Pecologix Political Ecology Blotter

The aim of this study is to estimate the mean annual power absorption of a selection of eight Wave Energy Converters (WECs) with different working principles. Based on these estimates a set of power performance measures that can be related to costs are derived. These are the absorbed energy per characteristic mass [kWh/kg], per characteristic [...]

During the first decade of the 21st Century the World faces spread concern for global warming caused by rise of green house gasses produced mainly by combustion of fossil fuels. Under this latest spin all renewable energies run parallel in order to achieve sustainable development. Among them wave energy has an unequivocal potential and technology [...]

Wave energy harvesting could be a substantial renewable energy source without impact on the global climate and ecology, yet practical attempts have struggled with the problems of wear and catastrophic failure. An innovative technology for ocean wave energy harvesting was recently proposed, based on the use of soft capacitors. This study presents a realistic theoretical [...]

Using a case-study, inductive, narrative approach, this article explores the history, drivers, benefits, and barriers to the Bakun Hydroelectric Project in East Malaysia. Situated on the island of Borneo, Bakun Dam is a 204 m high concrete face, rock filled dam on the Balui River in the Upper Rajang Basin in the rainforests of Sarawak. [...]

Every once in a while it behooves us to remember that the so-called engineering miracle known as the hydroelectric dam is rife with sustainability issues. Besides the obvious ecological disturbances that come from filling up the reservoir with water, there is a major long term problem with all dams known as aggradation. When a dam [...]

Scientists predicted that when the world’s largest hydropower project came online in 2003, it would be an environmental bane. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River has unfortunately lived up to expectations. For that reason China is embarking on a 10-year mitigation effort that sources say will cost $26.45 billion. The travails of the [...]

One million people depend on the seasonal filling and emptying of Cambodia’s Tonlé Sap Lake. But newly built dams on the upper Mekong and its tributaries are expected to modulate the river’s flow. A large area of permanent inundation will swallow thousands of hectares of floodplain, disrupting the ecosystem and possibly devastating the fishery. Laotian [...]