Evaluating the behaviour of Chinese stakeholders engaged in large hydropower projects in Asia and Africa

Hydropower dams have been back in the spotlight due to shifting preference for low carbon energy generation and possible contributions to mitigating climate change. At the forefront of the renaissance of large hydropower dams are Chinese companies as the world’s largest dam builders at home and abro...

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Main Authors: Tan-Mullins, May, Urban, Frauke, Mang, Grace
Format: Article
Published: Cambridge University Press 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51025/
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author Tan-Mullins, May
Urban, Frauke
Mang, Grace
author_facet Tan-Mullins, May
Urban, Frauke
Mang, Grace
author_sort Tan-Mullins, May
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Hydropower dams have been back in the spotlight due to shifting preference for low carbon energy generation and possible contributions to mitigating climate change. At the forefront of the renaissance of large hydropower dams are Chinese companies as the world’s largest dam builders at home and abroad, opening up opportunities for low and middle income countries. However, large hydropower dams, despite their possible developmental and carbon reduction contributions, are accompanied by huge economic costs, profound negative environmental changes and social impacts. Using fieldwork data from four hydropower projects in Ghana, Nigeria, Cambodia and Malaysia, this paper evaluates the behavior of Chinese stakeholders engaged in large hydropower projects in Asia and Africa. We do this by first exploring the interests of the different Chinese stakeholders and then investigating the wider implications of these Chinese dams on the local, national and international contexts. The paper concludes that hydropower dams will continue to be prominent in the future to increase energy security and reduce energy poverty world-wide hence the planning, building and mitigation strategies need to be done in a more sustainable way that takes into account national development priorities, the needs of local people and the impacts on natural habitats.
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spelling nottingham-510252020-05-04T18:53:36Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51025/ Evaluating the behaviour of Chinese stakeholders engaged in large hydropower projects in Asia and Africa Tan-Mullins, May Urban, Frauke Mang, Grace Hydropower dams have been back in the spotlight due to shifting preference for low carbon energy generation and possible contributions to mitigating climate change. At the forefront of the renaissance of large hydropower dams are Chinese companies as the world’s largest dam builders at home and abroad, opening up opportunities for low and middle income countries. However, large hydropower dams, despite their possible developmental and carbon reduction contributions, are accompanied by huge economic costs, profound negative environmental changes and social impacts. Using fieldwork data from four hydropower projects in Ghana, Nigeria, Cambodia and Malaysia, this paper evaluates the behavior of Chinese stakeholders engaged in large hydropower projects in Asia and Africa. We do this by first exploring the interests of the different Chinese stakeholders and then investigating the wider implications of these Chinese dams on the local, national and international contexts. The paper concludes that hydropower dams will continue to be prominent in the future to increase energy security and reduce energy poverty world-wide hence the planning, building and mitigation strategies need to be done in a more sustainable way that takes into account national development priorities, the needs of local people and the impacts on natural habitats. Cambridge University Press 2017-06-30 Article PeerReviewed Tan-Mullins, May, Urban, Frauke and Mang, Grace (2017) Evaluating the behaviour of Chinese stakeholders engaged in large hydropower projects in Asia and Africa. China Quarterly, 230 . pp. 464-488. ISSN 0305-7410 China; Africa; Asia; Hydropower; Development; Socio-environment https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/china-quarterly/article/evaluating-the-behaviour-of-chinese-stakeholders-engaged-in-large-hydropower-projects-in-asia-and-africa/975F4CBDBCC0F4A6A04660C03F777353 doi:10.1017/S0305741016001041 doi:10.1017/S0305741016001041
spellingShingle China; Africa; Asia; Hydropower; Development; Socio-environment
Tan-Mullins, May
Urban, Frauke
Mang, Grace
Evaluating the behaviour of Chinese stakeholders engaged in large hydropower projects in Asia and Africa
title Evaluating the behaviour of Chinese stakeholders engaged in large hydropower projects in Asia and Africa
title_full Evaluating the behaviour of Chinese stakeholders engaged in large hydropower projects in Asia and Africa
title_fullStr Evaluating the behaviour of Chinese stakeholders engaged in large hydropower projects in Asia and Africa
title_full_unstemmed Evaluating the behaviour of Chinese stakeholders engaged in large hydropower projects in Asia and Africa
title_short Evaluating the behaviour of Chinese stakeholders engaged in large hydropower projects in Asia and Africa
title_sort evaluating the behaviour of chinese stakeholders engaged in large hydropower projects in asia and africa
topic China; Africa; Asia; Hydropower; Development; Socio-environment
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51025/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51025/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51025/