The Greenhouse Gas Program - Introduction

Quantification of greenhouse gas (GHG) sources and control of emissions take on strategical importance for understanding and management of the Earth climate evolution in the middle term (Kyoto Protocol). To produce energy, at first sight, the hydroelectrical option seems less emitter of GHG than the use of fossil fuel. Nevertheless , the creation of dam and the flooding of large area lead equally to GHG emission of biological origin; it is therefore necessary to quantify these emissions and to understand their mechanisms. This is particularly important in tropical regions where a great potential for the installation of hydroelectric power plants remains, and where the large quantity of submerged biomass and high temperatures allow the production of methane (CH4) which radiative efficiency is (by mole) 21 times as important as that of carbon dioxide (CO2). So, it is necessary to improve our documentation on that source notably in tropical zone where it is more intense, in comparison with the emissions of natural flooded lands, either seasonal or permanent. This source is indeed taken into account in the national inventories of GHG sources proposed by the IPCC (International Panel for Climate Change), in the framework of the Kyoto's protocol.