Qingdao city, with more than 5 million inhabitants, suffers from an acute water shortage. Its water resources are unevenly distributed, both temporally and spatially. Qingdao’s urban water system also faces an inevitable rise in energy intensity and carbon emissions.
The Upper Mur River is considered as one of the most ecologically valuable rivers of Austria due to the natural reproduction for the Danube salmon. The systematic regulation of the river began at the end of the 19th century, distributaries were cut off and large areas were drained in order to intensify agricultural land use. Restoration measures started in 1997 in the area of the Upper Mur and the “Grenzmur”. Various projects facilitated the renaturation of more than 22 km both in the upper course and the Slovenian border section of the river. A policy issue highlighted by the project is the importance to reconcile key needs for nature conservation with demands for renewable energy generation from small hydro power plants.
The Khimti 1 Hydropower Project was initiated to increase hydropower supply in Nepal. Action was taken to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment to identify promotion of livelihood, economic enhancement and social well being of the project area communities. The project formulated an Environmental Monitoring Plan as well as environmental mitigation and monitoring programme. The key lesson to learn is the importance of assessment prior to the development of any project.
The distribution of many rural communities in Brazil presents a major challenge in terms of providing access to energy. The production and consumption of energy can, however, have serious consequences for the natural environment. The energy sector in Brazil has been engaged in a process of ‘learning from mistakes'. One important lesson learnt is that establishing and maintaining a high-level policy consensus is key in achieving success.