Hydropower – The Sustainability Dilemma

Abstract

Since the development of the agriculture, at least, hydropower has been used for irrigation and other engines such as watermills and domestic lifts (provision of water). It was only in the late 19th century, after the discovery of the electrical generator, that hydropower could be converted into electricity. The early 20th century was the turning point of the hydroelectricity, as we know. Since then, the hydroelectricity sector has technologically advanced and the current engineering arrangements are considerably improved compared with the pioneers. Most of this improvement is related to the scale of the hydropower plants, which have increased from some kilowatts to gigawatts. Nowadays, the produced hydroelectricity is transmitted for considerable distance between where it is created to where it is consumed and the complete arrangement includes reservoirs, turbines, generators, power houses and long distance power lines. It involves more complex, local, regional and global impacts, which have to be considered in a sustainability analysis. As a renewable resource, the hydropower was historically treated as a clean source of energy. However, the scientific researches launched in the last decades have produced arguments that brought another balance to this discussion. In this context, this chapter aims to explore the impacts of the hydropower plants under the sustainability’s viewpoint. Despite the use of the “hydropower” term, our focus is on the hydroelectricity and its projects, which represent the major parcel of the sector.