Friday, March 21, 2008

Hydropower facts

Hydropower is the most significant renewable energy source.

Hydropower is the only renewable energy source that is in some measure competitive with fossil fuels.

Hydropower is the force of energy of moving water.

Hydropower is clean renewable energy source that doesn't pollute environment.

Hydropower uses the Earth's water cycle to generate electricity because movement of water as it flows downstream creates kinetic energy that can be then converted into electricity.

Hydropower doesn't pollute the air but construction and work of the dams can affect natural water systems and also affect wildlife and fish population.

Hydropower generates in the USA about nine percent of total energy supply.
Hydropower - Dam (click on picture for full size).

Hydropower's air emissions are negligible because there are no fuels burned.

Hydropower requires the use of dams which can alter river ecosystems.

Hydropower use needs to be carefully balanced with preservation of ecosystems that are altered by changes of water flow.

Hydropower can't be used in all areas because it needs fast flowing water throughout whole year.

Hydropower is very efficient energy source because some turbines can achieve efficiency of 95 % and more.

Hydropower today provides about 20 % of the world's electricity and is the main energy source for more than 30 countries.

Hydropower's advantage over other renewable energy sources is the fact that average rainfall is highly predictable and therefore output is reliable and river flow doesn't fluctuate from minute to minute like is the case with wind energy.

Hydropower is renewable energy source that doesn't cause global warming because it doesn't releases dangerous greenhouse gases.

Hydropower produce no air pollutants that cause acid rain and smog.

US hydropower map (click on picture for full size).

Hydropower has been exploited for millenia.

Hydropower can have negative ecological impacts, especially on fisheries and water ecosystems, this especially applies to large-scale hydropower.

Hydropower's installations can act as the barrier to fish movements and can kill or damage fish population.

Hydropower is the least expensive renewable energy source in the USA.

Hydropower's large-scale projects are criticized for altering river ecosystems, killing fish and affecting the water quality.

Hydropower needs more researching in order to decrease its negative environmental impacts on river ecosystems.

Hydropower in USA is used especially in the northwestern United States .

Hydropower's primary use is to produce electricity.

Hydropower can also be used for water supply, flood control, irrigation and even recreation purposes.

Hydropower accounts for 70 % of produced electricity in northwestern United States.

Hydropower can be used anywhere in the world where there's falling water.

Hydropower - working principle (click on picture to enlarge).

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is really interesting.I hated science but now am starting to like it.We should save more energy and more oil.Is going to come the time that we are going to run out of oil and then we wont have any energy because the oil is the one that makes the energy work. People should start caring more about the Earth because they wont want to die of hungerness or because they are living in the streets. PLEASE take care of our Earth. This is all we got. We only live once. So try and make the best out of it!

I have no name said...

I enjoy the environment so much I will publically say I enjoy it.

Anonymous said...

I have been taking a science class and learning about how hydropower affects the rivers. Though hydropower is wonderful and I DO support it, we also need to think of how it affects all the other life forms in the river system. It is important to learn about all the aspects of this resource before we try to completely convert to hydropower.

Anonymous said...

we are leaving our coming generataions a land of growing deserts, poisonous atmosphere. we should not think that we have received this environment as a parental property, but we have borrowed it from future generations.

Anonymous said...

i think this site is good because it shows both the good and bad sides of hydropowered renewable electricity. we should think of more ways to use renewable energy sources like wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower. we need to hand a good world down to the next generation so that they can have just as good an earth as we did

Anonymous said...

Even though hydro power is a clean cheap source of power if feal that we should wait to use it as our only form of energy until we can reduceu the negative effects on rivers and fish. We should however invest more in tidial turbhines and less on dams

Anonymous said...

This is a great resource, so I think that we should start thinking of ways to prevent the environmental damage. Maybe by changing the designs of the dams or using different structures for the turbines.

Anonymous said...

I love our Earth and we only have one life and one planet. If we thought more about it then it could last for millions and millions of years. Most people ignore the fact that they are doing bad things such as polluting and killing endangered species. We ALL need to be more aware of what we are doing.

Anonymous said...

Despite all these advantage of hydro power still then developing countries with enormous hydro power potential are relying more on fossil fuels like coal (Thermal). Time will come when fossil fuel will be exhausted...what next??? but surely as long as our planet looks blue from the space, we will be able to produce electricity. The moment water vanishes from the EARTH, so the human civilization will.

Anonymous said...

Hydropower is good, but it dosen't have enough power, and changes rivers, if all the renewable energy ways were put together then that could be something

Anonymous said...

Hydropower is great because like this article says after you build a dam hydropower is free. There is a lot of water so it can power more things and is the least exspensive type of energy.

Anonymous said...

I really love the environment and like this because it shows the good and bad sides of hydropower. It is unfortunate that it interrupts natural rivers and fish and animal life, but it's a lot better than burning fossil fuels, which lets out poisonous gases into the environment. I think we should go for it, and invest money in renewable energy sources such as hydropower, solar energy, wind energy, and biofuels.

Anonymous said...

I really love the environment and like this because it shows the good and bad sides of hydropower. It is unfortunate that it interrupts natural rivers and fish and animal life, but it's a lot better than burning fossil fuels, which lets out poisonous gases into the environment. I think we should go for it, and invest money in renewable energy sources such as hydropower, solar energy, wind energy, and biofuels.

Anonymous said...

Hydropower accounts for 70 % of produced electricity in northwestern United States.

Hydropower generates in the USA about nine percent of total energy supply.

seems iffy