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Nature 444, 524-525 (30 November 2006) | doi:10.1038/444524a; Published online 29 November 2006

Methane quashes green credentials of hydropower

Jim Giles

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Emissions from tropical dams can exceed fossil-fuel plants.

At the time, it must have sounded like a sensible case of sustainable development. During the 1980s, about 2,500 square kilometres of Amazonian rainforest was flooded to create the Balbina dam to feed the energy demands of the Brazilian city of Manaus.