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The Thirsty Dragon: Dam! China Approves World’s Most Expensive Infrastructure Project
January 3rd, 2025
Via The Economist, a report on China’s planned Tsangpo dam, the world’s most expensive infrastructure project which has China’s neighbours on edge: IT IS SOMETIMES called the “Everest of rivers” owing to its extreme topography. One section of the Yarlung Tsangpo falls 2,000 metres over a stretch of 50km (31 miles). But what interests Chinese officials […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: The New Great Wall – China’s 2,700-Mile Water Transfer Mega Project
January 2nd, 2025
Via Interesting Engineering, a report on China’s South-North Water Transfer project spans 2,700 miles and costs $70 billion: Throughout history, China has reshaped its geography to meet its growing needs. And now, it is undertaking what may be the largest infrastructure project ever, the South-North Water Transfer Project. This ambitious initiative aims to redistribute billions […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China Pushes Ahead with Huge – and Controversial – Dam in Tibet
December 26th, 2024
Via the Washington Post, a report that Beijing has approved plans to dam a gorge in the Himalayas that is three times as deep as the Grand Canyon, despite concerns about the impact on Tibet and India: Chinese authorities are pressing ahead with plans to build a series of enormous hydropower dams across a gorge […]
Read more »Cambodia’s Giant Lake Shrinks As Climate Change, Mekong Dams Cut Fish Supply
December 14th, 2024
Via Nikkei Asia, a look at how Cambodia’s Tonle Sap communities count cost of hydropower drive clashing with food security needs: The pier of Kampong Chhnang, a fishing community north of Phnom Penh, was alive at 7 a.m. with the rhythm of knives hitting chopping boards. Dozens of women sat on the ground, slicing flesh […]
Read more »Three International Water Conflicts to Watch
November 15th, 2024
Via Geopolitical Monitor, a report on three international water conflicts that bear watching: International water conflicts are a prisoner’s dilemma fundamentally rooted in geopolitics. Neither up nor downriver states can live without it, and water is the lifeblood of development and economic growth. Yet one (upriver) state has a fundamental advantage over the other (downriver) state. […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Biggest Clean Power Machine Is Misfiring Due To Drought
October 28th, 2024
Via Bloomberg, a look at how climate change is coming for China’s water that fuels hydroelectric plants, putting decarbonizing plans at risk: It may not get the same attention as solar panels and wind farms, but few pieces of infrastructure are more crucial for the fate of the planet than China’s cascade of hydroelectric plants. […]
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