Doubling hydroelectricity production by 2050 could prevent annual emissions of up to 3 billion tons of CO2 from fossil-fuel plants, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report released here on Monday.

The report entitled "Technology Roadmap: Hydropower," which is jointly published by the IEA and Brazil's Mines Ministry, outlined detailed actions "needed from policy makers to allow hydroelectric production to double, and addresses necessary conditions, including resolving environmental issues and gaining public acceptance," IEA said in a statement.

"Hydroelectricity is a very cost-effective technology already," IEA Deputy Executive Director Richard H. Jones said at the launch of the report during the HYDRO 2012 conference in Bilbao, Spain.

The report also challenged the notion that the world's hydroelectric resources had peaked, claiming that emerging economies had significant potentials to generate electricity from large plants.

Albert Geber de Melo, General-Director of the Brazilian Electric Energy Research Centre (CEPEL), also noted that in emerging economies and developing countries, "large and small hydropower projects can improve access to modern energy services, alleviate poverty and foster social and economic development, especially for local communities."

Hydropower is the leading renewable electricity generation technology worldwide, with new capacity additions since 2005 generating more electricity than all other renewables combined, according to the Technology Roadmap report.

The report is the latest in a series of IEA publications that focused on global low-carbon energy technologies, from biofuels to smart grids, and provided recommendations for governments and other stakeholders in policy and market design, sustainability and public acceptance, financial challenges, as well as technology development. Endi

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