4 April 2024

14:20 – 15:05

Amphi 3

Daniel Macfarlane

Daniel Macfarlane is an Associate Professor in School of the Environment, Geography, and Sustainability at Western Michigan University where he is also Track Leader for Climate Change and Energy Policy in the WMU Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Secure, Efficient and Sustainable Energy Technology. He received his PhD in History from the University of Ottawa in 2011. He is a senior fellow at the Bill Graham Center for Contemporary International History at the University of Toronto and President of the International Water History Association. Daniel’s research focuses on transnational Canada-US environmental history, political ecology, policy, and international relations, with an emphasis on water and energy issues in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin. He is the author or co-editor of six books on topics including Niagara Falls hydropower, the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project, the International Joint Commission, and Canada-US border waters. His most recent books are Natural Allies: Environment, Energy, and the History of US-Canada Relations (published in 2023) and The Lives of Lake Ontario: An Environmental History (forthcoming in 2024).

Pumped Storage Hydropower: What is the Past, Present, and Future in North America?

This presentation will investigate the past, present, and future of pumped storage hydropower (PSH) in North America. PSH is a form of hydroelectricity that involves two water reservoirs at different elevations in which electricity produced during off-peak hours is used to pump water to a higher elevation so that it can be discharged for electricity production during peak hours. This presentation will explore the historical evolution of pumped storage hydropower in North America, going as far back as the late nineteenth century, highlighting PHS case studies, such as developments at Niagara Falls and Ludington, Michigan during the Cold War. Then I will survey the range of North American PSH projects that are currently being built or are under consideration (e.g., at Saugeen and Marmora in Ontario and near Hoover and Glen Canyon dams in the US southwest). I will evaluate the sustainability and ecological impacts of PHS, comparing them to conventional hydropower, and offer insights about the potential for PHS to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and ecological impacts from energy production.