Renewable and Alternative Energy, Hydro power

Hydro power is a renewable source of energy and is used around the world to supply large quantities of power to cities, towns, and some villages who would never normally have electricity. Hydro Power, which is short for Hydraulic Power, is power generated from the moving or the force of water. Using water for power, has been a way of producing economic energy for hundreds of years and some uses date back to the Romans and the Chinese Han Dynasty. London in the 18th century, made use of hydraulic power to allow barges on the canals to be lifted up or down, one of the most common uses for hydraulic power has been mining where water is forcefully sprayed through a jet onto rocks and sediment to release the ores that people were mining for. There are many new water type energy making devices being developed at this moment, and as the race for finding a new renewable source of energy continues at a fast pace, these new developments will be put through their paces as the worlds natural resources of oil, gas, and fossil fuels begin to run short.

There are over 2400 energy creating Hydro Dams in operation. The worlds largest Hydro Electric Dam is the Three Gorges Dam in China, and has 32 generators with each one producing 700 mega watts. The Hydro Dams are all built across rivers, and have caused some controversy in certain countries when acres of arable land, including small towns and villages have to be flooded to create the lake behind the dam, once it has been built. The Hydro Dams work like this, the reservoir behind the dam flows down an intake tunnel and into a pipe called a penstock, still following gravity going downward, but at an angle. The water then enters into a turbine, this turbine then turns with the force of the free flowing water, and powers a generator, creating electricity. There are many small home made hydro dams around the world, which can supply a single house or a small village with all their energy needs, many of these in Vietnam have helped isolated villages have a source of power for the first time. Hydro powers produces nearly 24% of the worlds electricity, approximately 12% of electricity used in the USA comes from Hydro Power, which is an equivalent to 500 million barrels of oil. So far, Hydro Power has been proved to be the most efficient form of energy production, without the pollution.

The main advantage is that Hydro Plants create a large amount of cheap energy, whilst not polluting the earth. The reservoir behind the dam creates drinking water which can be piped out to other parts of a country. Irrigation can be co-ordinated from the dam, allowing farmers in hot countries to be able to water their crops. Flood control, water transportation and even improved wildlife are among the other advantages.

The main disadvantage is that they take up so much room to allow for the reservoir that usually many forests have been flooded, which affects the local ecosystem. The dams also effect the water table in the area and the usual migrations of fish and marine life in that area.