Hydro-electric+Energy

​Hydro-electric Energy

Historian Hydroelectric power was used by the Greeks to turn water wheels for grinding wheat into flour, more than 2,000 years ago. In 1775 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers founded, with establishment of Chief Engineer for the Continental Army. Water power was first harnessed in the northeast and was soon used to power textile mills, sawmills and other simple machinary. Most of the american continent was settled first by locating a small dam and mill to provide the production neccessary to drive a local economy. Demand for the new electric power created a need for more and larger dams and sell electricity for profit.



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Economist

Dams maybe an excellent way for energy but it hurts the environment in many was and ways that are not good. Dams Cause flooding when built and that can cause people's houses to be flooded. 45,000 large dams which block over half of the world's rivers never have worked correctly. They have failed to produce as much electricity and water, or control as much flood damage. They suffer huge cost-overruns and time delays. They have made up to 80 million people homeless, and their benefits have largely gone to the urban well-off not the rural poor they displace. Worst of all it can cause fish and other animals to die and not be around that area any more. Many fish go up and downstream throughout their life. Some dams are built with fish ladders that allow them to move up stream but then they cannot go back down stream to were they also have to be. Many fish are killed by predators when they get stuck in the reservoir above the dam. Also, hydroelectirc dams can pollute the air with carbon dioxide and methane. ([|http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7046)(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2465/is_1_31/ai_70910940/]) ([])



Engineer

Hydropower is the renewable energy source that produces the most electricity in the United States. It accounted for 6% of total U.S. electricity generation and 67% of generation from renewables in 2008.

It cost about 30,000,000 to build a hydroelectric dam. This pays for itself in a matter of years due to all the electricity it makes. ​

The theory is to build a dam on a large river that has a large drop in elevation this is the reason why there is not many dams in flordia or kansas. The dam stores lots of water behind it in the reservoir. Near the bottom of the dam wall there is the water comes in. 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. The shaft from the turbine goes up into the generator, which produces the power. Power lines are connected to the generator that carry electricity to your home and mine. The water continues past the propeller through the tailrace into the river past the dam. By the way, it is not a good idea to be playing in the water right below a dam when water is released

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Local Expert

Hydro electric power can be very good for the environment because it's water and that is renewable. Dams are a good source for hydro electric power, but only 3% of the 80,000 dams are used for electricity or power. A bad thing is dams change water levels by very high amounts behind a dam the water level can change form a few feet to a few hundred feet. Also, dams cause erosion which can lead to other economical changes in a bad way species that live off the river that a dam is going to be built most likely will not be there after it is. Fish that live in rivers go up and down streams can no longer do that when a dam is built which will cause that amount of fish to decrease. information from: []



PROS AND CONS FOR DAMS

​ Pros: Safety for dams increased since 2006 and getting better still. after they are built dams pay for themself. They don't have very many break downs. It uses renewable resources.

Cons:A lot of flooding occurs to the towns near the river where the dam is built Ecosystems can be distroyed silt that normally flows down to the beaches get blocked by dams

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Number of dams around this area: In Ohio there are over 50,000! ([])

In Maryland there are only 379. ([])

The number of dams in Pennsylvania is 1,563. ([])

When people think of dams people mostly think of big huge walls that block a river and flood people's house. Yes, that is one kind of dam but there are also personal dams called microhydro dams and they don't cause any flooding. All you have to do is put this generator in a stream of running water and then you have your own generator for you and only you. At the most they only cost $3,000-$4,000 and then it pays for itself. MIcro hydro power is based off of battery based power with electricity gerated at a steady rate. []

Hydroelectric power plants have always been extremely expensive to build, compared to other types of gergerating stations. The US pays about $2.5 million per installed mgawatt of gerating capacity and that isn't including the cost of creating and maintaining it. The licensing of a hydropower project can cost millions of dollars before the project is even being started. State and local permits add even more. And often state and local government agencies add conditions to the licenses. Starting a hydropower project a hard business.

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