Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions From a Hydroelectric Reservoir in Canada,  
A World Premiere

Alain Tremblay, Ph.D.,

Hydro-Québec, Montréal, Canada (tremblay.alain@hydro.qc.ca)

Hydro-Québec is the largest electric power company in Canada with more than 35 000 MW installed for an annual generation of around 189 TWh. The growing concern regarding the long-term contribution of freshwater reservoirs to atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG) led Hydro-Québec to study net GHG emissions from Eastmain 1 reservoir. The net emissions are those related to the creation of a reservoir minus those that would have been emitted or absorbed by the natural systems over a 100-year period in the absence of the reservoir. This large study was realized in collaboration with the University of Quebec in Montreal, McGill University and Environnement IIlimité Inc. We will present sedimentation rates, emissions at the surface of the reservoir, the degassing emissions downstream of the power house as well as the emissions/absorption of the natural ecosystems (forest, peatlands, lakes, streams and rivers) before and after the impoundment. The results of this mass balance from 2004 to 2009 as well as the extrapolation over  100 years will be presented in details.

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