Hydroelectric Power

The Northwest has an abundance of hydroelectric power. This is a clean form of energy and has been in use for a number of decades. With the current issues of global warming any form of energy that doesn't add to the amount of CO² in the atmosphere is a good thing. For the western United States hydroelectric power has been a great resource and will continue to be a boon for them. Hydroelectric power currently supplies 24 percent of the worlds energy needs.

Hydroelectric power is generated primarily from dams. The first commercial dam was put into operation in 1882 on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin. They work by trapping water and allowing the water to escape through tunnels in the dam. There are turbines in the tunnels and as the water passes through them the turbines drive generators that produce electricity. The height of the water produces high pressure as the water flows through the turbines thus allowing for greater extraction of energy. Ever wonder why the base of the dam is thicker than the top of the dam? This is because of the greater pressure of the water at the base of the dam. Hydroelectric power is not only clean but it is renewable and produces power at a low cost.

Canada is the largest producer of hydroelectric power at 340 billion kilowatt-hours of power a year, or 60 percent of its' electric power. The United States is second at 306 billion kilowatt-hours a year, or just 8 percent of its' electric power needs. Norway and the Democratic Republic of Congo produce enough hydroelectric power to account for 99 percent of their energy needs. Brazil produces enough to account of 91 percent of its' energy needs. Other top producing countries are Russia and China.

The advantages of dams are:

• Clean energy
• Renewable
• Low cost to run
• More reliable than wind, solar or wave power
• Electricity can be generated constantly

The disadvantages of dams are:

• Very expensive to build
• Dams flood the areas upstream which causes is for anything living there
• Water quality is impacted downstream. This doesn't mean dirty water but in fact the water is cleaner which adversely impacts plant and animal life.
• Amount of water downstream is significantly impacted

Although there are issues with hydroelectric power its' advantages are great and should be used going forward. Another energy resource that needs to be looked at is bio fuels. Like hydroelectric power this is clean and renewable. Its' use will allow us to move away from the dependency on foreign oil.