Three Gorges Dam
What is the Three Gorges Dam Project?
The Three Gorges Dam is a MASSIVE dam built on the Yangtze River in China and was completed in 2012. At over 600 feet tall and 1.5 miles long it is one of the largest dams in the world. It was started in 1994, took 18 years to build and cost $26 billion. The main reason it was built was to create energy for Chinese households, hospitals, schools, businesses and factories through hydroelectric power (energy created by fast running water. Hydro= water. Electric= Electricity). In fact, the 3 Gorges Dam is the largest electric power plant in the world!
Cheaper forms of making energy, such as burning fossil fuels (like coal and oil), typically have harmful impacts on the environment- like the smog in Beijing due to burning large amounts of coal for energy. Furthermore, coal and oil are non-renewable sources, meaning there is a limited supply of them available. The Three Gorges Dam cycles the same water through its turbines to create hydroelectricity, so it is considered a renewable resource because China will not run out of it. Another concern with energy is cost. For example, nuclear energy is expensive to set up and there's very high risk involved. One accident in a nuclear power plant could cause major explosions and damages! Not to mention the toxic waste that's produced by conducting nuclear energy.
Environmentalist and engineers have been working to create new, environmentally friendly, and economic (affordable) ways of producing energy. Using hydroelectricity (water from the river), the Three Gorges Dam project creates enough energy to equal 18 nuclear power plants! Using water as an energy source doesn't harm the environments and is highly effective!
Positives
China is the world’s fastest growing economy. Valued at over $8.8 TRILLION it is also the world’s second largest (The U.S is first at $15.7 trillion). Without the power from this dam China’s factories won’t run (and the stuff we get from them will disappear from our store shelves) and the over a BILLION people that live in China’s cities will struggle with access to electricity. This rapid industrialism and urbanization (fast growing cities) need TONS of electricity in order to be successful.
By damming the river China has also slowed down flooding in some parts of China making it easier for some farmers to grow crops (like rice). The dam has also made it easier for huge ships to go up and down the river and ship products between China’s cities.
Negatives
Even though many great things have come from the Three Gorges Dam project, there are also many negatives.
When the river was blocked up by the dam thousands of square miles of land were flooded. This was home to over 1.3 million Chinese people who were all displaced(caused to move). Since China has an unlimited government, they simply told these people "yeah, that happened, time to move somewhere else, but don't worry, we'll pay you for your loss." Sadly though, in the majority of cases, these relocated citizens didn't receive even close to the amount their farms/homes were worth. Many of the places to which these communities had to relocate are more expensive than they can afford... which causes them to fall deeper into poverty. Additionally, many important Chinese historical and cultural areas were buried underwater never to be seen again.
The environment and wildlife has also been impacted and in some areas harmed. The dam has created flooding along parts of the river and led to the extinction of the Yangtze River dolphin.
Lastly, the new lake created by the dam flooded 40% of China’s wheat farms and 70% of China’s rice farms. That is two of China most important cash crops and responsible for an incredible amount of jobs! This would be concerning to the Chinese government since it impacts their economy... however, the government has their eyes set on new endeavors- industrialism! China’s economy is the second-largest in the world and the way to maintain that growth, and continue to grow, is by innovation, industrialism, and technology.