Hydropower is the most important renewable electricity source worldwide. It shows clear advantages for the global CO 2 balance but creates serious ecological impacts on a local scale. As a consequence, concern for the conservation of natural river ecosystems is growing within society and more people are willing to pay extra for so-called 'green electricity'. The definition of 'green', however, is not straightforward and customers cannot directly examine the quality of electricity products. Therefore, credible certification of high ecological standards is essential for successful green electricity marketing.In this paper we introduce a new assessment procedure for evaluating environmentally compatible hydropower production. This so-called 'Green Hydro' concept was developed in the context of a multidisciplinary case study on a 400 MW hydropower scheme in the Southern Alps of Switzerland. The concept guarantees both general standards for different schemes operating in different types of watersheds and flexibility for local particularities. We developed an environmental management matrix that considers basic criteria and eco-investments and covers five environmental areas of concern (i.e. hydrological character, connectivity, morphology, landscape, and biological communities). The ecological perspective is complemented by five management domains (i.e. instream flow regimes, hydropeaking, reservoir and bedload management, and power plant structures). Applying assessment and modelling tools for the Green Hydro procedure showed that dynamic habitat models allowed quantification of the effects of different instream flow regulations at morphologically distinct sites. In this case, morphological restoration could be more beneficial than increasing the minimum flow.The first experience with the Green Hydro certification is encouraging. So far, 13 facilities have successfully passed the certification procedure. They produce a total of 186 GWh green electricity per year, which is sufficient for the supply of almost 40 000 households in Switzerland.
Hydropower use is responsible for a wide range of environmental disturbances to river systems. Over the past decades, aquatic science research has been successful in identifying a considerable number of relationships that exist between plant operation and ecosystem quality. This increase in scientific knowledge was, however, not matched by a corresponding reduction in environmental impacts stemming from hydropower. In the present paper, we show how aquatic science projects may be defined and implemented to better link scientific knowledge with the resolution of environmental problems.We base our analysis on a major aquatic science research project in which an eco-label for "sustainable hydropower" (Green Hydropower) was developed for Switzerland. We first assess the state of aquatic science Aquat. Sci. 65 (2003) 99 -110 Aquatic Sciences research on alpine river systems. The Swiss history of hydropower shows that the limited adoption of this knowledge was due to a severe coordination and action problem. The Green Hydropower project aimed at establishing an environmental product label for hydropower plant operation, which should help overcome these problems. It had to deal with two major challenges: the integration of widely differing knowledge stocks and the management of a network of diverse stakeholders operating in a conflict-laden political environment. By carefully dealing with these two problem areas, the project was finally able to define a scientifically-based and broadly-accepted standard for Green Hydropower operation. We conclude by discussing lessons for the improvement of problemoriented aquatic science research, in general.
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