Drought from China to US hits hydro dams, slashing top clean energy source

Globally, hydropower generates more electricity than nuclear and more power than wind and solar combined. In countries like Norway and Brazil, dams generate more than half of total electricity

China’s Three Gorges Dam is an awe-inspiring sight, a vast barrier across the Yangtze River that contains enough concrete to fill seven Wembley Stadiums and more steel than eight Empire State Buildings. Its turbines could singlehandedly power the Philippines.

But this summer, the world’s largest power plant was eerily quiet.

Three Gorges Dam in August. (Photo: Bloomberg)

On a late August visit to the facility, water on both sides of the dam was still. There was no sign of the white spray that usually rises from the the