TY - JOUR
T1 - Systematic high-resolution assessment of global hydropower potential
AU - Hoes, Olivier A C
AU - Meijer, Lourens J J
AU - Van Der Ent, Ruud J.
AU - Van De Giesen, Nick C.
PY - 2017/2/8
Y1 - 2017/2/8
N2 - Population growth, increasing energy demand and the depletion of fossil fuel reserves necessitate a search for sustainable alternatives for electricity generation. Hydropower could replace a large part of the contribution of gas and oil to the present energy mix. However, previous high-resolution estimates of hydropower potential have been local, and have yet to be applied on a global scale. This study is the first to formally present a detailed evaluation of the hydropower potential of each location, based on slope and discharge of each river in the world. The gross theoretical hydropower potential is approximately 52 PWh/year divided over 11.8 million locations. This 52 PWh/year is equal to 33% of the annually required energy, while the present energy production by hydropower plants is just 3% of the annually required energy. The results of this study: all potentially interesting locations for hydroelectric power plants, are available online.
AB - Population growth, increasing energy demand and the depletion of fossil fuel reserves necessitate a search for sustainable alternatives for electricity generation. Hydropower could replace a large part of the contribution of gas and oil to the present energy mix. However, previous high-resolution estimates of hydropower potential have been local, and have yet to be applied on a global scale. This study is the first to formally present a detailed evaluation of the hydropower potential of each location, based on slope and discharge of each river in the world. The gross theoretical hydropower potential is approximately 52 PWh/year divided over 11.8 million locations. This 52 PWh/year is equal to 33% of the annually required energy, while the present energy production by hydropower plants is just 3% of the annually required energy. The results of this study: all potentially interesting locations for hydroelectric power plants, are available online.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85012231705&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0171844
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0171844
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85012231705
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 12
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
IS - 2
M1 - e0171844
ER -