Spatial and temporal aspects of greenhouse gas emissions from Three Gorges Reservoir, China

Abstract. Before completion of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), China, there was growing apprehension that it would become a major emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG): Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O). We report monthly measurements for one year of the fluxes of these gases at multiple sites within the TGR, Yangtze River, China, and from several major tributaries, and immediately downstream of the dam. The tributary areas have lower CO2 fluxes than the main storage; CH4 fluxes to the atmosphere after passage through the turbines are negligible. Overall, TGR showed significantly lower CH4 emission rates than most new reservoirs in temperate and tropical regions. We attribute this to the well-oxygenated deep water and high water velocities which produce oxic mainstem conditions inimical to CH4 emission. TGR's CO2 fluxes were lower than most tropical reservoirs and higher than most temperate systems. This is due to the high load of metabolizable soil carbon delivered through erosion to the Yangtze River. Compared to fossil fuelled power plants of equivalent power output TGR is a very small GHG emitter, annual CO2-equivalent emissions are approximately 1.7% of a coal-fired generating plant of comparable power output.