Across the African continent, more than 300 new hydropower projects are planned to meet the growing demand for electricity. Some of these will require big dams, which can have major negative environmental impacts. Another looming problem with hydropower is that the water cycle is affected by climate change. Water availability will be reduced and become more variable in some locations in the next decades.
We are a team of environmental and energy systems researchers. Energy systems is the study of how energy can be produced to meet the demand of the different sectors of society. Environmental systems modelling is used to simulate the natural environment and evaluate the impacts of infrastructure on it.
We analysed the likely development of energy systems in Africa from 2020 to 2050, looking at energy demand, the changing use of land and its impact on energy and how the warming climate will affect water availability.
