zach rodgers stephanie wilkie pat verrastro leann baer
TRANSCRIPT
Zach Rodgers
Stephanie Wilkie
Pat Verrastro
Leann Baer
Harvesting the energy of moving water to produce electricity for our own needs.
•Streams/ rivers (most common)
•Tides/ waves
•Underwater turbines
•Dam: controls the flow of water and creates a reservoir of water above for energy use when needed •Penstock: pipe channeling water from the dam to the turbines•Turbines: large blades attached to a cylinder that move when the water pushes against it•Generator: parts connected to the turbines that create the electricity by moving large magnets•Inductor: changes the form of electricity to one that can be used•Transmission Lines: transport energy to places that need it
Greeks and Romans used hydropower to power mills to grind corn
Domesday Book (1086): listed 5,624 water-wheel driven mills in England south of the Trent River (about 1 mill for every 400 people)
Present DaySame concept as historical mills, but more
complex.
Now produce about 24% of the world’s electricity
Supplies more than 1 billion people with power
Produces 675,000 megawatts (= 3.6 billion barrels of oil)
Located about an hour from Las Vegas
A total of 19 turbines create 2,998,000 horsepower which translates into 4 billion kilowatt hours a year
17 turbines give energy to the nearby cities, while 2 give energy to the power plant
Serves 1.3 million people
Opposition to StatisticsChurch Ciocci ( Executive Director of the National
Hydropower Association): "Even if you look at Hoover, as popular as the Hoover dam is, that dam was first built for water purposes beyond energy. They added energy to help pay for it."
"Hydropower is only on two percent of all the dams of the U.S. That means there is 98 percent of the dams that are currently in the U.S. that have no power generation on them whatsoever. So there is a tremendous growth opportunity there in the existing facilities."
Enhancing Developed AreasCan be done in countries that use hydro
power, currently worldwide 24% of the electricity is made by hydro-power supplying over 1billion people
Produces a good amount of energy with very low environment damaging effects
Its already producing 10% of USA's energy it could be used to produce more if more effort and funds were put forth towards it
New Development in Less Developed Areas
Small hydro popular in China, which has over 50% of world small hydro capacity.
An undeveloped country can do the same and make a great amount of power instead of relying on fossil fuels.
A newly developing country's problem is getting enough energy to make demands of a growing population and it would cost them to much to investing in foreign oils a long with to much pollution
Potential of HydropowerCould create 1000s of new jobs The USA could install between 23,000 to
60,000 megawatts of additional capacity by 2025 that could serve 31millions homes with electricity
From June 2008 to July 2009 1.5 megawatts were produced, powering about 150,000 homes
Hydro-power dams are already at work holtwood dam and the new manufactured turbines in the Voith dam
Potential of HydropowerHydro-power has many advantages to use to
help develop; clean and a safe energy source, self sustaining, possible flood control, and very efficient ranging from 90-95%
They can improvement environments for a wide species of animals while affecting none in a negative way
Its possible to use the ocean's tides as power.
Environmental Problems•Emissions of greenhouse gases•Dams/ turbines diminish aquatic populations• Impacts quality of water•Flooding
Social Problems
Significant start-up costVisually unattractiveRelocationWater rights issues
Water Rights
Social Problems"It's got to be cost effective, or I just
won't support it," said Minnesota Councilmember Mark Freeburg. "I won't do it just to make people feel good (that we are creating a renewable energy source)."
Laws and Regulations?
none
Is Hydropower really sustainable?Siltation reduces a dam’s water storage so
water stored in the wet season cannot be stored for use in the dry season
The life of dams can be extended by sediment bypassing, special weirs, and forestation project to reduce silt production. At some point, it becomes uneconomic to operate in most cases.
Water flow can decrease in areas due to environmental problems such as global warming
the North Cascades glaciers have lost a third of their volume since 1950, resulting in stream flows that have decreased by as much as 34%
no burning of fossil fuels
Even though water sources can eventually be reduced, other water resources will always be available due to the water cycle