New Stream-reach Development: A Comprehensive Assessment of Hydropower Energy Potential in the United States

Kao, Shih‐Chieh; McManamay, Ryan A.; Stewart, Kevin; Samu, Nicole; Hadjerioua, Boualem; DeNeale, Scott; Yeasmin, Dilruba; Pasha, M. Fayzul K.; Oubeidillah, Abdoul; Smith, Brennan T.

doi:10.2172/1130425

Cited by 48 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Refs. [3,4]) because HPAT is both easy to implement for any global land area and can be used to assess impacts of climate change on run-of-river hydropower resources. To validate HPAT, we implement it to assess historic and projected future hydropower at Falls Creek, an existing hydropower facility in Oregon, USA.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…see Refs. [3,4]); however, in light of recent and projected future climate changes [5], considering a site's projected future hydropower resource potential over a range of climate change scenarios is necessary to ensure that infrastructure investment decisions are robust over the lifetime of the project. Aspects of climate change that may impact hydropower resources on a regionally-dependent basis include changes in the seasonality of precipitation and snowpack (amount and persistence) [5], which will impact the timing and magnitude of streamflow for many regions [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within the USA, the largest scale hydropower assessment is the National Hydropower Asset Assessment Program (NHAAP), which modeled historic potential for the entire USA [3,15]. The daily gridded streamflow estimates used in [3] are developed through statistical combination of mean annual historic flowrates along designated flowlines developed by McKay et al (2012) [16] and daily point observations from the US Geological Survey (USGS) [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Hydropower Potential Assessment Tool (HPAT): Evaluation of run-of-river resource potential for any global land area and application to Falls Creek, Oregon, USA

2016

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a b s t r a c tSmall-scale hydropower systems are popular both in the United States and much of the developing world due to the emphasis on renewable energy and the general cost-competitiveness of hydroelectric power generation. We present a novel modeling package, referred to as the Hydropower Potential Assessment Tool (HPAT), to assess historic and projected future small-scale run-of-river hydropower resource potential at a single location or distributed over a study region. HPAT implements a fully-distributed streamflow model, which is coupled to a digital elevation model to assess hydropower resource potential. To demonstrate HPAT, we implement the models for a privately-owned run-of-river facility on Falls Creek outside of Sweet Home, Oregon, USA. We use an ensemble of Global Climate Models (GCMs) for two future climate scenarios to project a plausible range of future changes at this site. For the Falls Creek facility, HPAT projects that the timing of peak streamflow will shift from spring to winter and that mean annual hydropower potential will likely decrease slightly from average 1980e2010 historic conditions through the end of the 21st century. All inputs to HPAT are globally available, except for streamflow observations necessary for calibration.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Hydropower Potential Assessment Tool (HPAT): Evaluation of run-of-river resource potential for any global land area and application to Falls Creek, Oregon, USA

2016

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“…Hydropower resources throughout the world are being developed rapidly, and additional development is planned. This development is particularly rapid in Asia and South America [44,45], but recent interest in expanding hydropower resource use in the United States and Canada is also being evaluated [46][47][48][49]. Deeper understanding and prediction of GHG flux within and among reservoirs is essential to forecast the potential impact of regional hydropower development scenarios [43] on the global carbon cycle and the consequent implications for anthropogenic climate change.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and Temporal Correlates of Greenhouse Gas Diffusion from a Hydropower Reservoir in the Southern United States

Mosher

Fortner

Phillips

et al. 2015

Water

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Emissions of CO2 and CH4 from freshwater reservoirs constitute a globally significant source of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs), but knowledge gaps remain with regard to spatiotemporal drivers of emissions. We document the spatial and seasonal variation in surface diffusion of CO2 and CH4 from Douglas Lake, a hydropower reservoir in Tennessee, USA. Monthly estimates across 13 reservoir sites from January to November 2010 indicated that surface diffusions ranged from 236 to 18,806 mg·m for CH4. Next, we developed statistical models using spatial and physicochemical variables to predict surface diffusions of CO2 and CH4. Models explained 22.7% and 20.9% of the variation in CO2 and CH4 diffusions respectively, and identified pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and Julian day as the most informative predictors. These findings provide baseline estimates of GHG emissions from a reservoir in eastern temperate North America, a region for which estimates of reservoir GHGs OPEN ACCESSWater 2015, 7 5911 emissions are limited. Our statistical models effectively characterized non-linear and threshold relationships between physicochemical predictors and GHG emissions. Further refinement of such modeling approaches will aid in predicting current GHG emissions from unsampled reservoirs and forecasting future GHG emissions.

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“…As shown in Table 5, although public owners of hydropower (municipal, non-federal and federal organizations) only operate 31% of the plants, they control 73% of the US capacity, of almost 54,000 MW. Kao et al [47] estimate that 65,500 MW of new hydro capacity could technically be developed. Unlike Canada, the US centralizes, at the federal level, part of the hydropower regulation.…”

Section: United Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydropower Royalties: A Comparative Analysis of Major Producing Countries (China, Brazil, Canada and the United States)

Pineau

Tranchecoste

Cardenas

2017

Water

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Abstract:Hydropower is the leading renewable source of electricity generation and a low emission energy source. In order to be developed sustainably, it is important that its costs and benefits are adequately set and distributed. Different mechanisms, such as royalties, can be used for this purpose. Governments have usually kept hydropower royalty rates low, without internalizing negative externalities. This strategy is inefficient because it leads to larger electricity production and consumption, and hence exacerbates environmental impacts. This paper reviews the criteria proposed and used to set hydropower royalties. It also compares practices of the four main hydropower producers in the world: China, Brazil, Canada and the United States. Results show that royalty rates and distribution policies are determined in an arbitrary and unsystematic manner, but also that water use is usually undervalued. In order to encourage the development of this key renewable resource, in a sustainable and responsible way, national and international efforts should be made to rationalize and harmonize hydropower royalty rates.

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New Stream-reach Development: A Comprehensive Assessment of Hydropower Energy Potential in the United States

Cited by 48 publications

References 5 publications

The Hydropower Potential Assessment Tool (HPAT): Evaluation of run-of-river resource potential for any global land area and application to Falls Creek, Oregon, USA

The Hydropower Potential Assessment Tool (HPAT): Evaluation of run-of-river resource potential for any global land area and application to Falls Creek, Oregon, USA

Spatial and Temporal Correlates of Greenhouse Gas Diffusion from a Hydropower Reservoir in the Southern United States

Hydropower Royalties: A Comparative Analysis of Major Producing Countries (China, Brazil, Canada and the United States)

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