Full Title: Hydropower Greenhouse Gas Emissions: State of the Research
Author(s): William Steinhurst, Patrick Knight, and Melissa Schultz
Publisher(s): Synapse Energy Economics
Publication Date: February 1, 2012
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
This report reviews the state of information regarding one key policy consideration: how hydropower stacks up against other technologies with respect to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—including the life cycle emissions from the construction and operation of generating capacity. An important aspect of the analysis is a comparison of not only the “typical” amount of GHG emissions from each technology, but a presentation of the range of values that may be observed. The report also discusses concerns about the way GHG emissions are measured, especially in the case of hydropower, and best practices for doing so. Finally, the report discusses a specific policy consideration: the relative trade-off (from a GHG emission perspective) of