24 replies to this topic

[Machida]

The only problem that I see with hydropower is when the dams are running out of water.  During the summer months the Philippines were facing El Nino thus the results are not helping the dams.  If there are less water then hydropower turbine are the first one to be shut off.

[attagirl]

Very good point as well as you could not really use them in places where water shortages can take place. For instance where the city I live in gets it water they claim will be empty in 20 years, so the thought of something like hydro power could not even be taken into consideration.

Also with dams you would have to to continually have a heavy flow of water in order to create a significant amount of energy. So maybe I am missing something here, so how would you get around something like this?

[Machida]

This is the reason why we have a lot of sources of energy.   If the dams are not filled ten we can’t rely on hydropower.  That is where the sources of energy like nuclear power and others come to the rescue.

[missusyessum]

Machida, on 20 July 2010 - 08:01 AM, said:

The only problem that I see with hydropower is when the dams are running out of water.  During the summer months the Philippines were facing El Nino thus the results are not helping the dams.  If there are less water then hydropower turbine are the first one to be shut off.

That is a valid point. I've thought about this as well. I guess we really need to take a lot of things into consideration when it comes to alternative energy sources.

[Jkility]

Well tbh i really doubt the damn running out of water unless there was a really servre draught so there would be no need to worry about hydro power running out

[zararina]

I am not sure if there are some "small" hydro power plant existing in some area here in our country where there are waterfalls. I think this could be the appropriate source for hydro power since dams also supplies water to all the household in the certain cities and provinces. And using dams as source of electricity could result to water shortage supplies which  more people will suffer than being benefited.

[el canadiano]

Machida, on 20 July 2010 - 08:01 AM, said:

The only problem that I see with hydropower is when the dams are running out of water.  During the summer months the Philippines were facing El Nino thus the results are not helping the dams.  If there are less water then hydropower turbine are the first one to be shut off.

Depends on the source of the water. Something like Lake Mead is drying up, but if you're in somewhere like Quebec where they built everything over rivers, you should be fine.

One other challenge is that oftentimes, they disrupt the marine life (ie. fish trying to swim upstream). Fish Ladders do help, but are not always the solution.

[artistry]

I am not aware of the cost, of the effective delivery of Hydropower, but it would seem to be more costly than other energy sources. In the United States, there are two states down south, which are fighting in court, over water rights, because they are running out of drinkable water. In the state of Texas, they are treating sewage water three times to purify it, to make it drinkable. With these things going on, Hydropower would not be very feasible, it would appear, on a long-term basis. If water is not plentiful, the source of power would be limited

[jasserEnv]

There are far more problems associated with hydro power than just running out of water. Running out of water is the easier to control unless local weather patterns are changing due climate change and causing a declining amount of rainfall annually. This then means that water forecasting becomes more difficult. However, if rainfall levels are relatively predictable, then the dams can retain enough water to maintain constant flow over the turbines.

What makes hydroelectric power damaging is its interrupting fish migratory routes. Many fish move up and down stream depending on breeding, mating and feeding habits. When the water flow is interrupted so is the life cycle of many species. If an intelligent assessment is being made, fish ladders may be appropriate depending on the type of fish but in so many countries, like China, the term "sustainability" is a foreign word. As a result, the introduction of hydro dams is highly destructive.

[marale60]

I agree with the above post. The collection of water in the area above the dam after it is built creates a reservoir that permanently floods an area, destroying communities. Methane gas which is 20X as lethal as CO2 comes up from the bottom of the reservoir and mosquitoes breed on the stagnant water. The area below the dam is decimated as well, but for other reasons. If you want to watch the best video you'll ever see about why dams are bad, this one in particular (Belo Monte in Brazil narrated by Sigourney Weaver), I suggest you watch this:

[zspuckl]

My though on hyrdopower, it has to work, think about it it was the first source of power for many peoples mills were run by water, but I could see how water levels affect hydropower, but hey, at least we have other sources to work with that are Green too!

[mariaandrea]

I live in a state blessed with a mountain range, lots of rainfall, snowfall in the mountains in winter, and lots of rushing rivers. So, we have a lot of dams. We just recently tore down 3 of them for various reasons, including the fact they'd reached the end of their viable lives and it's better for the salmon population. Most dams here have fish ladders, but fish populations still do better without dams. 93% of the electricity in my city comes from hydropower. But, we also have a lot of wind turbines in the eastern part of the state, which is ideally suited for them, and the electricity generated from them is slated to be increased over the years. I think power generation has to be a combination of things that works best for local conditions. We do have solar installations all over the place, but it will never be as big here as states that get a lot of sunshine.

[Green Thumb]

Hydropower could also source out from the lake or the river. They should put a fence on it though to keep residents from danger. The dams are a problem during La Niña as it always tends to overflow and cause fast rising floods so I think the government better minimize the construction of dams and resort to other alternative source of energy instead.

[Germs]

This is why we have a range of other power sources to work along with hydropower, no kind of power can always be used.

[Ecodisaster]

jasserEnv, on 09 October 2011 - 06:45 AM, said:

There are far more problems associated with hydro power than just running out of water. Running out of water is the easier to control unless local weather patterns are changing due climate change and causing a declining amount of rainfall annually. This then means that water forecasting becomes more difficult. However, if rainfall levels are relatively predictable, then the dams can retain enough water to maintain constant flow over the turbines.

What makes hydroelectric power damaging is its interrupting fish migratory routes. Many fish move up and down stream depending on breeding, mating and feeding habits. When the water flow is interrupted so is the life cycle of many species. If an intelligent assessment is being made, fish ladders may be appropriate depending on the type of fish but in so many countries, like China, the term "sustainability" is a foreign word. As a result, the introduction of hydro dams is highly destructive.

That's precisely what's happening in many North American tribes in reservations. The fish keep dying and we all know why (besides water pollution). At the same time, hydropower is a great energy source, but it is very disruptive for animals.

[Pushhyarag2000]

In the north & north eastern part of my country [India] there existed big untapped potential for hydro power. There are many perennial rivers originating in the Himalayan glaciers. Many hydro power projects have been awarded and are under implementation. Reforms in electricity sector have made it possible for projects to be awarded to private companies on BOOT basis. They sell energy generated through PPAs to government & private distributors. Most of the energy generated is pooled into a common grid and sold across the country.

[kat74]

We also experience the same problem with hydro power. When the dams are low with water, we get rationed power and we go without power everyday for hours. Also when its rainy we get lots of power blackouts because they don't maintain the power lines and so we stay in darkness until they fix the problem.

[jasserEnv]

What needs to be looked in more depth are the alternative approaches to hydro power such as in-stream hydro where the movement of the water down the stream rather than the height difference is what is used to generate the power. The approach is likely to be more expensive but you could arguably put in installations all the way down some rivers with minimal impact to the creatures living in the river and around it.

[DaS Energy]

Machida, on 20 July 2010 - 08:01 AM, said:

The only problem that I see with hydropower is when the dams are running out of water.  During the summer months the Philippines were facing El Nino thus the results are not helping the dams.  If there are less water then hydropower turbine are the first one to be shut off.

Hello curious,

It be fully agreed nothing beats the efficiency of a hydro turbine.

Your very genuine concerns were adressed between 2002 and 2013 by DaS Energy Open Technology developments free to copy.

The use of hydro turbine/generators are retained as to is the flowing water, however the force/pressure of that water is no longer obtained by vertical fall 10 meters = 1 bar, but by expanding Carbon Dioxide-CO2 held in sealed containement with the water.

This new technology capturing the efficiency of hydro turbine also reduces the need to dam rivers.  Example for water to flow at pressure of 9,000 bar the vertical of the dam wall needs be 90,000 meters, however the same water pressure is acheived using CO2 heated to 80*C, whilst a dam wall vertical of 90 meters is met by a heat of -10*C.

Cheers Peter

[Shortpoet-GTD]

From 2008-
http://www.nytimes.c...3mead.html?_r=0
http://www.lvrj.com/news/15581197.html
http://www.thedailyb...unning-dry.html


http://www.altenergy.../page__hl__dams
http://www.altenergy.../page__hl__dams