The International Hydropower Association (IHA) has launched a call for proposals for the further development of it’s greenhouse gas (GHG) Reservoir Screening Tool.
The International Hydropower Association (IHA) has launched a call for proposals for the further development of it’s greenhouse gas (GHG) Reservoir Screening Tool.
Development of the tool is moving into a new phase, with revisions being developed to estimate the impact of a reservoir on the GHG exchanges that occur in a river basin. The GHG Reservoir Screening Tool will allocate any GHG impact to the services provided by the reservoir. The IHA expects that a prototype of the revised tool will be launched at the World Hydropower Congress in Beijing, 19-21 May 2015.
The development of the tool has been divided into four modules – pre-impoundment, post-impoundment, unrelated anthropogenic sources, and allocation to reservoir services. The request for proposals invites research teams to assist in the development of the first three of these modules.
The tool is intended to inform decision makers if there is likely to be any significant GHG footprint associated with the purposes for which the reservoir is being developed. The tool will be applicable for both existing and planned reservoirs. If the tool identifies a reservoir that is likely to cause a significant impact, the recommended action will include the possibility of detailed modelling, said the IHA.
“Our work is aligned with that of the International Energy Agency’s Hydropower Agreement (IEA-Hydro), which is currently working on the development of modelling guidelines," the organisation said in a statement. "These guidelines will relate to the detailed study of the GHG status of reservoirs shown to be vulnerable by the GHG Reservoir Screening Tool.
Back-to-back expert workshops to address both the development of the GHG Reservoir Screening Tool (convened by IHA) and modelling guidelines (convened by IEA-Hydro), will take place in London, 1-5 December 2014.
For further details, including copies of the project description for the GHG Reservoir Screening Tool and the request for proposals, please contact the IHA Central Office on tel: +44 20 8652 5290 or visit: http://www.hydropower.org