The largest dam removal project in United States history is underway along the California-Oregon border — a process that won’t conclude until the end of next year with the help of heavy machinery and explosives.

    • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      I don’t think @LexiconDexicon@lemmy.world said hydropower is no longer needed. They just said there’s no need for so many dams anymore, and I think that’s correct in this case.

      A lot of these older and extremely underpowered dams were built in important riverways. They decimated salmon runs but produced only small amounts of power in return. For a recent example, Elwha Dam removal in Washington State comes to mind. It and another dam produced only 38% of the electricity needed to operate one sawmill, but it killed salmon habitats. You can read a little about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elwha_Dam

    • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      No clue why he would think that. Hydro power is the best source of carbon-free power. It’s also the only reasonable way to do grid-scale storage we have. Unless we see a huge build-out in nuclear, hydro-power will be required for the next century.