Hydropower: Electricity

From Moving Water

By: Lauren Murphy

and Candice Burgan
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 Main goal
 To provide an adequate and
efficient natural source of
energy without the burning of
fossil fuels.
 To harness the energy of
moving water
 To provide a cheap source of
energy
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va.gov/upload/images/Utilities/Pinnacles
%20Hydro.JPG
 Layout of a Dam

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/hyhowworks.html
 How it works
 Build a dam on a large river that has a large
drop in elevation
 The dam stores lots of water behind it in the
reservoir
 Near the bottom of the dam wall there is the
water intake
 Gravity causes it to fall through the penstock
inside the dam
 At the end of the penstock there is a turbine
propeller, which is turned by the moving water
 How it works contd.
 The shaft from the turbine goes up into the
generator, which produces the power
 Power lines are connected to the generator that
carry electricity
 The water continues past the propeller through
the tailrace into the river past the dam
 Hydroelectric generator
A hydraulic turbine
converts the energy of
flowing water into
mechanical energy.
A hydroelectric
generator converts this
mechanical energy into
electricity.

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/hyhowworks.html
Hydroelectric Power: 9.8%

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa_sum.html
Top Generating Countries

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa_sum.html
Expense of Power Production

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa_sum.html
 Purpose of Dams

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa_sum.html
Provides 97.9% of all Electricity
by Renewable Resources

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa_sum.html
 Advantages
 - Fuel is not burned so there is minimal pollution
-Water to run the power plant is provided free by
nature
 -  It's renewable - rainfall renews the water in the
reservoir, so the fuel is almost always there
-No waste products
-Moderate to high net energy
-High efficiency (80%)
-Low cost electricity
-Long life span
-Provides flood control below dam
-Provides year-round water for irrigation and crop land
-Useful for fishing and recreation due to reservoir
 Disadvantages/Environmental
problems
 High construction costs
 High environmental impacts
 High CO2 emissions from biomass decay in shallow
reservoirs
 Floods natural areas
 Converts land habitat to lake habitat
 Danger of collapse
 Uproots people
 Decreases fish harvest below dam
 Decreases flow of natural fertilizer to land below dam
 Large water loss due to evaporation
 Collapsing of dams
 Many dams aren’t
maintained properly
 Lack of concern about
risk and problems
 This causes mass-
flooding and even loss
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006/guest_dam.html
of life
 Internal erosion
 Problems with hydropower
 Takes up a lot of space
 Costs are extremely high
 Good land areas for construction have already
been taken
 Consumes a lot of time for planning and
construction
 The life expectancy of dams are only around
50 years
 Even at this age these dams are considered to be at
a high risk for failing
 Rate of construction

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wuhy.html
 Make a difference
 Hydroelectricity eliminates the flue gas
emissions from fossil fuels, including
pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitric oxide,
carbon monoxide, dust, and mercury in the
coal.
 Doesn’t contribute to global
warming!

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 Technological obstacles
 Building strong and efficient dams to
withstand the passage of time
 Find efficient ways to minimize environmental
impacts

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 Political/Economic obstacles
 High production/building costs
 Creating total revenue to build
 Value tradeoffs
 Market prices
 Water use allocations cause controversy
 Mass displacement of people
 Large investments in energy sources (large
scale dams)
 Three Gorges Dam
 Largest dam in the world

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 Bibliography
 http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/hyhowworks.html
 http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wuhy.html
 http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa_sum.ht
ml
 http://www.lasvegastourism.com/tours/hoover_dam.gif
 http://oilbeseeingyou.blogspot.com/2007/07/post-peak-
dam-maintenance-or-lack.html
 http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/06/23/knDAM
_wideweb__470x309,0.jpg
 http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tlh/cpm/woodruff_dam_pic.jpg
 http://www.hatchenergy.com/Innovations/Spring2006/gue
st_dam.html
 http://www.danville-
va.gov/upload/images/Utilities/Pinnacles%20Hydro.JPG