Join CGS on Tuesday, February 6th, 2024 at 12:00 PM to hear AFM Kamal Chowdhury, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) at the University of Maryland, discuss the interactions between energy economic and socio-environmental goals in the Global South's clean energy transition.
Abstract: Global energy development deals with the twin challenge of transitioning to low-carbon energy while limiting the socio-environmental impacts of the new energy infrastructures. Such tension is more prominent in the Global South where massive build-out of hydro, wind, and solar power to meet economic growth and climate goals could substantially affect land and freshwater ecosystems and the ecosystem services. How could different energy-economic goals and socio-environmental constraints influence future expansion of the electricity systems in the Global South? This talk will explore this question for the regional electricity systems in Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, and South America. A special focus will be given to future hydropower expansion given that the regions still have vast untapped hydropower potential in the ecologically sensitive river basins that also host diverse and productive freshwater resources
Join the seminar online here.