What’s the Three Gorges Dam?

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The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydroelectric dam in the world, spanning the Yangtze River in Hubei Province, China. It became fully operational on July 4, 2012 and has the capacity to produce 84.7 billion kW of energy annually. While it has extremely sophisticated engineering and will hopefully help China reduce its carbon emissions, its construction and effects have been controversial.

Characteristics

The dam is 7,661 feet (2,335 m) long at the top, with a reservoir approximately 410 miles (660 km) long and 3,7000 feet (1.12 km) wide. To put that into perspective, that’s about five times the size of the Hoover Dam in the United States. The project required 21 million cubic yards (16 million cubic meters) of concrete to build, which set a world record. It has 32 main generators, which can produce 700 MW each, along with two smaller generators which can produce around 50 MW each. The Three Gorges Dam can produce enough energy to power over 20 million households. Its primary functions are power generation and flood control.

Positive effects

When operating at full capacity, the Three Gorges Dam can reduce coal consumption by 31 million tons annually, significantly reducing China’s carbon emissions and saving hundreds of thousands of lives affected by diseases caused by smoke from power plants a coal. It also serves an important function for flood control. Every few decades, severe floods occur in the Yangtze, claiming thousands of lives, millions of people displaced, and billions of dollars in property damage. The Three Gorges Dam blocks the river’s waters and releases them in a measured way, preventing flooding. It also allows vessels of much greater tonnage to navigate the river, which has greatly increased riverside transportation and improved the transportation of goods within China.

Negative effects

Despite its benefits, the Three Gorges Dam has had negative benefits both environmentally and socially. It has greatly reduced the amount of sediment flowing downstream, which is expected to change the ecosystem and lead to lower biodiversity. Its location is also problematic, as it sits on an earthquake fault, leading many scientists to predict that it will cause or exacerbate earthquakes. Many landslides have already occurred since construction began, with nearly 24 per month in the first four months of 2010. In addition, the dam has had serious effects on the surrounding plant and animal life, contributing to the endangerment of many species. There are fears that the tank will become unusable as it fills up with pollutants from upstream.

In terms of social effects, millions of people have been displaced, sometimes without compensation, to make room for dam and reservoir construction. Estimates range from around 1.5 million to 4 million people displaced since construction began. Those who did receive compensation often received far less than they needed to start a new home, and those who didn’t receive it lacked an effective means to file complaints or seek help.

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