GEF

Unit 3  |  Primary Sustainability Issues 62 3.2  Advantages of Renewable Energy Hydro (-electric) power is the world’s most-used form of renewable energy. It makes up about one-third of global renewable energy production. Hydropower produces energy by harnessing the power of rivers, waves, and tidal flows. The world’s largest hydropower station is Three Gorges Dam located on China’s Yangtze River. Large-scale hydropower has proven to be an important part of global energy production, but it also presents problems such as flooding of biodiversity hotspots and displacement of human populations around dams. Tidal energy and wave energy are currently being explored as more sustainable alternatives. Wind resources are abundant and widely distributed around the Earth. Turbines that capture wind energy are rapidly growing sources of power in many countries. Large, modern utility-scale wind turbines are typically situated in areas with reliable wind, such as off-shore or on mountains. A key advan- tage to wind power is that it invites mixed economic use of land HYDRO (-ELECTRONIC) POWER A method of electricity production that utilizes the energy of running water. BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS Region of the earth with very high levels of bio- logical diversity, such as the Amazon basin. TIDAL ENERGY A form of hydropower that converts tidal motion into electricity. WAVE ENERGY A form of hydropower that converts wave motion into electricity. WIND ENERGY Energy captured from wind through the use of turbines.