#hydroelectric dam

[supplyside]

The Hoover Dam

[sheltiechicago]

“Sunken Church Tower”

In 1950 the Italian village of Curon was flooded to create the artificial basin of Lake Resia, to power a hydroelectric dam. Today, the only visible remnant of the village is the 14th-century church tower jutting from the water.”

© Paweł Jagiełło, Poland

2023 Sony World Photography Awards

[industrybuzz]

Kakhovka Reservoir Being Drained

Russia Drains Kakhovka Reservoir

The Kakhovka Reservoir in Ukraine is draining at an alarming rate, and it may be a deliberate Russian tactic to cause a nuclear disaster. The Kakhovka Reservoir is an immense man-made lake (approximately the size of the Great Salt Lake) in southern Ukraine, currently in Russian-occupied territory. It’s one of a series of reservoirs along the Dnipro River, and supplies drinking and irrigation…

[thegirlwhohid]

Imagine waking up in the morning and the first thing you know is that russia committed another war crime/ecocide/crime against humanity. The reservoir cools down Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and gives water to the North Crimean Canal (hew, remember how russian claimed that they attacked Ukraine because they needed water to the occupied Crimea?). Hundred of villages and towns will be drowned just in a few hours. Thousands of people will lose their homes. 

I can’t even start to describe how vile it is, how angry and heartbroken I am right now. 

russia delenda est

[crabussy]

you;re all so sexy

[rebeccathenaturalist]

The removal of dams from PNW rivers is one of the best ways to help salmon survive. We've seen in multiple cases where aquatic ecosystems have rebounded even faster than expected once a dam is removed and the water is allowed to flow naturally. This isn't just beneficial to local and regional ecology, but to indigenous communities who have relied on the salmon since time immemorial.

Yes, hydroelectric dams have provided clean energy for decades, which often makes getting rid of them a tough sell, both for people concerned about energy stability in general, and those wanting to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. However, we have other options that have less impact; windmills are increasing on the Western landscape, and a study a few years ago showed that solar power could replace the capacity of existing hydroelectric dams using a fraction of the space.

Are there details to iron out? Of course. While windmills are not the massive killers of birds and bats that the fossil fuel industry tries to paint them as, we do need to address the existing wildlife mortality--and people are already doing just that. Solar panels also need to be carefully placed, and materials sourced and recycled as sustainably as possible.

But when compared to the massive amount of resources used to build and maintain hydroelectric dams, and the immense negative impact on salmon and their aquatic ecosystems, wind and solar power are much better options for the long-term, especially if we keep putting effort into solving the problems of environmental impact, energy storage, and overall sustainability. The fact of the matter is that ANY form of energy we create is going to have some negative effects on the planet. But we can choose to engage in as much damage control as possible, and focus on solutions that take both human energy needs AND the rest of nature into account.

[trainsgenderfoxgirl2816]

Damn look at that dam it's the biggest in the state

[ftgrfk-blog]

Kherson, 09.06.23.

Maria Leontievna is 84 years old. She caught WW II as a child, now the russian occupiers forced her to experience the tragedy in a new way.

She was left with nothing.

Photo by Pavel Petrov.

[ohsalome]

Дуже хуйово. As you know, the left bank of the Kherson oblast' affected by the flooding is under the control of russian occupiers, who don't allow any rescue missions and prevent us from even evaluating the scale of the destruction. Well, the word of mouth says they didn't do shit to help the people in the flooded villages and now there are HUNDREDS OF CORPSES drifting in the stillwater.

I feel sick. This is the most transparent example of genocide I can remember in my lifetime, and it is being literally translated online. The forced neutrality in the statements of some certain magazines and organisations is nothing but intentional complacency. Don't even get me started on the friends of kremlin. For their sakes, I hope hell exists.

(Source for anyone interested)

[probablyasocialecologist]

Around the world, large dam construction has displaced between forty and eighty million people over six decades, turning thousands of Indigenous and peasant communities into “dam refugees.” Dams are a potent symbol of capitalist development: towering emblems of modernization, a testament of mankind conquering and reshaping waterscapes, and a literal trickle-up—an uphill flow—to guarantee water benefits to the wealthy, while dispossessing those whose livelihoods rely on river ecologies.

Harsha Walia, Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism

[emaadsidiki]

GM 🌄 Hoover Dam 💡

[kunosoura]

I’d be more sympathetic to people criticizing the lack of clarity or seriousness in anti civ critiques if those same people weren’t usually causing a huge part of the problem by calling anyone with any serious notion of degrowth a genocidal ecofascist primitivist boogeyman.

[thegirlwhohid]

It wasn’t a ‘mistake’ or ‘accident’ - russians knew what they were doing. 

[supplyside]

great dam penstocks

[dougielombax]

*stumbles out of the forest to see a massive hydroelectric dam*

“DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”