摘要：Hydropower is a renewable source of energy of which ecological benefits include very low average greenhouse gas emissions. As a result of dams, however, more than 20% of all freshwater fish species are now considered threatened or endangered. Such negative ecological impacts are a focus of broad public concern in Alpine regions where hydropower production is most intense. The liberalization of electricity markets now provides an economic rationale for selling hydropower as green energy. This offers an opportunity to improve the ecological performance of hydropower plants. The lessons learned from this large-scale economic and ecological experiment in the industrialized world might be important in other mountain regions where hydropower production is being developed or needs ecological upgrading. As a step in this direction, the present paper gives an overview of recent developments in Europe concerned with the ecolabeling of hydropower. Different initiatives for green hydropower in liberalized electricity markets are discussed, followed by analysis of the shortcomings of simplistic ecolabels. Finally, a new method for ecological assessment of green hydropower plants is outlined. This is currently being implemented in Switzerland along with ecolabeling.
