Month: <span>May 2018</span>

Belt and Road may have a greater net impact on ecosystems than it does global warming, scientist said.

An interview with conservation biologist William F. Laurance: Chinas Global Infrastructure Initiative Could Bring Environmental Catastrophe Humans are ravaging tropical forests by hunting, logging and building roads, and the threats are mounting by the day. China is planning a series of massive infrastructure projects across four continents, an initiative that …

Help needed for those affected by the dam tragedy in Colombia

Urgent help needed for those affected by the dam tragedy in Colombia The Hidroituango, hydroelectric project in the department of Antioquia is the largest infrastructure currently running in the country. Since April 28, technical failures have occurred for the plugging of the Cauca river tunnel, which has generated an emergency …

2018 Hydropower Status Report Confirms Dam Decline

Graph: Hydropower capacity increase in MW. Data from IHA reports The 2018 Hydropower Status Report offers insights and trends on the hydropower sector from members of International Hydropower Association.. Key findings: A record 4,185 terawatt hours (TWh) in electricity was generated from hydropower in 2017. Worldwide hydropower installed capacity rose …

NGOs Are Welcome to Gobi Basin Council!

Besides Shuren and Orkhon dam sub-projects, the World Bank MINIS Project oversees formation and development of three groundwater basin administrations in the vast Gobi regions of Mongolia. As everywhere else in Mongolia  Gobi water basin councils are established to provide guidance and control basin administrations. Naturally the RwB Coalition and …

Dam disaster in Colombia forces evacuation of at least 5 000 people

Hydropower boom in Latin America fueled by corrupt practices of the Odebrecht and other major construction corporations and supported by loans from China, Germany and multilateral banks continues to displace and threaten local populations. Hidroituango, Colombia’s largest hydroelectric dam project, which promises to produce 13% of country’s electricity by 2019, …

Coal-mud flood consumes houses and farms in Eastern Russia

In Gornozavodsk (Japanese: 内幌町, Naihoro) town on Sakhalin Island, on May 14, 2018 a long anticipated coal-mud flood consumed several buildings  and farms and now creeps towards  the highway and nearby rivers. Coal  miners are routinely allowed to store waste in dangerous locations, displace local residents,  pollute salmon-spawning rivers and …