The methane emissions represent an essentially permanent addition to gas fluxes from the region, rather than a one-time release.
Fearnside, P. M.: 1996a, ‘Hydroelectric Dams in Brazilian Amazonia: Response to Rosa, Schaeffer and dos Santos’, Environ. This research was supported by the World Bank and sponsors from the hydropower sector. Limnol. Hydroelectric dams contribute more to global warming than previously estimated, according to a study published in BioScience. The global median GHG emission intensity of the hydropower reservoirs included in the study was 18.5 gCO2-eq/kWh - this is the grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated allocated to hydropower over a life-cycle. (Atmos.) 11(4), 471–483. Conserv. ), Greenhouse Gas Emissions under a Developing Countries Point of View, Coordenação dos Programs de Pós-Graduação de Engenharia (COPPE), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, pp. Verchot, L. V., Davidson, E. A., Cattânio, J. H., Akerman, I. L., Erickson, H. E. and Keller, M.: 1999, ‘Land Use Change and Biogeochemical Controls of Nitrogen Oxide Emissions from Soils in Eastern Amazonia’, Global Biogeochem. Ecological Res. 5(3), 239–270. Deemer is enthusiastic about the possibilities that this research presents for designing, situating and operating dams that emit fewer gases. Devol, A. H., Richey, J. H., Forsberg, B. R. and Martinelli, L. A.: 1990, ‘Seasonal Dynamics in Methane Emissions from the Amazon River Floodplain to the Troposphere’, J. Geophys. The IHA study confirms the majority of hydropower reservoirs studied are producing very low-carbon power; although some reservoirs in every climate category can potentially have high emissions exceeding 100 gCO. Fearnside, P. M.: 1995, ‘Hydroelectric Dams in the Brazilian Amazon as Sources of ‘Greenhouse’ Gases’, Environ. (Atmos.) A number of researchers have measured reservoir emissions at dam sites around the world, but each study is usually site-specific and the results not applicable to the great majority of reservoirs elsewhere. Fearnside, P. M.: 1989, ‘Brazil’s Balbina Dam: Environment Versus the Legacy of the Pharaohs in Amazonia’, Environ.
Galy-Lacaux, C., Delmas, R., Kouadio, J., Richard, S. and Gosse, P.: 1999, ‘Long-term Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Hydroelectric Reservoirs in Tropical Forest Regions’, Global Biogeochem. Brazil’s Tucuruí Dam provides an example with important lessons for policy debates on Amazonian development and on how to assess the global warming impact ofdifferent energy options.