Transcript Hydropower Electricity From Moving Water

http://dnrc.mt.gov/wrd/water_proj/hydro/Tostondam.jpg
It is a renewable source of energy
 Produces energy through hydroelectric
power
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http://www.tehrantimes.com/News/10506/03_GEORGIA%20HYDRO.jpg
There is minimal pollution
 Reduces greenhouse gases
 It is renewable and clean
 The water used to power
the plant is free from
nature
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Haditha_dam.png
How it functions
http://www.electrical-res.com/EX/10-16-08/hydroelectric_power_plant.gif
How it functions
The sluice gates measure the flow rate in
open channels and regulates the water
flow
 The penstock is the pipe inside
the structure that delivers
water to hydraulic turbines
 The turbines spin when the
water is let through
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How it functions
The generator turns the water’s kinetic
energy into energy we can use
 The powerhouse lets the dam be selfsustaining
 The transformer takes the energy
produced and makes it into useable
energy for homes and businesses

There aren’t many big places left to
install hydropower plants.
 They can install low head hydropower
plants almost anywhere.
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http://www.green-trust.org/hydro.htm
The pond builds up sediment
 It keeps the pond from storing water
 The sediment has to be dredged to get
rid of this problem
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0East%20Coast%20Demerara%20to%20prevent%20water%20entering%20residential%20areas.JPG
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50-100 years
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Negatives
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The risk of failure: When the Big Bay Dam in
Mississippi broke in 2004, it destroyed over 50
homes.
Dams can destroy wildlife habitats, which
means that all the species living there are
without homes.
Dams can also drain wetlands and cause river
pollution by reducing the river flow to such a
low level that the river is not able to selfcleanse any longer.
Technological Obstacles
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Must have river with place for water to go
upstream
Must have room for machinery
Must have resources to build it
If machinery malfunctions the dam is
pointless!
Must have way to get electricity to homes
If machine rooms flood an electric SHOCK
can occur!!!
Average reconstruction cost: $5 million
 Reconstruction is a two-phase process
 Secondary spillway built (first phase)
 Granite blocks fixed because tree roots
ruin them

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The U.S. generates
only 7-10% of the
electrical supply by
hydropower
http://www.electrical-res.com/EX/10-18-08/hw_power_line.jpg
Water Turbidity
 Flooding
 Fish migration is disturbed
 Insect disease abundance
 Habitats destroyed
 Uncertainty
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Pros: Environment
High net energy
 High efficiency
 No CO2 during operations in temperate
areas
 Can provide flood control below dam
 Provides irrigation water
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Cons: Environment
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Flooding land
High CO2 emissions
from rapid biomass
decay in shallow
tropical reservoirs
Decreases fish
harvest below dam
Decreases flow of
natural fertilizer to
land below dam
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=flooding+by+dam&FORM=BIF
D&adlt=strict#focal=5249bbf4bd6015e1b41e92abc0251da5&furl=http
%3A%2F%2Fwww.hazchek.com%2Fimages%2Fflood2.jpg
Economic Costs

Dams are very
expensive to build
and may not provide
sufficiently
economical
electrical power
generation, water
supply, or irrigation.
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Political Obstacles
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It can cause
upstream flooding
Lowers levels of
water downstream
Countries get into
wars or
disagreements
about this
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Types of Hydropower Plants
Conventional: one-way water flow
 Run-of-River: little, or no, stored water.
Weather changes cause fluctuations in
power output.
 Storage: storage to offset seasonal
changes…constant supply of electricity.
Large dams enough storage for years.
 Pumped Storage: reuse water. After it is
used it flows into reservoir, then some
pumped back up and reused.
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http://www.need.org/needpdf/infobook_a
ctivities/SecInfo/HydroS.pdf
 http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wuhy.html
 http://users.owt.com/chubbard/gcdam/ht
ml/hydro.html
 http://www.naturalstandard.com/indexabstract.asp?createabstract=/monographs/enviro/genericdams.asp
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Sources
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http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=flood
&form=QBIR&qs=n&sc=85&adlt=strict#focal=afa3056319fee217bd765c4
dff20b141&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fpasc.met.psu.e
du%2FPA_Climatologist%2Fextreme%2FFloods%
2Fflood%2520house%2520pic.jpg
http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/sijpkes/arch37
4/winter2001/dbiggs/three.html
http://www.educationcenteronline.org/articles
/Engineering-Careers/Problems-and-Benfits-ofBuilding-a-Dam.html
http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/sijpkes/arch37
4/winter2001/dbiggs/enviro.html
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http://www.green-trust.org/hydro.htm
http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/deep-eco/Dams.html
http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/1476
http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/renewables/hy
dro/index.html
http://oldwww.wii.gov.in/eianew/eia/dams%20and%20
development/kbase/contrib/soc195.pdf
http://www.wickedlocal.com/medford/features/x19613
6512/State-in-process-of-rebuilding-Mystic-Lakes-dam
http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.a
spx?P=G1548