Dataset for Hydropower Expansion in Eco-Sensitive River Basins under Global Energy-Economic Change

The data presented in this repository can be fed into the codes provided in this GitHub repository to reproduce the results of the following paper:

Chowdhury, A.F.M.K., Wild, T., Zhang, Y. et al. Hydropower expansion in eco-sensitive river basins under global energy-economic change. Nat Sustain 7, 213–222 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01260-z

Summary

In this study, we investigate how rapid economic growth and transition to low-carbon energy may impact hydropower development, with potential countervailing effects of increasingly cost-competitive variable renewable energy (VRE). We explore the effects of these forces on hydropower expansion in the world's 20 most eco-sensitive river basins, that have substantial untapped hydropower potential and ecological richness. Our investigation is based on the Global Change Analysis Model (GCAM), an integrated model of global energy-water-economy dynamics. The GCAM outputs and other data provided in this repository, in combination with the Jupyter Notebooks provided in this GitHub repository, can be used to conduct our key analysis, and reproduce the relevant results.