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environmental management past paper questions
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Winter 19 QP 42
‘People have different views about the scheme’s success’
How far is this statement true of one named located scheme to produce electricity
[20]
The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world, is is located in the Hubei
province of China and spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in Yiling District,
Yichang. It is located along the Yangtze after the three gorges, where a strong layer of granite crosses
the river. This location was an issue as it is located near to the spectacular three gorges and this is a
very historical and cultural area and thousands of important sites have been destroyed by the huge
reservoir created by the dam.
The dam was constructed for three main reasons; to protect 100 million people living downstream from
the seasonal floods, which have killed hundreds of thousands of people and had destroyed millions of
homes, to help produce energy to reduce china’s coal usage, which is equal to 40% of the total world
usage. The final reason was to increase navigability on the upper part of the Yangtze. These are three
very large goals that the dam has to meet, although there are huge costs involved in it.
The dam holds back the water in case of floods and can reduce the outflow by 15,000 m3/s and has a
flood control capacity of 22.15 billion cubic meters. Thus limiting greatly the risk of flooding. Also the
dam can supply extra water downstream in the dry season. The large reservoir has changed the
weather in the area, insuring a longer and more humid growing season. Although the dam is now
protecting people in Wuhan and more people downstream the large reservoir meant that 1.3 million
people were forced to relocate and had to abandon their terrains and their houses, which lay on some
of the most fertile land of China.
The maximum energy produced by the dam is equal to 18,200Mw,and it gives out 84.6 billion kilowatt
hours of clean energy annually, around 3% of China’s power demand. This is well under the previous
objective to provide 10% of China’s need for power, a goal that has been failed because of the raise of
power need in China. The power station can only produce the maximum energy capacity when the
reservoir is filled up to 175m, but the sheer weight of the water has been causing landslides and
seismic activities and can block the port of Chongqin when the water gets too high.
Ultimately the dam now lets 10000 tonnes ships reach Chongqin instead of the 1500 tonnes ships that
could before the dam. This has greatly increased the economy of the area as the freight capacity was
about 18.0 million tonnes per year. The freight capacity of the river increased six times and the cost of
shipping was reduced by 25%. The total capacity of the ship locks is expected to reach 100 million
tonnes per year.
The Chinese government decided and approved to build the dam in 1992 and it finished building in
2006, while the last part, the ship-lift is expected to be completed by 2014. The goals of this dam were
to produce 10% of China’s power need and to ultimately protect people downstream from a one in ten
thousand year flood. The other two objectives as previously stated, were to increase the navigability of
the river and increase tourism in the area.
The estimates for the cost of the dam vary greatly, with the US China embassy stating it cost around 28
billion dollars, making it the tenth most expensive energy project ever. It is expected to pay back in
about 10 years, which make the cost seem quite reasonable if this goal is met. Other problems have
aroused as the dam has affected the fauna in the river, such as the Chinese river dolphin and the
Yangtze sturgeon, on the verge of extinction. Another problem is the accumulation of silt and waste
behind the dam, which might cause it to block up and be destroyed. There is also a risk of the dam
being destroyed by either the sheer weight of the water or by terrorist attacks. The designers in the
beginning have overlooked most of these problems but now they will have to find solutions to them.
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