China’s hottest, driest summer in 60 years left the Jialing River abnormally shallow last month. Record drought across the globe this year dried up rivers and reservoirs and sapped the world’s largest source of renewable electricity: hydropower. The dip in electricity generated by the flow of water across dams in China , Europe and the U.S. stifled power production. In some places, it has caused factories and smelters to shut down for weeks on end. California’s energy grid faced its biggest blackout risk since 2020 this week because of record demand and lack of electricity supply, including from water-starved hydropower stations. As governments push a transition away from fossil fuels and climate change upends the reliability of nature-driven energy sources, the drought has also raised questions about how hydropower fits into the energy mix. “We’re becoming more reliant on electricity for our needs such as transport and heat, but […]