cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/32845
Hydroelectric power has fallen some 20 percent since 2021.
This partly comes down to the fact reservoirs have been drying up in countries such as Italy, Serbia, Montenegro and Norway.
The latter, according to Bloomberg, usually a major hydroproducer, is even taking the steps to reduce exports in order to prioritize refilling its reservoir’s low water levels so the country can maintain domestic production.
The droughts hitting Europe are impacting everything from food to transportation to the environment.
In Italy, the River Po has fallen two meters below its normal levels, seeing rice paddy fields dry out.
Germany’s River Rhine has become so shallow that cargo vessels can’t pass through it fully loaded, pushing up shipping costs, and
France’s Tille River, in the Burgundy region, is now a dried up bed covered in thousands of dead fish.