1. By Beth Sadgrove Three Gorges Dam

2. The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydroelectric dam in the world, it is in South East China. When it is full it can generate up to 22,500 megawatts making it the largest generator of hydroelectric energy in the world. It supplies a lot of energy for China. The dam wall is around 2,309 metres long and 101 metres high. What is the Three Gorges Dam?

3. Where is the Three Gorges Dam? The Three Gorges Dam is in South East China, in the region of Sandouping. The Dam is situated over the Yangtze River which is the longest river in Asia and China, It is between Chongquing and Wuhan. The

4. Why was the Three Gorges Dam built? The Three Gorges Dam was built for a number of different reasons. It was built to control flooding of the Yangtze river. It was also built because there is such a high demand for electricity in China, it has such a big population, people need to work so they need electricity for factories and places for people to work. A lot of products are made in China, shoes, clothes, toys, loads of things. They need the electricity to be able to produce the products. It was also made to cut down on the CO2 emissions because China has around 1/6 of the world population so they produce a lot of CO2.

5. When was it built? How long did it take to build? The planning for the dam started in the 1980’s but the construction actually started on 14 th December 1994. It is still being completed, though it is finally flooded there are still several generators that need to be fitted in the dam. The date for the dam to be complete was supposed to be 2009 but due to lack of some resources it has been delayed until 2011.

6. What evidence can you find to argue the dam was a good idea? The Three Gorges Dam is a really big source of energy for China. It is the biggest source of energy in China. It is much better for the environment than the other sources of energy that use fossil fuels. Because it is in such big demand it is a good idea to use renewable energy.

7. What evidence can you find to argue against the dam being built? The Three Gorges Dam is causing a lot of problems in the area around China. It could be causing Landslides and water pollution in the surrounding areas. Also another reason is that one million people from the areas around where the dam was being built had to relocate, which is about twice the population of Bristol, some without getting any money or hardly any money to find somewhere else to live.