HYDROPOWER I

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• HYDROPOWER I

By Kristine Kuriger, Brian Nguyen, and John
Chaplick
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Topics to Discuss

• Hydropower Support
• General Opinions on Hydropower
• Hydropower Development
• Environmental Issues of Hydropower
• Social/Political Issues on Hydropower
• Is hydropower TRULY sustainable?
• Laws Regarding Hydropower

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Supporting Hydropower

• 25 of Earths energy (10 US)
• Hoover Dam
• 4 billion kWhr a year
• 1.3 million people
• 90 efficiency in modern systems
• UCS
• est. 67 million homes can be powered via waves,
  tides, currents
• 2025 13,000 MW power
• GULF STREAM
• .1 of its energy 35 Fla. electrical needs
• PA job prospects 3X higher
• Voith Hydro power to 100,000 homes
• 2021 18.5 energy will be HYDRO

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Public Viewpoint Divided

• Duncan Graham-Rowe
• Hydropower isnt clean
• 3 ½ times CO2 emissions as oil
• Plant decay
• Consumers
• How much will this cost?! Who cares about
  hydro
• Power transfer needed, but at what cost?
• US no heavy research into its usefulness WHAT
  IS IT?
• Environmentalists
• Keep our ecosystems natural!
• Too risky for organismal/ human ecosystems

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Can Production be enhanced in areas where
hydropower is already developed?

• Yes, by upgrading and increasing the
  efficiencies and capacities of existing
  facilities.
• The Water Power Program supports the hydropower
  industry and complements existing investment
  through the development of new technologies and
  key components.
• Theres already three of the Water Power
  Programs hydropower efficiency projects
  sponsored through the American Recovery which
  resulting in an increase of more than 3,000 MWhr
  per year.

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Developed Hydropower Area (Enhanced)

• Cushman Dam in Washington
• Installed two Francis turbine/generator units
  which add approximately 3.6 megawatts of annual
  electrical generation.
• Boulder Canyon Hydroelectric Project, Colorado
• Installed a new turbine/generator unit which
  resulted in a 30 increase in generations and an
  18-48 increase in turbine efficiency.
• Abiquiu Hydroelectric Facility, New Mexico
• -Installed a low flow turbine which boosts an
  overall output from 13.8 megawatts to 16.8
  megawatts

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Environmental Impacts

• While hydroelectric power is considered one of
  the safe, clean green sources of renewable
  energy, it does have its environmental impacts.
  The main issue involves how the actual physical
  environment has changed. This isnt an issue so
  much for the wave farm and small run-of-the-river
  types of hydroelectric power, but more for the
  large dam and turbine types. While all types of
  hydroelectric power have problems, such as
  wildlife getting caught in the turbines, the
  biggest issue is the reservoir that is created
  in front of the large dam types power stations.
  These large lake sized reservoirs instantly
  swallow up and change the environment.

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Environmental Impacts (CONT.)

• The problems that arise from this are as follows
• fish caught on the shallow end of the power
  station have little or no habitat left
• plant life on the shallow end die due to loss of
  water (this can also produce green house gases in
  certain tropical areas)
• the habitat of fish on the lake side changes, and
  interrupts migratory patterns
• being that the water is deeper and more stagnant
  than before, it becomes more nutrient rich and
  can sustain large blooms of algae that can
  deoxygenate the water and kill other plants and
  animals
• the algae has to be either regularly harvested,
  or certain species of fish must be introduced
  that eat the algae
• these must be introduced carefully as to not
  change the existing food chain distribution.
• In areas where the land is flat, a dam generator
  uses and incredible amount of land space
• For example in brazil the Balbina hydroelectric
  plant flooded 2360 square kilometers, with a
  electricity yield of 250 MW or 2000 square acres
  per MW
• Compared to smaller run-of-the-river plants built
  where there is depth to the water, such as a
  valley, can create 1 MW for only every 2.5 or so
  acres depending on size. This is a great
  difference

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Social and Political Issues

• The social and political problems with hydro
  power are much less easy to distinguish. One
  problem is a hold-over from the environmental
  problems, the creation of the large reservoirs.
  While this may not seem to be a political or
  social problem it is. These reservoirs,
  especially the large ones like Chinas Three
  Gorges dam, cover huge amounts of previously
  un-flooded land.

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Social and Political Issues cont

• Funding is the other huge part of the political
  and social problems. Hydroelectric power plants
  are extremely expensive to build, and take a very
  long time to construct.

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Is Hydropower Truly Sustainable?

• Hydro plants were built to last for 100 years
  but because of the environmental factors, many
  dams useful working lifetime is shorter
• Things like
• gtFilling of reservoirs with sediments,
  evaporation, and less water availability from
  melting snowpack due to climate change.
• For example, the Hoover Dam has reduced power
  production by 23 since it came into operation,
  and in 2010 was at the lowest levels it has been
  since the 1930s when it was filled.
• Water levels in the lake will conceivably be low
  enough by 2025 to require operators to shut off
  power production that 29 million people depends
  on.
• Large Dams are Unsustainable

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Laws and Regulations of Development of Hydropower

• Before adding a new hydropower in an area, they
  must face a comprehensive regulatory approval
  process.
• Things like the Federal Energy Regulatory
  Commissions, federal and state resource agencies,
  local governments, tribes, NGOs, and the public
• This system protects the important environmental
  values.
• The downside of this process is that its very
  inefficient and unnecessarily slow for the
  deployment of the hydropower and can be delay
  (much needed up to 2-3 years) for environmental
  enhancements and benefits.

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To Conclude

• Hydropower has tremendous potential in being a
  top electrical producer worldwide, BUT it seems
  as if the world is split between wanting to
  explore our options and keeping things as they
  are
• While hydroelectric power isnt a concern for
  greenhouse gases, as is usual, it is an enormous
  impact on the environment and must be monitored
  and planned carefully.
• Hydropower can be enhanced by upgrading and
  increasing the efficiencies and capacities of
  existing facilities.
• Large dams are Unsustainable, because of
  environmental factors such as infillings of
  reservoirs with sediments, evaporations, etc.
• Before adding any new hydropower in an area,
  they must go through a comprehensive regulations.

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Sources Used

• http//library.thinkquest.org/C004471/tep/en/tradi
  tional_energy/hydroelectric_power.html
• http//www.newscientist.com/article/dn7046
• http//www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/59.html
• http//www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choi
  ces/renewable-energy/how-hydrokinetic-energy-works
  .html
• http//www.nrel.gov/docs/fy04osti/34916.pdf
• http//www1.eere.energy.gov/water/hydro_technology
  _development.html
• http//www.wellhome.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-
  hydropower/
• http//blog.sustainability.colostate.edu/?qconten
  t/not-so-clean-hydropower-damming-us-all
• http//www.hydro.org/tech-and-policy/policy-priori
  ties/more-efficient-regulatory-process/
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vcEL7yc8R42k