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Analysis of institutional authors

Briones-Hidrovo, ACorresponding Author

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Determining the net environmental performance of hydropower: A new methodological approach by combining life cycle and ecosystem services assessment

Publicated to:Science Of The Total Environment. 712 136369- - 2020-04-10 712(), DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136369

Authors: Briones-Hidrovo, Andrei; Uche, Javier; Martinez-Gracia, Amaya

Affiliations

Univ Zaragoza, CIRCE Res Inst, Maria de Luna S-N - Author

Abstract

In the face of climate-ecological breakdown, it is well known that the world aims at developing renewable energies in order to replace fossil fuels. However, there is a great concern regarding their environmental-ecological issues specially with those ones that have a deep interplay with its immediate environment such the case of hydropower. Despite efforts, the existing environmental-ecological methodologies and approaches are incapable to encompass the wide impacts of hydropower. To bridge this knowledge gap, the goal of this paper is twofold: first, to propose a methodological approach that combines and balances two well-known environmental-ecological assessments: life cycle (LCA) and ecosystem services assessment (ESA). This way, the proposal enables a deeper look into the environmental-ecological performance. Second, to determine the total environmental-ecological accounting and hence the net environmental performance of hydropower. In order to expose the applicability of the proposed methodological approach, case studies of a dam and run-of-river hydropower plant located in Ecuador were examined. Analysis found a net environmental performance (NEP) of -0.98 $/kWh and -0.08 $/kWh, respectively. These results clearly indicate a marked environmental-ecological difference between these two hydropower schemes, awareness of which may be helpful for further decision-making and developing new energy policies in pursuit of sustainable development goals. What is more, this methodological approach may be applied and extended not only to other renewable energy technologies, but also to any other project or activity where the exploitation and use of natural resources are involved. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Assessment lcaBiodiversityEcosystem servicesEmergy analysisGhg emissionsGreenhouse-gas emissionsHydroelectric reservoirsHydropowerImpactsLand-useLife cycle assessmentMethodological approachMonetary valuationRiver-basinSustainability

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Science Of The Total Environment due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2020, it was in position 25/274, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Environmental Sciences. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.21. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 5.35 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-27, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 32
  • Scopus: 39

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-27:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 163.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 163 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 3.35.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 5 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (BRIONES HIDROVO, ANDREI CARLOS) .

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been BRIONES HIDROVO, ANDREI CARLOS.