Offsetting the greenhouse gas footprint of hydropower with floating solar photovoltaics

Rafael M. Almeida (), Areefin-Ul-Hassan Chowdhury, Hansapani Rodrigo, Mingxu Li and Rafael J. P. Schmitt
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Rafael M. Almeida: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Areefin-Ul-Hassan Chowdhury: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Hansapani Rodrigo: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Mingxu Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Rafael J. P. Schmitt: Stanford University

Nature Sustainability, 2024, vol. 7, issue 9, 1102-1106

Abstract: Abstract Hydropower is typically considered a low-carbon energy source. Yet, because of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from their reservoirs, some hydropower facilities exhibit high GHG intensities (that is, emissions per unit of electricity generated). Here we assess the potential for offsetting GHG intensities by combining reservoir-based hydropower with floating solar photovoltaics (FPV), a burgeoning renewable energy technology. We find that technically feasible FPV–hydropower integrations could enable over 50% of the world’s GHG-intensive hydropower plants to achieve low-GHG energy benchmarks. These findings have implications for both project-level hydropower management and broader climate change mitigation strategies.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01384-w

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