Book chapter - Peer-reviewed, 2018
Biodiversity Restoration and Renewable Energy from Hydropower: Conflict or Synergy?
Tafesse Tirkaso, Wondmagegn; Gren, Ing-Marie; Sandin, Leonard; Segersten, Joel; Spjut, David; Degerman, ErikAbstract
Hydropower plants have a negative impact on biodiversity by transforming stream habitat and hydrology and thereby affecting aquatic organisms negatively. The negative effects can be mitigated by releasing water into the old river bed. This study investigates if the measure of releasing water creates costs and if ecological conditions at the old river bed contribute to such an impact. To this end, we used the cost-minimization framework in economics for deriving hypotheses. Tests were made with data from a survey to 76 hydropower plants in Sweden with questions on existence of a cost, size of the plant, type of water release from reservoirs, characteristics of the dried downstream old river bed, and official statistics on ecological status of the downstream dried segments. The results showed that 42% of the plants reported no cost, measured as impact on electricity production, from release of water into downstream old river bed. We applied logit and probit models to explain the probability of a cost. Significant results were obtained were the electricity produced and program for minimum water discharges increase the probability of loss in electricity production, but favorable ecological conditions in the old river bed decrease the probability of a cost.Keywords
hydropower; biodiversity; streams and rivers; restoration; old river bed; cost; survey data; econometrics; SwedenPublished in
Book title: Selected Studies in BiodiversityISBN: 978-1-78923-232-5, eISBN: 978-1-78923-233-2
Publisher: IntechOpen
Authors' information
Tafesse Tirkaso, Wondmagegn (Tafesse Tirkaso, Wondmagegn)
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Economics
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Economics
Sandin, Leonard
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Aquatic Resources
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment
Spjut, David
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Aquatic Resources
Degerman, Erik
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Aquatic Resources
UKÄ Subject classification
Economics
Business Administration
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.69134
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/95624