The power of hydropeaking
Trade-offs between flexible hydropower and river ecosystem services in Europe
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12185033 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Terese E Venus (0000-0003-0729-2416), Oreoluwa Ola (0000-0002-4617-8512), Maria Alp (0000-0003-4295-6361), Nico Bätz (0000-0003-4809-0650), María Dolores Bejarano (0000-0002-5180-4442), Isabel Boavida (0000-0001-6005-3751), Maria Cristina Bruno (0000-0001-7860-841X), Roser Casas‐Mulet (0000-0002-7139-8859), Roser Casas-Mulet, Mauro Carolli (0000-0001-9625-8441), Gabriele Chiogna (0000-0003-4850-2037), Marie‐Pierre Gosselin (0000-0002-6596-8237), Marie-Pierre Gosselin, Jo H Halleraker (0000-0002-6031-7726), Markus Noack (0000-0002-3625-0357), Diego Tonolla (0000-0002-1172-0033), Davide Vanzo (0000-0002-2033-9197), Daniel S Hayes (0000-0003-3709-8630) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 233 |
| Pages | 108583-108583 |
| Publication date | 2025-03-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Ecological Economics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0921-8009 • E-ISSN: 1873-6106 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108583 |
| OpenAlex | W4408305055 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 80 |
The operational practice of "hydropeaking" allows hydropower plants to cover peaks and deficits in energy demand, but it also impacts river ecosystems. The assessment of hydropeaking impacts plays an important role in safeguarding ecosystem services, but is challenging due to the relative importance of impacts at different sites. To compare impacts in hydropeaking rivers, we elicit expert judgment on the relative impacts of hydropeaking on river ecosystem services. Using the best-worst scaling (BWS) method, we compare the impact on the three categories of river ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating and cultural). Our respondents include 98 hydropower experts. Our analysis accounted for individual heterogeneity to assess how perceptions vary across regions, attitudes and representative river characteristics. We find trade-offs between provisioning and regulating services at the regional and local levels, which represents a key issue in dealing with climate change and ecosystem degradation. The best-affected services were water for power generation, raw materials, water for industrial activities and water for irrigation. The worst-affected services were fisheries and aquaculture, maintenance of population and habitat, and wild animals. Our results have implications for the safeguarding of river ecosystem services and the design of regulatory and incentive schemes for mitigation
Business · Economics · Ecosystem · Ecosystem services · Environmental resource management · Hydropower · Natural resource economics · Power (physics · Environmental Science · Land Use and Ecosystem Services · Water resources management and optimization · Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies · Ecology
Applied Choice Analysis
Best-Worst Scaling
Best–worst scaling
Some probabilistic models of best, worst, and best–worst choices
Effects coding in discrete choice experiments
An operational model for mainstreaming ecosystem services for implementation
Mapping the world’s free-flowing rivers
Determining the Appropriate Response to Evidence of Public Concern
Riverine Ecosystem Management
Linking ecosystem services and measures in river and floodplain management
Certainty pays off
Adoption of greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture
Designing diversified renewable energy systems to balance multisector performance
Assessing water ecosystem services for water resource management
Informing decision making in agricultural greenhouse gas mitigation policy
Economic and ecological concepts for valuing ecosystem services
Defining and classifying ecosystem services for decision making
Incentives for cattle producers to adopt an E. Coli vaccine
Water policy debate in Australia
What carbon farming activities are farmers likely to adopt? A best–worst scaling survey
Trade-offs across Space, Time, and Ecosystem Services
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |