ASSESSMENT OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM A LARGE SUBTROPICAL RESERVOIR IN CHINA

The reservoirs in some special areas such as the Amazonian forests can emit significant amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, there is a wide variety of hydroelectric projects around the world designed for different functions, leading to uncertainty regarding the greenhouse effect of hydropower development. In particular, less information is available for the assessment of GHG emissions, for example, from a given reservoir system in subtropical climates. To support the development of sustainable water energy management in China and also cope with the global climate change, more research on greenhouse gases from large reservoirs in China is urgently needed. This paper presents an overview of GHG emissions from hydroelectric projects, focusing on the theoretical calculation and measuring technology. A series of observations were carried out at the Three Gorges reservoir, the largest hydroelectric project in China and in the world. The emission fluxes between 11 representative locations (9 in the mainstream and 2 in the tributary embayments) are analysed to understand the longitudinal distribution of GHG emissions of the reservoir.