Three Gorges Dam The World

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Three Gorges DamThe Worlds Largest Hydro-Power
Project
Dam From Space
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What is the Three Gorges Dam?

• Underwent construction in 1994 to be the largest
  electric dam in the world, five times the size of
  the U.S Hoover dam.
• 607 ft high and 1.4 miles long -- creates a
  reservoir hundreds of feet deep and nearly 400
  miles long.
• Located between the Chinese cities of Yichang,
  Chongqing, Fuling and the Hubei province. It
  spans the Yangtze River, which is the third
  longest river in the world.
• The Three Gorges Dam is currently still in
  construction and is predicted to be finished by
  2009.

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What is the Three Gorges Dam?

• Started to help the areas around it through flood
  control and to provide renewable energy.
• The building of the dam has displaced over 1.9
  million people.
• Environmentalists claim that the construction of
  the dam contributed to the extinction of some
  wildlife and the loss of many scenic and
  important archeological sites.

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History of the Dam

• Originally proposed in 1919 by Sun Yat-sen, a
  leader of the modern China Republic because he
  thought it would be a good source of power
  generation.
• Between 1919 and 1989 there was a lot of debate
  around the issue of whether to build the dam or
  not.
• There were many technical problems and the idea
  was thought to be too costly by many critics. The
  majority of the population was also against the
  dam.
• In 1979, Chinas major economic reforms and need
  for electrical power had grown so the State
  Council approved construction of the dam.
• Because of growing opposition and fear of high
  costs there were many critics of the dam
  construction.

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History of the Dam

• By 1989 surveys showed that the whole country was
  against the building of the dam so the State
  Council suspended construction plans for five
  years.
• After the Tiananmen Square protests of the same
  year the Government no longer saw the need to
  listen to its citizens and it forbade public
  opposition of the dam and imprisoned many famed
  critics of the dam.
• In 1989 the government no longer listened to its
  citizens and forbade public opposition of the
  dam.
• In April 1992 the dam was pushed through the
  National Peoples Congress even though 1/3 was
  completely against it.
• By 1994 the government was soliciting funds,
  services and hardware and had reserved
  construction contracts from Chinese firms. The
  dam building had begun.

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Benefits/Advantages of the Dam

• Hydropower -The Three Gorges projects is expected
  to become an important future source of energy
  for China. (Over 80 of Chinas electricity is
  powered by coal)
• The dam's hydropower turbines will produce as
  much electricity as 18 nuclear power plants.
• In the long run, the dam may decrease the yearly
  coal consumption by 40-50 million tons, which
  will prevent 2 million tons of sulfur dioxide and
  10,000 tons of carbon monoxide from being
  released each year.
• When finished, the dam will mollify the floods on
  the Yangtze River, which have killed more than a
  million people in the last century.
• The engineers say that the reservoir will allow
  10,000-ton ocean-going freighters to sail into
  China, which will increase the import of products
  and open up Chinas underdeveloped parts.

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Opposition/Disadvantages

• Officials said plan costs 25 billion but some
  say that the project costs more than any other
  construction project in China.
• Critics say dam is only useful to industrialists
  on the east coast because they need the most
  hydropower.
• About 1.3 million people have been relocated for
  the dam and its reservoir. Many others are being
  displaced from their land and have not been
  relocated or compensated. The authority is also
  not giving them the right to be heard.
• The predicted amount of power was initially going
  to generate about 10 of Chinas power, but now
  some say it will supply only 3.
• The formation of large reservoirs can generate
  large amounts of greenhouse gases, specifically
  methane.

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Opposition/Disadvantages

• Large reservoirs can help certain habitats, but
  can also hurt many ecosystems.
• The dam will cause the almost extinct Chinese
  Paddlefish to suffer and will harm their habitat.
  
• The Siberian Crane will be threatened, seeing
  that 95 of the remaining 3-4,000 will be killed
  by the dam.
• The Chinese River Dolphin became extinct in
  December 2006 due mostly to the dam.
• The reservoir will flood many archaeological
  sites and will lessen the beauty of the Three
  Gorges.
• Critics say that the Yangtze will add 530 million
  tons of silt into the reservoir annually, which
  will stop it from preventing floods.
• The dam lies on a seismic fault, and the weight
  of it might cause seismic waves.
• Poor construction has caused several accidental
  disasters.

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The Future of the Dam

• The structure of the dam is complete, but will
  not operate until 2009.
• The last several generators will soon be
  installed, and work still needs to be done on
  the ship lift that will allow ocean-going vessels
  to navigate the vast reservoir that is filling up
  behind the dam. http//www.taipeitimes.com/News/w
  orld/archives/2006/05/21/2003309291

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Sources

• http//www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/200
  6/05/21/2003309291
• http//www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/asian.su
  perpower/three.gorges/
• http//www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/20/world/ma
  in1638180.shtml
• http//www.moafs.org/newsletter/April202002/3gorg
  estats.htm
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam
• http//www.schillerinstitute.org/graphics/photos/T
  hree_Gorges.jpg
• http//www.chinahighlights.com/yangtzecruise/pic/p
  roject1.gif