Hydro Energy to Help Kick the Oil Habit?
Harnessing Hydro EnergyWater wheels have been used to generate power for thousands of years, but a major breakthrough revolutionized hydropower technology. Engineers discovered how to generate electricity from water power with the invention of the water turbine in the early 1800s. The first commercial hydro-electric power plant using a wooden waterwheel was built in 1880 in Wisconsin. Until the early 1900s, these plants used the river flow to generate power. Then someone figured out that a turbine at the bottom of a dam could produce more electricity. The amount of hydro energy produced depends on the volume of water and the height of the water fall, called the head. The bigger the head the greater the output of hydroelectricity—the more electricity generated—so larger dams needed to be built.
The first of these was Hoover Dam, built in 1931-36, supplying 2,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power. Currently being built, Three Gorges Dam in China, the largest hydroelectric plant in the world, will generate over 18,000 megawatts of hydroelectricity—about 12 per cent of the country’s electricity. Tidal PowerTidal power, another form of hydro energy, can also be harnessed via tidal barrages, or dams built across estuaries or basins. They use the power of the tides to produce energy. This technology was used as early as 1008 in Venice, Italy to grind grain. As the tide flows through gates, water is forced through a water wheel. Modern tidal barrages use turbines and are able to use the tide flowing in and out. Wave PowerResearch into using the power of waves to generate energy began in the 1970s. Researchers have not found the challenge easy, but harnessing the power of waves to produce electricity has great potential. Efficiency, cost, and impact on marine life are just some of the issues. Imagine that the world uses a total of 15 terawatts (TW) of power (1TW equals 1 trillion watts) and wave power has the potential to generate 2 TW—to harness this energy would mean a huge step towards an oil-free-powered world. There are currently about a dozen tidal barrages in operation around the world. Europe is the leader in this type of hydro energy technology. Advantages and Disadvantages of Water Power
As a source of renewable energy, hydroelectric plants consume no fossil fuels and produce no greenhouse emissions. While the building of a hydroelectric plant produces some greenhouse gases, it is only a minute fraction of comparable fossil-fuel electrical plants. Investing in hydro energy technology is one way to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and the foreign powers we must rely on for that supply. Unfortunately, as it stands now, tapping into the full potential of hydropower is not yet within our grasp and may never be. A number of problems exist. Many of the possible sites for hydroelectric plants are in areas that would not be either accessible or feasible due to high costs of construction, no electrical distribution grids, political unrest, and the threat of earthquakes. Building large dams presents other problems. To create large reservoirs, all the land surrounding the dam is flooded disruption the natural ecosystem, thereby affecting human, animal and plant life of the region. Hydro Energy SolutionsOne solution is to find ways of generating more electricity from existing hydroelectric plants by optimizing how they are run. Another option is to improve turbines to work with a small head of water eliminating the need for bigger and bigger dams.
What Are We Going to Do?Scientists and engineers are working hard to find viable solutions to the world’s energy crisis. Hydro energy along with solar energy can be part of the solution for a cleaner energy future.
For years, since Nixon, Presidents have been talking about independence from oil-producing nations and our addiction to energy. While experts have been forecasting the end of oil and coal supplies for decades, we in this country are not listening, or are turning a deaf ear to the reality. The United States does not produce enough oil to supply our current rate of consumption. Americans use 25% of the world oil, but we are only 4% of the world population. As other nations become more industrialized and begin to catch up to our rate of consumption, what are we going to do?
Solar Energy Is the Best Alternative
|
Finding alternative energy sources is not the only solution. As individuals we have to find ways to lower our energy consumption and treat our natural resources as precious treasures worth safeguarding. It is human to want to share in all the bounty of earth’s gifts. Let’s remember not to be hogs.
