5 tons of waste each day were added. In addition over 1 billion tons of wastewater are annually released into the Yangtze and was most likely to be carried away before the building of the reservoir. This has resulted to water appearing murky, stagnant as well as polluted (Hvistendahl, 2008). The other very notable and dangerous impact of the dam is in regard to the wildlife surrounding the Yangtze River. The Three Gorges Dam region has long been famous for its varied, unique and rich biodiversity. This region is habitat to 6,388 plant species, belonging to 238 families as well as 1508 genera.57 % of these plant species are endangered. In addition these exceptional species are also utilized as ingredients in the manufacture of conventional Chinese medicines. By now, the % of forested part in the area in close proximity to Three Gorges Dam has fallen to less than 10% from 20% in the 1950s, adversely distressing all species of plants in this region. The area also offers dwellings to hundreds of terrestrial and freshwater animal species (Hvistendahl, 2008). There is a danger for freshwater fish, particularly because dams do affect them a lot because of fluctuations in the temperature of the water as well as flow regime. In addition, several other species of fish are injured by turbine blades generating power for the hydroelectric station. This is especially injurious to the ecosystem since Yangtze basin is habitat to 361 diverse species of fish and thus accounts for 27% of all dying out freshwater species of fish in China. The dam also endangered other marine species specifically the Baiji Yangtze dolphin, which is now extinct. Chinese government scholars have in fact argued the project directly led to its being extinct. A large number of the around 3000-4000 critically faced with extinction Siberian Crane, majority presently spend winter in wetlands which the dam will destroy (Hvistendahl, 2008). The Yangtze River Dam Project also occupied millions of square area of land, which used to be suitable for agriculture, had forest, and plants as well as animal habitats. When all this land was covered by water and steel during construction, there was a corresponding decrease in evaporation leading to a reduction in rainfall and afterwards causing one of the worst droughts in china in several decades. There was an analysis of regional rainfall by a group of researchers from the US and China before and after completion of the dam on the Yangtze. These researchers discovered that precipitation had decreased somewhat south of the reservoir, but increased significantly about 100km north of the reservoir, which clearly shows that the level of rainfall decreased drastically (Hvistendahl, 2008). Another group from NASA did an independent observation and study the demonstrates the Three Gorges Dam creates the lake effect which decreases the rainfall in the river area but increases the rainfall in surrounding mountains. From NASA”S data, the area where the rainfall increases will associate n average 1.2 degree of Fahrenheit drop in temperature due to limited amount of sunlight due to cloud cover reaching the ground. The climate change also contributes to the extinction of species since it alters the natural pattern of the habitats. Concerned officials of the project should also be alarmed by these conditions since they lead to people experiencing extreme weather which is eerily strange in Chongqing due to the effects of the dam. During winter for instance, Chongqing has experienced temperatures as low as one digit of Celsius which is quite unusual, since Chongqing is a mountain city surrounded by high slope of land. Usually during winter, the temperature has never gone below 10 Celsius in previous years, but after the construction of the dam, all this changed. Nowadays the weather alters dramatically between seasons. Chongqing has once even been labeled as the top 3 hot-spot in China because of its extremely high temperatures in summer. Chongqing has never hit 38 degree Celsius which actually proves that the dam indeed affects the climate not only of the river area but also that of the surrounding cities (Trouw, 2014). Finally, the Yangtze water quality has deteriorated and not improved as claimed by government officials. It has now become polluted seriously since the dam not only blocks fish pathways but also traps tons of bottles, plastic bags, sediments and raw sewage emanating from upstream. This is an example of manmade pollution which has already polluted the water quality of the river. In addition, the region surrounding the Three Gorges area initially had over 1600 factories which were abandoned due to the construction of the dam as well as over 265 million gallons of raw sewage, mines, and potential toxic wastes dumped every year. This garbage damages the quality of Yangtze River completely. However, the water in the reservoir is used for drinking as well as a vital resource of the community that lives along the river (Trouw, 2014). For instance, Take Fengdu, a city located in the middle of the river has over 50,000 lives that actually rely on the waters of river Yangtze for their daily lives. There is a prediction that the reservoir may one day completely submerge 13 cities, 140 towns and 1350 villages. Thus homes, factories, mines and waste dumps will all end up underwater, along with their contents, which most likely include toxic chemicals. The dam will also slow the flow of the Yangtze form 4 m/s to 0.3m/s which means pollutants will float lazily on the river instead of being flushed quickly out to the sea. The water quality is not as good as what the advocates previously had claimed, but even more serious than before due to the effluent being flushed in the river. This is a grave concern that should be raised up with the relevant national authorities since quite a big number of people depend on the Yangtze for their daily livelihoods (Trouw, 2014). In conclusion, even though the Three Gorges Dam provides massive energy to china, effectively replacing coal burning, the project still lacks comprehensive mechanisms of tackling resulting dramatic negative environmental impact due to the disruption of the ecosystem, huge accumulation of silt, earthquakes, landslides, drought, climate change, reduction of oxygen as well as water pollution. The government should therefore come up with mitigating measures to not only preserve the Yangtze River system but also avert possible future catastrophes which could be caused by the presence of the dam. Works cited http://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/three-gorges-dam http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/three-gorges-dam-disaster1.htm http://www.internationalrivers.org/blogs/229/dams-and-extinction-going-going-gone http://www.answers.com/Q/Why_did_some_people_not_want_to_build_the_three_gorges_dam http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/patricia-adams/china-drought_b_1108478.html Jan, Trouw. The Three Gorges Dams Impact on Peasant Livelihood:Chinas Project of the Yangtze River. New York: Books on Demand, 2014. Mara, Hvistendahl. "Chinas Three Gorges Dam:An Environmental Catastrophe?" Scientific American (2008): np. Matthias, Kammerer. The Three Gorges Dam. New York: GRIN Verlag, 2005. Patricia, Kite. Buiilding The Three Gorges Dam. New York: Raintree, 2011. 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