By Lyn Neeley
March 17, 2025

China’s new mega dam project is being built along Tibet’s Yarlung Zangbo River in the Himalayan mountains in Medog county (Motuo in Chinese). It is the highest major river in the world with the most hydroelectric potential. The $137 billion project will harness the power of gravity in the river’s steep descent of 2,000 meters over a 50-km stretch.

This massive hydroelectric project will generate 300 billion kilowatt-hours (KWh) of electric energy a year, three times the power of China’s Three Gorges Dam, which to date is the world’s largest and greatest producer of hydroelectricity.

The new Motuo mega-facility includes 28 dams at various stages of completion and several tunnels to divert portions of the water down steep slopes through one of the tallest mountains, the Namcha Barwa mountain. The tunnels increase the steep elevation drop energy to maximize the amount of energy produced.

In addition to providing enough energy to power 50 million homes a year, the dam will help reduce carbon emissions in China’s effort to reach emission reduction goals by 2030 that could result in carbon neutrality before 2060.

China is the largest energy producer in the world and the leading producer of hydroelectric power at around 30% of the world total. Hydropower is the primary renewable energy source in China. In 2023, China also generated 37% of global wind and solar electricity, enough to power Japan.

Trump vows to ‘drill, baby, drill’ 

Trump announced in January that the U.S. is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. Since the re-election of Trump, British Petroleum, Shell and other energy companies plan on increasing their investments in oil and gas.

Reuters reports that BP will increase production of oil and gas by 20% to $10 billion per year and slashing more than $5 billion from their previous green investment plan. Instead of their previous target to increase renewable generation 20-fold by 2030, their new carbon production target is 60% higher than the net zero plan they promised at the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Fossil fuel companies invested $96 million in Trump’s recent re-election campaign and another $243 million went to lobbying Congress.

Trump’s fundraising dinner at Mar-a-Lago last May hosted over 20 executives from companies like Chevron, Exxon and Occidental Petroleum. In exchange for large campaign contributions, he promised to allow increased drilling, pause restrictions on gas exports and reverse new rules aimed at cutting car pollution.

Results of a budget committee investigation uncovered hundreds of documents from energy companies showing that big oil has privately acknowledged its efforts to downplay the dangers of burning fossil fuels.

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island) said: “The fossil fuel industry is running perhaps the biggest campaign of disinformation and political interference in [U.S.] American history, and they’re backing it up with immense amounts of political spending. … The consequences in the White House are enormous and having a huge effect … but people aren’t aware.” (The Guardian, March 6)

Climate change surpasses a critical tipping point

2024 was the hottest year with the highest levels of greenhouse gasses ever recorded; a global average temperature rise of 1.6°C above estimated pre-industrial levels. Two studies published Feb. 10 in Nature Climate Change report that “the world is moving into dangerous territory — perhaps more quickly than previously thought.”

An agreement among nations at the 2015 Paris conference put a limit on global warming of 2°C above pre-industrial levels. and stated that an increase of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels was a critical tipping point to avoid catastrophic climate consequences. They set goals to limit greenhouse gas emissions from human activity to “net zero” between 2050 and 2100. (Nature Climate Change Feb. 10-t, Nature Climate Change Feb. 10-7)

The Royal Meteorological Society explained: “The difference between a rise of 1.5 compared to 2 degrees is significant, as a warmer world intensifies the severity and frequency of extreme weather events, with impacts on sea level rise, heatwaves, polar ice, biodiversity, health, drought, crop yields and ecosystems. Less than a decade from the Paris Agreement we’ve reached that crucial tipping point and are teetering on the edge.” (Met Matters)

Three Gorges Dam

China is the world’s leading producer of hydroelectric power, generating around 29% of the total world output. Half of the world’s 10 largest dams are in China and a bigger one is under construction.

China’s Three Gorges Dam, completed in 2012, is presently the world’s largest hydroelectric facility and power station. In addition to producing 103.6 billion KWh of energy annually, the dam located on the Yangtze River plays an important role in flood prevention, irrigation, drought control and improvement of navigation.

Controversy around the Three Gorges Dam included how the government handled the displacement of 1.3 million people living in the area. According to a 2004 United Nations Symposium on Hydropower and Sustainable Development, however, 40% of China’s investment in the Three Gorges Dam financed the relocation of residents, which was carried out simultaneously with construction of the dam from 1993 to 2004. China built new cities and towns to relocate many displaced people.

According to the symposium report, “In addition to giving sufficient compensation as relocation funds, preferential policies have been implemented, such as nation-wide counterpart supports and relocation of part of residents to other provinces, which has been carried out simultaneously with the project construction since 1993.” (UN-Symposium 2004)