The Pros And Cons Of Hydro Power

513 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Alternative sources to fossil fuel to avoid energy crices

Water What is something liquid and is used to create power? Water! Unlike coal and natural gas, water is a renewable resource. A renewable resource is a natural resource that can be replaced at which the resource is consumed. Water is a resource the world has come to depend on. In the following paragraphs you will read about the water cycle, how a hydroelectric dam works and the pros and cons of hydropower. What is the water cycle? What powers the water cycle? The water cycle is the process of steps that water goes through by evaporating and and precipitating. Gravity and the sun both control the water cycle. Gravity pulls water down hill in rivers and streams. Gravity also causes it to rain. The sun evaporates the water to the clouds. This shows how gravity and the sun control the water cycle and what the water cycle is. How do hydroelectric dams work to make electricity? There are three main parts of a hydroelectric dam. The first part is the reservoir. A reservoir stores water behind the dam. The next part is the dam. The dam open and closes to control water flow. The final main part is the turbines. As water passes through the turbine, the blades spin creating energy. Even though there are three main parts, there are many other parts that help create energy in a …show more content…

Some advantages of using water power are it is cheap, little pollution, and can be used for multiple things. Even though building a hydroelectric dam is expensive, after it is built,the energy production is free. As was mentioned above, power is generated by water flowing through a turbine and rotating blades. Because nothing is being burned, there is little pollution created using a hydroelectric dam. Part of a hydroelectric dam, is a reservoir. A reservoir can be used for recreation such as boating, swimming and much more. Therefore, there are many advantages to a hydroelectric

Show More
Related

  • The Hoover Dam

    1748 Words  | 4 Pages

    The use of turbines from dams to provide power was a brilliant idea until water levels started running lower than normal. The water waste from humanity is directly contributing to portions of it, aside from drought conditions affected by pollution, widespread fires battled, and more adds to the depletion thereof. When humanity is relying on power provided from dams to handle the demand, they are essentially relying on the assumption that water levels will always be there to provide it. The Hoover Dam provides power to the southwestern portion of the USA that has a large number of people.

    Read More

  • Taiga Biome

    1362 Words  | 3 Pages

    Perlman, Howard. "Hydroelectric Power Water Use." Hydroelectric Power and Water. Basic Information about Hydroelectricity, USGS Water Science for Schools. N.p., 14 Feb. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • Essay On Water Scarcity

    2589 Words  | 6 Pages

    Water is thought as a renewable resource, because it is replenished by rainfall (PIMENTEL – water resources – agricultural and environmental issues). Notwithstanding, its amount varies over different regions at different times of the year. Human water necessity is almost the same throughout the year; therefore human communities try to control its availability through the construction of dams in some major rivers and pumping of groundwater.

    Read More

  • Ben Knight's Damnation

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    Yet, there is no such thing as “clean hydro power,” with the exception of very small-scale hydropower dams at the individual or neighborhood level. Hydro powered dams can cause major fluctuations in downstream flows, and even dewater the stream channel, leading to direct death of fish and other species. The main effects of a dam on a river is that it disrupts flows, lowers water quality, blocks the movement of rivers vital nutrients and sediment, destroys fish and wildlife habitat, and eliminates recreational opportunities. Reservoirs slow and broaden rivers, making them warmer, reducing water quality, and harboring destructive nonnative species that scatter throughout the watershed and prey on and compete with native wildlife. The environmental, economic, and social impacts of a dam and reservoir may run the entire length of the river from the highest mountain peaks that feed the headwaters to the river’s outlet at the ocean according to

    Read More

  • The Water Supply of Florida

    1582 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are numerous stages that take place simultaneously in the hydrologic cycle and this includes evaporation. This is when the water alters from a liquid state into a gas. The damp air from the water rises into the atmosphere and when it cools, the vapor condenses and shapes into clouds. But those billows are not the only form the vapors make; it can also materialize as dew, fog and mist, which blanket the Earth, characteristically on a rainy or humid day. Evaporation takes place when water changes from a liquid state into a gaseous state, and ascents out of the pores of the earth and into the atmosphere as a vapor (“How”). While evaporation is taking place, condensation is also occurring. When the temperature in the air plunges, the clouds become heavy and as a result they relieve themselves of the extra weight, which is called precipitation. This produces rain, hail, snow and sleet, conditioned upon the temperate. As the precipitation falls, it enters the surface of the ground and percolates into the soil, which is called infiltration. The more porous the land is, the more the infiltration can take place. However, the ground cannot hold all of that water and floods. The excess rainfall, which is also called runoff that has not been absorbed makes its way into bodies of water, such as small ponds, rivers, lakes and parts of the ocean (“Summary”).

    Read More

  • The Water Cycle

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    The water is essential factor available on planet earth to make the life possible. The water cycle contains the largest chemical flux on earth (Robarts & Wetzel, 2000). The water is the eminent factor which dispenses heat around the globe by the process of the water cycle. The process of evaporation from the surface of the earth to the atmosphere condenses and falls as precipitation back on the earth surface is the simple process of the water cycle.

    Read More

  • Hydrologic cycle of the Panamanian rainforest and Mojave desert

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    Water has three stages—liquid, gas and solid. Water on Earth can be liquid as rain, streams, or oceans. It can be a solid like hail, ice or snow. It can be a gas like vapor, steam or clouds. As described by the Department of Atmospheric Sciences (2010), the hydrologic cycle is the process of water changing from liquid to gas to solid. The energy of the sun drives the changes to water. When water is heated up, it evaporates, turning into a gas to form steam or vapor. The water vapor rises with warm air that when meets cooler air, condenses to form clouds. These clouds and water vapor can be transported around the world. Precipitation is when water falls to Earth, in warmer temperatures as liquid and in temperatures, as a solid. On Earth, precipitation can evaporate again or infiltrate the Earth to become groundwater. As ground water it can collect in oceans, rivers or on snowy mountaintops and glaciers. It can also be released back into the atmosphere via transpiration, when water evaporates off soil, trees. When water evaporates, the cycle starts again.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Alternative Energy

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    The energy industry provides many different resource options for consumers to choose. Two main markets within this industry exist: conventional energy and alternative energy. Conventional forms of energy never suffer from low demand because of consumer’s familiarity with these resources. Alternative energy, on the other hand, is still a growing market. The United States government shows great interest in adapting to a lifestyle that uses these forms of energies by passing acts, creating energy policies, and subsidization to support the alternative energy market. But the conventional energy market still remains prevalent in the country. A government model of utilizing alternative resources needs to occur for the energy market to thrive amongst

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Power Plants

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    Basically, water are condensed and stored in a tank below the turbine. Then the pump pumps out the water from the tank to go into the steam generator. The containment structure has two compartments that are linked together. So the pressurized water moderator and coolant is pumped to the control rods. The control rod is made of steel pressured vessels so that the water will remain liquid at 320 degree Celsius.

    Read More

  • The Hydrologic Cycle and Desert Landscapes

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    The hydrologic cycle is a process that moves water throughout the Earth’s environment. “In terms of water, the earth is a closed system, so water isn’t added or removed from earth; it’s simply transformed, transported, and recycled” (Spooner, 2013). This process, driven by energy provided by the sun, cycles water in a never-ending cycle between the oceans, sky and land. The process begins with the sun causing evaporation of surface waters of the oceans. The vaporized water droplets attach themselves to dust particles and form clouds. In a relative short amount of time, the water vapor transforms into precipitation and falls in to Earth as rain, snow or other form of precipitation.

    Read More

  • Renewable Energy: The Future Of Renewable Energy

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first type of renewable energy is hydroelectric energy or well known as hydropower. In greek word, hydro means water and thus hydroelectric energy refers to electricity generated using flowing water at high velocity. Lutgens and Tarbuck (1992, p. 163) stated that “running water is of great importance to people as we depend upon rivers for energy, travel and irrigation”. Continuous availability of water in universe made water to be the main source of hydroelectric energy. Water has been widely utilized by mankind since the beginning of civilization and wate...

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast of Nuclear Energy and Alternative Energy

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    After the condensation process is finished and the steam reverts back to water, it is pumped into the reactor again, thus completing the process of producing nuclear-based power. Next, hydro-electricity is electricity produced by moving water, flowing past a turbine connected to a generator (“Hydropower”). According to Nationalgeographic.com, a typical hydro-plant is a system with three parts: an electric plant where electricity is produced, a dam that can be opened or closed to control water flow, and a reservoir where water can be stored.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Hydropower

    1514 Words  | 4 Pages

    Impoundment is the most common type of hydroelectric power plant. In an impoundment facility, a large hydropower system uses a dam to store river water in a reservoir. When water is released from this reservoir it flows through a turbine, spinning it, and then activating a generator which conver...

    Read More

  • Renewable Energy Essay

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    Third of all, the water that falls in the dam can also generate electricity. For instance, 19% of world electricity comes from water. Regardless of the fact that hydroelectric power has low maintenance costs and does not pollute the environment, it can cause earthquakes, and destroy wild rivers. Only 0.3% of world energy comes from Earth.

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Renewable Energy

    1524 Words  | 4 Pages

    Global warming is an extremely important and troubling aspect of the world’s current situation. This is due to the fact that the majority of the world’s energy production is from non-renewable energy sources, which are energy sources that either can not be naturally replenished or require thousands of years to be restored. Based on our current energy usage growth rates, there are an estimated 100 years left before our natural resource reserves are exhausted. (Non Renewable Natural Resources: How Much Is Left, Environmental Thinker) China alone consumes nearly as much coal as the combined usage of coal from the rest of the world. (US Energy Information Administration, China Consumes Nearly as Much Coal as the Rest of the World Combined) There is visible evidence of this happening with the increasing pollution levels. Carbon Dioxide and Methane pollution levels in the world reached a record high in 2012 and are 260% higher than the pre-industrial levels. (UN: CO2 Pollution Levels at a Record High, John Heilprin) Converting our world into a more renewable energy dependent society is the most advantageous and likely method for preserving our dwindling fossil fuel supply while also protecting the world that we call home.

    Read More

More about The Pros And Cons Of Hydro Power

Open Document