Pros and Cons of Hydro Energy

662 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: importance of hydroelectric power in

Pros of hydro energy:
•Hydroelectricity is the most widely used form of renewable energy as compared to the other energy resources and it is convenient making it the most popular option.

Cons of hydro energy
•No matter how strong the reservoir may seem there is still a risk of it giving way and if it does it will cause great damage to the livelihood.

Pros of hydro energy
•Hydroelectricity is the most widely used form of renewable energy as compared to the other energy resources and it is convenient making it the most popular option.
•Hydroelectric power is completely independent of fossil fuels and doesn not envolve combustion or any burning of fuel and therefore does not release nay toxic chemicals and does not create any harmful products.
•A hydroelectric power installation can be beneficial for fish breeding.
•The cost is quite low and it is also an clean way of producing energy and the water can be reused and this means that the losses are minimal.
•Hydroelectric power stations have really long lives and therefore and produce electricity for many years.

Cons of hydro energy
•The major con of this is the need for a large enough reservoir. Constructing a reservoir is a big challenge in terms of money and time and families living there will need to be relocated.
•No matter how strong the reservoir may seem there is still a risk of it giving way and if it does it will cause great damage to the livelihood.
•Finding a place that is suitable for both the reservoir and turbine can be very hard.
•Silt is a problem that also affects reservoirs
•Earthquakes are another major concern when it comes to hydroelectricity power.
•Land usage is a crucial factor, if the building of the reservoir not planned properly it can lead to wastage of land.

med2

Hydro energy pros

1. Renewable

Hydroelectric energy is renewable source of energy. This means that we cannot use up. However, there’s only a limited number of suitable reservoirs where hydroelectric power plants can be built and even less places where such projects are profitable.

Hydro energy pros

2. Green

Generating electricity with hydro energy is not polluting itself. The only pollution occurs during the construction of these massive power plants. Once complete, the hydro energy plant is a pollution free plant.

Show More
Related

  • It's Time to Drain Lake Powell

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    The negative aspects of Glen Canyon Dam greatly exceed the positive aspects. The dam’s hydroelectric power supply is only three percent of the total power used by the six states that are served by the facility. There is a surplus of power on the Colorado Plateau and with more and more power-plants being created in the western hemisphere, Glen Canyon Dam’s power is not needed (Living Rivers: What about the hydroelectric loss). Although the ‘lake’ contains twenty seven million acre feet of water, one and a half million acre feet of water are lost yearly due to evaporation and seepage into the sandstone banks surrounding the ‘lake’ (Living Rivers: What about the water supply?). The loss of that much “water represents millions, even billions of dollars” (Farmer 183). If the government were to employ more water efficient irrigation practices, as much as five million acre feet of water per year could be saved.

    Read More

  • 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

  • Inga 3 Project Paper

    1174 Words  | 3 Pages

    Critics concerns for the poor in the region are multi-dimensional. First, the threat of private investors brings the likelihood that the jobs that were slated to be brought to the region by the building of the third dam would not go to the poor as was initially hoped.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Glen Canyon Dams

    322 Words  | 1 Pages

    The building of the dam has created a problem with the sedimentary flow along the Colorado River, and important aspect for creating and livable habitat for fish, plants, and other wildlife. Since the building of the damn, we have seen four fish species go extinct, and a few more on the brink

    Read More

  • How The Colorado River Basin

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    although having water available for economic development is important, the growth of industry cannot be allowed to take precedent over protecting the most valuable resource of all, the individuals of each nation.

    Read More

  • The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

    570 Words  | 2 Pages

    on land The huge quantities of water needed for this project had to be contained in large

    Read More

  • Advantages And Alternatives: Pros And Cons Of Alternative Energy

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hydro power is one of many examples of alternative energy source. Hydro power is producing energy by moving

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay: Should California Drought

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    The lack of water has caused an increased demand in the drilling of wells, which create even more problems with water shortage. “‘ If you own your own property, you can dig a well and you can pump as much groundwater as as you a want…” (Source 3). This shows the problem of over usage of what little water there is. The wells dug at the edge of properties drain and steal water from the surrounding estates. By doing this, you do not know the amount being drained from the aquifer. “‘Groundwater is like a bank account. You can’t take out more than you put in on an ongoing basis,’” (Source 3). The unwatched drainage of water by farmers can empty out an entire aquifer if it is not filled back

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast of Nuclear Energy and Alternative Energy

    1351 Words  | 3 Pages

    Next, hydro-electricity is electricity produced by moving water, flowing past a turbine connected to a generator (“Hydropower”). According to Nationalgeographic.c...

    Read More

  • Alternatives to Building More Dams

    2311 Words  | 5 Pages

    IYER, R.I. (19X9) "Large Dams: The Right Perspective.' Economic and Political Weekly, 14, 107- 116.

    Read More

  • Hydropower

    1514 Words  | 4 Pages

    How exactly does hydropower work, though? As it turns out, dams are the main source of harvesting energy via hydropower. There are about 80,000 dams in the United States, although not all are active producers of power. There are four main types of hydropower facilities, which all require turbines: impoundment, diversion, run-of-river, and pumped storage. Also, there are two main types of hydro turbines: impulse turbines and reaction turbines ("Hydropower…”).

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Climate Change

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fossil fuels are known as non-renewable resources; the amount in the Earth is limited. On the other hand, renewable sources of energy, like solar and wind, are those that will not be depleted despite their continued use. However, solar energy is difficult to harness and wind energy is not very efficient. The clear choice of renewable energy is water. The Earth has plenty of water to use for power. After all, it is because of its great quantity of water that Earth is nicknamed the “blue planet.” Hydropower is entirely renewable because it is driven by the natural Water Cycle. Lakes and rivers that are used for hydropower will not simply run out because they are constantly being refilled by rainwater. In addition to being renewable, hydropower is superior to other energy sources because it is completely clean of carbon emissions. Once fully functional, dams power themselves and give off no excess gases. Power plants burn coal and pour unthinkable amounts of greenhouse gases into air. Hydroelectric power is a clean, renewable source of

    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

  • Renewable and Non Renewable Energy

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hydroelectric Power Plant is when electricity is generated when water in an uphill reservoir flows downhill. The gravitational potential energy of the water changes to kinetic energy of the flowing water which drives the turbines to generate electricity. The efficiency is more than 90%. The environmental impact is Floods large area and affects the ecology of the area, May cause drought downstream if not managed properly, does not cause ai...

    Read More

  • Renewable Energy Essay

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although renewable energy can be expensive to build, it has less environmental damages in comparison to non-renewable energy. Besides the natural resources such as sun, wind, water and hydrogen, we also have geothermal power, and biofuels as renewable sources. First of all, solar energy is the energy produced when the sun heats the solar panel. Thus, when the sun heat the panels, it produces electricity. Solar power produces energy during the day and can storage energy for the night. Solar power does not pollute so much the environment. However, it has high maintenance cost, and it takes a large land space. Secondly, 15% of World electricity comes from wind. In order to have wind energy, it is important to have turbines to get the wind in order to produce electricity. Tall turbines produce more energy. The drawbacks of wind power are that it requires steady wind and its installations may interfere with TVs, cellphones, and other electrical devices. However, it is quickly built and there is no pollution nor noise produced. Third of all, the water 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

    Read More

More about Pros and Cons of Hydro Energy

Open Document