Hydropower Advantages - Clean

and Reliable Alternative Energy

Let's look at a few facts on hydropower advantages.

1. Hydropower is clean. Just look at the picture above. When I look at that picture I see something
that is clean. And that is one of the main benefits that hydropower brings to the table.

Hydropower plants do not emit any of the waste gases that contribute to air pollution, acid rain, and
global warming. They do not cause noise pollution. No trucks, trains, barges, or pipelines are needed
to bring fuel to the power plant site. Very similar to geothermal energy.

2. Renewable Hydropower energy is a renewable resource. it follows the water cycle of evaporation,

condensation, precipitation. As long as there is precipitation through rain or snow, there will be water
to run the turbines.

3. Hydropower is reliable. As long as there is water, there will be an energy source. As far as the
powerplant goes, these are also constructed of a simple design which proves to be reliable over time.

4. Hydropower is extremely efficient. Comparing falling water running through a hydropower plant

to fossil fuels burned , the efficiency is almost two to one. Water converted to electricity through
hydrpower generation is around 90%. Fossil fuels converted to energy is 50% with the rest lost to
waste heat and gases. 
5. Hydropower needs no fuel. The chief hydropower advantages of these systems is elimination of
the cost of fuel. Hydroelectric plants are immune to price increases for fossil fuels such as oil, natural
gas or coal, and do not require imported fuel.

Hydroelectric plants tend to have longer lives than fuel-fired generation, with some plants now in
service having been built 50 to 100 years ago. Labour cost also tends to be low since plants are
generally heavily automated and have few personnel on site during normal operation.

6.Micro-hydro systems are available. Not everyone can have a hydropower plant the size of the
one in Niagara Falls as seen below, 

but, you can have a miniature version of a hydroelectric system. These are known as micro-hydro
systems. They are ideal for remote sites where water is available a long distance from power needs.
These units can produce from 30W to 3600W continuous power! That is a great one for hydropower
advantages.
 Disadvantages of Hydropower -
Not Just Water Over the Dam
Let's look at the disadvantages of hydropower. Despite the fact that the United States and other
countries gain a large percent of electricity from hydropower, there are a few disadvantages of
hydropower.

1. Hydropower dams disrupt the natural flow of rivers. This will alter the river and riverside
habitat. Whenever I read about a hydroelectric plant being developed, my mind is drawn back to the
1972 movie "Deliverance".

It was in this movie that the three men wanted to canoe a river in North Georgia before the engineers
began construction of a dam for hydroelectricity.

In reality the river in the movie is the Chattooga River and the dam formed Lake Tugalo. Arising high
in the North Carolina Appalachians, the Chattooga River travels a rugged 50 miles before ending in
Lake Tugalo’s still waters.

For much of its journey, the Chattooga forms the state line between South Carolina and Georgia.

On May 10, 1974, Congress designated the Chattooga be protected as a National Wild and Scenic
River. The protection was awarded because of the river’s outstanding scenery and recreation, and its
wildlife, geologic, and cultural values. The river is famous with white water thrill seekers, and is well
known among trout anglers. 

Even though the Chattooga Rive and Lake Tugalo are still mighty impressive, it did, never the less,
alter the ecology of that region.

2. Impedes the natural flow of sediments. Rivers naturally erode, carry, and deposit sediment.
These processes are what shape the river, form meanders, pools, and riffles.

The river deposits its sediment load in the impoundment when the flow velocity slows and the particles
settle out. Over time, sediment can fill in the impoundment.

Eventually, the impoundment may become so shallow that the sediment must be removed by
dredging or other means. The river downstream of the dam is “starved” for sediment because the
sediment naturally flowing in the river has been trapped behind the dam.

The water flowing through the outlet of the dam may be relatively clear, and carry little sediment.A
third of the disadvantages of hydropower is...
3. Scour holes. Water flowing over a dam can cause scour holes to form immediately below the dam.
Scour holes may undercut the foundation of the dam threatening the integrity of the structure. In
addition, the currents in scour holes present a hazard to swimmers. For more information, click here.

4. Obstacles to fish migration. Here is another of the disadvantages of hydropower. According to

the Water Resource Management practicum:

"Building a dam on a river has major implications for the biota found in the river system. Because fish
and other biota cannot move past a dam, the dam effectively splits the river into separate ecological
zones: the river above the dam and the river below the dam.

Fish passages may be added to a dam to help fish move up and downstream, but they are not always
effective. Although the free movement of fish can sustain a healthy fishery, a dam may be a barrier to
the movement of unwanted invasive species.

Water tends to warm more in an impoundment than in a free-flowing river, which may affect the types
of fish found upstream, in, and downstream of the impoundment. Impounded and free-flowing river
systems provide habitat for amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. 

5. Catastrophic Failure. If dam breaks it would be a disaster and would kill many people. One
classic example in American history is the Johnstown Flood. According to Wikipedia:

"The Johnstown Flood disaster (or Great Flood of 1889 as it became known locally) occurred on May
31, 1889.

It was the result of the failure of the South Fork Dam situated 14 miles (23 km) upstream of the town
of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, made worse by several days of extremely heavy rainfall.

The dam's failure unleashed a torrent of 20 million tons of water (18.1 million cubic meters/ 4.8 billion
gallons). The flood killed over 2,200 people and produced US$17 million of damage." 
Sources: Gupta, Harsh K., 2002. “A review of recent studies of triggered earthquakes by artificial water reservoirs with
special emphasis on earthquakes in Koyna, India.” Earth-Science Reviews 58 279–310.
Jauhari, V.P., 1999. Prepared for Thematic Review IV.5. “Options Assessment- Large Dams in India -
Operation, Monitoring and Decommissioning of Dams” www.dams.org
Howard, C.D.D., 2000. Operations, Monitoring and Decommissioning of Dams, Thematic Review IV.5 prepared
as an input to the World Commission on Dams, Cape Town, www.dams.org
Linyue Chen and Pradeep Talwani, “Reservoir-induced Seismicity in China”. Pure and Applied Geophysics,
153(1998) 133–149.
011/induced.html.

USGS Auburn Project Review Team, “Review of seismic-hazard issues associated with the Auburn Dam
project, Sierra Nevada foothills, California.” USGS, 1996, http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1996/of96-

Hydroelectric power comes from water at work, water in motion. It can be seen as a form of solar energy, as the sun
powers the hydrologic cycle which gives the earth its water. In the hydrologic cycle, atmospheric water reaches the
earth’s surface as precipitation. Some of this water evaporates, but much of it either percolates into the soil or
becomes surface runoff. Water from rain and melting snow eventually reaches ponds, lakes, reservoirs, or oceans
where evaporation is constantly occurring.

The dam creates a “head” or height from which water flows. A pipe (penstock) carries the water from the reservoir to
the turbine. The fast-moving water pushes the turbine blades, something like a pinwheel in the wind.
 The waters force on the turbine blades turns the rotor, the moving part of
the electric generator. When coils of wire on the rotor sweep past the generators stationary coil (stator), electricity is
produced.
This concept was discovered by Michael Faraday in 1831 when he found that electricity could be generated by
rotating magnets within copper coils. When the water has completed its task, it flows on unchanged to serve other
needs.
Once the electricity is produced, it must be delivered to where it is needed — our homes, schools, offices, factories,
etc. Dams are often in remote locations and power must be transmitted over some distance to its users.
Vast networks of transmission lines and facilities are used to bring electricity to us in a form we can use. All the
electricity made at a powerplant comes first through transformers which raise the voltage so it can travel long
distances through powerlines. (Voltage is the pressure that forces an electric current through a wire.) At local
substations, transformers reduce the voltage so electricity can be divided up and directed throughout an area.
Water is one of our most valuable resources, and hydropower makes use of this renewable treasure. As a National
leader in managing hydropower, Reclamation is helping the Nation meet its present and future energy needs in a
manner that protects the environment by improving hydropower projects and operating them more effectively.

The major advantage of hydroelectricity is elimination of the cost of fuel.

The cost of operating a hydroelectric plant is nearly immune to increases in the cost of fossil
fuel.
Fuel is not required and so it need not be imported.
Hydroelectric plants tend to have longer economic lives than fuel-fired generation.
Operating labor cost is usually low since plants are automated and have few personnel on site
during normal operation.
Greenhouse gas emissions
• Since hydroelectric dams do not burn fossil fuels, they do not directly produce carbon dioxide
(a greenhouse gas).

Ensure

ADVANTAGES:

Once a dam is constructed, electricity can be produced at a constant rate. If electricity is

not needed, the sluice gates can be shut, stopping electricity generation. The water can be saved
for use another time when electricity demand is high. Dams are designed to last many decades
and so can contribute to the generation of electricity for many years / decades. The lake that
forms behind the dam can be used for water sports and leisure / pleasure activities. Often large
dams become tourist attractions in their own right. The lake's water can be used for irrigation
purposes. The build up of water in the lake means that energy can be stored until needed, when
the water is released to produce electricity. When in use, electricity produced by dam systems do
not produce green house gases. They do not pollute the atmosphere.

Hydropower is clean. Hydropower plants do not emit any of the waste gases that
contribute to air pollution, acid rain, and global warming. They do not cause noise pollution. No
trucks, trains, barges, or pipelines are needed to bring fuel to the power plant site.  Hydropower
energy is a renewable resource. it follows the water cycle of evaporation, condensation,
precipitation. As long as there is precipitation through rain or snow, there will be water to run the
turbines. Hydropower is reliable. As long as there is water, there will be an energy source. As far
as the powerplant goes, these are also constructed of a simple design which proves to be reliable
over time. Hydropower is extremely efficient. Comparing falling water running through a
hydropower plant to fossil fuels burned, the efficiency is almost two to one. Water converted to
electricity through hydrpower generation is around 90%. Fossil fuels converted to energy is 50%
with the rest lost to waste heat and gases. The chief hydropower advantages of these systems is
elimination of the cost of fuel. Hydroelectric plants are immune to price increases for fossil fuels
such as oil, natural gas or coal, and do not require imported fuel. Hydroelectric plants tend to
have longer lives than fuel-fired generation, with some plants now in service having been built
50 to 100 years ago. Labour cost also tends to be low since plants are generally heavily
automated and have few personnel on site during normal operation. Not everyone can have a
hydropower plant the size of the one in Niagara Falls but, you can have a miniature version of a
hydroelectric system. These are known as micro-hydro systems. They are ideal for remote sites
where water is available a long distance from power needs. These units can produce from 30W
to 3600W continuous power! That is a great one for hydropower advantages.

DISADVANATGES:

Dams are extremely expensive to build and must be built to a very high standard. The high cost
of dam construction means that they must operate for many decades to become profitable. The
flooding of large areas of land means that the natural environment is destroyed. People living in
villages and towns that are in the valley to be flooded, must move out. This means that they lose
their farms and businesses. In some countries, people are forcibly removed so that hydro-power
schemes can go ahead. The building of large dams can cause serious geological damage. For
example, the building of the Hoover Dam in the USA triggered a number of earth quakes and has
depressed the earth’s surface at its location. Although modern planning and design of dams is
good, in the past old dams have been known to be breached (the dam gives under the weight of
water in the lake). This has led to deaths and flooding. Dams built blocking the progress of a
river in one country usually means that the water supply from the same river in the following
country is out of their control. This can lead to serious problems between neighbouring countries.
Building a large dam alters the natural water table level. For example, the building of the Aswan
Dam in Egypt has altered the level of the water table. This is slowly leading to damage of many
of its ancient monuments as salts and destructive minerals are deposited in the stone work from
‘rising damp’ caused by the changing water table level. Hydropower dams disrupt the natural
flow of rivers, this will alter the river and riverside habitat. Impedes the natural flow of
sediments. Rivers naturally erode, carry, and deposit sediment. These processes are what shape
the river, form meanders, pools, and riffles. The river deposits its sediment load in the
impoundment when the flow velocity slows and the particles settle out. Over time, sediment can
fill in the impoundment. Eventually, the impoundment may become so shallow that the sediment
must be removed by dredging or other means. The river downstream of the dam is “starved” for
sediment because the sediment naturally flowing in the river has been trapped behind the dam.
The water flowing through the outlet of the dam may be relatively clear, and carry little
sediment. Water flowing over a dam can cause scour holes to form immediately below the dam.
Scour holes may undercut the foundation of the dam threatening the integrity of the structure. In
addition, the currents in scour holes present a hazard to swimmers. Obstacles to fish migration.
Here is another of the disadvantages of hydropower. According to the Water Resource
Management practicum: "Building a dam on a river has major implications for the biota found in
the river system. Because fish and other biota cannot move past a dam, the dam effectively splits
the river into separate ecological zones: the river above the dam and the river below the dam.
Fish passages may be added to a dam to help fish move up and downstream, but they are not
always effective. Although the free movement of fish can sustain a healthy fishery, a dam may
be a barrier to the movement of unwanted invasive species. Water tends to warm more in an
impoundment than in a free-flowing river, which may affect the types of fish found upstream, in,
and downstream of the impoundment. Impounded and free-flowing river systems provide habitat
for amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. If dam breaks it would be a disaster and would kill
many people.