TAYAWITIT 1

Poondarik Pangrum Tayawitit

Ms. Orana Meenongwha

English 10/10:04

May 25, 2017

Hydropower

Introduction

Earth has been a living place for us human as well as other living creatures for

billions of years. It provides all resources for human basic needs including food and nutrient, air,

clean water, fertile soil, industrial supports, medicine, etc. However, as population of human

increases and becomes more civilized and sophisticated, more resources are used to generate

energy to support everyday activities, which in turn brings harm to the environment. Lots of

energy is produced from burning fossil fuels such as coals, crude oil, and natural gases. These

things are non-renewable resources meaning that they have finite amount and take thousands of

years to form again. Moreover, by burning fossil fuels, we release large amount of pollution to

the atmosphere. About 26 percent of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are the result of rising

consumption of fossil fuels for energy supply. If humans continue to deplete the Earths natural

resources at this rate, all the resources are going to be rapidly exploited and cause irreparable

damages to Earth. Right now we are facing the energy crisis as the limited resources that are

used to power industrial society are diminishing and the Earth condition is declining.
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With growing concern of overexploitation, pollutions, rising global temperature, and

climate change, governments and people around the world started to use alternative energy

sources instead of fossil fuels. Alternative energy resources use renewable resources such as

wind, sunlight, and water to produce energy. Examples of alternative energy are solar power,

hydro power, wind power, biofuels, geothermal energy, hydrogen energy, ocean energy and

biomass energy (Rinkesh, n.d.). These sustainable resources, when used to generate energy,

create less or no waste products such as carbon dioxide or other chemical pollutants, or

negatively impact human health. Nevertheless, as they are only recently popular, they are not the

major energy providers and not very viable since there are many restriction and specific factors

and locations that dwindle the use of these alternate energy sources (Advantages and

Disadvantages of Alternative Energy, 2012).

Of all other alternative energy resources, hydropower is the most widely-used around

the world; it generates over 16 percent of the world's net electricity production and more than

65% of the global power generation capacity from renewable sources. Hydropower produces

energy from flowing water through hydropower plants. Flowing water spins the turbine, which

connects to the generator, and converts kinetic energy of moving water to electrical energy. In

addition, hydropower is the oldest method first used to produce a light and grind wheat in mid-

1700s, and continued to develop since then to become technologically advanced modern

hydropower plant (Hartman, 2015). This research, as a result, aims to explain a brief usage and

different types of hydropower, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of hydropower to

both humans and earth, and how it can be a better replacement of sustainable energy providers

than fossil-based fuels.

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History of hydropower

Hydropower is a power derived from flowing water through turbines in hydropower

plants, usually in the form of electricity. Water covers about 71% of Earth surface, and it always

changes its state and cycle from land to atmosphere all the times. Therefore, water is one of the

most ensuring renewable sources of energy to replace fossil fuels in the future.

For over 135 years, the power of flowing water has been used for generating

electricity. However, even before written records have been created, hydropower in the form of

waterwheel had been used, thousands of years ago, to grind wheat and grains into flour. The

simple wheel had no turbine, generator, and other delicate parts. The Roman Empire including

area around Eastern Mediterranean, Greek, and Egypt invented the earliest water-powered

technology to do simple tasks instead of using man labor (Hydro Power in Ancient Times, 2017).

Afterward, in 1827, French engineer Benoit Fourneyron developed the first turbine. This

marked the key step of evolution of modern hydropower. Not long after, hydropower was used

to power a single lamp in the Cragside country house in Northumberland, England, in 1878 as

the worlds first hydroelectric project. Four years later, the first hydropower plant s to serve in

commercial and private industries were opened in Wisconsin, USA.

Harmful energy generation processes from fossil fuel

In the past hundred years, world population has drastically increased, which then

caused a tremendous rise in demand for energy and rapid depletion of valuable natural resources.

The Global Energy Statistical Yearbook stated that global energy demand had grown by 104%

from 2000 to 2015. With this growing need of energy, the development of renewable energy
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projects was by no means fast enough to satisfy all people. Consequently, excessive amount of

petroleum such as coals, oil, and natural gas were used in a much larger scale that they are

becoming scarce. Global warming is a serious problems resulting from burning fossil fuels.

Although nowadays many countries around the world have begun to focus on developing

renewable energy projects, fossil fuels remain the major 80% of the world energy supply (World

Energy Council, 2013). The World Energy Outlook (2016) said that the era of fossil fuels

appears far from over and underscores the challenge of reaching more ambitious climate goals.

Still, government policies, as well as cost reductions across the energy sector, enable a doubling

of both renewables and of improvements in energy efficiency over the next 25 years (para. 2).

Unlike fossil fuels and natural gases which is nonrenewable and release huge amount of

greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, hydropower does not create air pollution or contribute to

global warming at all. Coal-based energy production is responsible for 40% of electricity

production nationwide. The process is to burn the coal powder and boils water-filled pipe. When

the water evaporates into steam, it spins the turbines and generates electricity. This process emits

carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide, and mercury compound, as well as

leaving harmful by product and ashes behind. Similarly, natural gas creates greenhouse gases

emission and can be dangerous if not handled carefully since it is combustive and flammable

(Daniel, 2015). Hydropower, on the other hand, is renewable because water is circulating

between land and atmosphere in different forms and fills the Earth with abundant water

resources.
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Process of generating hydropower

In addition, hydropower does not require a lot of process or man power. Although

there are variations of how the hydropower plants can be installed depending on different

geography, the main processes of generating electricity are the same. Firstly, the water in the

dam flows down through penstock (large water pipe). This pressure spins the turbines which

connect to the generator. Then, the generator converts the kinetic energy of moving water into

mechanical energy or electrical energy. Next, the low voltage electricity produced goes to the

step-up transformer to increase the electricity voltage in order to be sent to each household,

factories, and businesses in town. Lastly, the transmission lines carry the high voltage electricity

long distance with the terminal station controlling the flow of electricity (How Electricity is

delivered to Consumers, 2016). The processes are environmentally friendly as they do not emit

greenhouse gases or any pollutants. Stream of water used to generate electricity throughout the

processes remains clean. Hence, the water can be reused to produce electricity, or used by people

for agriculture, business industries, and other activities in daily life.

Types of hydropower plants

There are three types of hydropower facilities: Run-of-River Hydropower Plant,

Reservoir Hydropower Plant, and Pumped Storage Plants (PSP). First, the Run-of-River

Hydropower Plant, also called Diversion Hydropower Plant because flowing water from river

is diverted and directly guided down through penstock to generate electricity without having to

be stopped by dam. This type of plant does not require the dam to stop water. However, if the
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river is depleted from drought, the fuel to drive the turbine and generate electricity is reduced

and become unavailable (Charlotte and Andrew, 2017). Examples of this type of hydropower

plants are Belo Monte Dam in Brazil, Carillon Generating Station in Canada, and Baglihar

Hydroelectric Power Projection Chenab River in India. Conversely, the second type Reservoir

Hydropower Plant required dam to be built across the river. This ensures the energy supply of

water but also causes river passage retraction and affects aquatic lives. Another type of

hydropower plant is known as Pumped Storage Plant or PSP. It is special as it circulates

water between two upper and lower reservoirs. When the demand for electricity is low, the plant

uses electricity to pump the water up, providing water for the peak hour. It is a promising

solution for problem of water shortage in dry season. Okutataragi Pumped Storage Power

Station in Japan, Grand'Maison Dam in France, Heimifeng Pumped Storage Power Station in

China, and Yangyang Pumped Storage Power Station in South Korea are examples of the

Pumped Storage Plant. These three types of hydropower plants are environmentally friendly,

useful, and above all adaptable as the types of plants suit many different geological structure of

the religion.

Advantages of Hydropower

Hydropower is the most used form of renewable energy. Today China is the biggest

user of approximately 163.1 million tonnes of oil-equivalent (mtoe), covering 6.7% of its total

energy consumption. Followings are Brazil and Canada, producing 89.6 mtoe (35.3%) and 82.9

mtoe (26.2%) respectively (Sustainable Technology, 2012). There are several reasons for its

popularity among alternative energy resources. One of them is that it offers advantages over
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other energy sources although it may faces environmental challenges. Hydropower is clean,

renewable resources relied on endless water cycle. Once dams are constructed, it ensures

constant energy supply throughout the entire year. Moreover, engineers can shut the dams sluice

gates to store the water for later use when the energy is not needed. Furthermore, hydropower is

an economical way to produce energy. Even though the cost for construction and installation of

hydropower plants and dam is high, it requires very low cost for operation and maintenances,

and since the water does not need to be purified or transformed in to steam like other fossil-based

energy production, there is almost no production cost generating electricity. Also, hydropower

plants are safe and durable. They have extremely long lifespan of 50 to 100 years while being

able to be easily upgraded to new technology (Rinkesh, n.d.). Additionally, hydropower is the

most efficient way to generate electricity among all other alternative energy sources. The average

hydropower plants are about 90% efficient at converting kinetic energy of flowing water into

electricity and it can begin generating within only a few minutes when there is a demand. Most

hydropower plants also provide reliable and dependable base load power. Currently, most of the

dams around the world do not contain generator, which mean after the installation of generators,

they can produce billions of megawatts of power without having to waste money to build dams

(Energy of Moving Water, 2014). Besides saving money to build dam, hydropower also aids in

the country Economy. Brazil, for instance, had had a period of very rapid economic growth

between 2000 and 2010 and become a seventh largest country by GDP in 2012. All of this is

only possible with the massive increased electricity output as a result of Brazils investment in

hydropower. According to international hydropower association (2017), Brazil produced 349,000

GWh of electricity in 2010, and by 2011 this had increased by 40 per cent to 489,000 GWh.

Another advantage of hydropower is the applicability of the lake that forms behind the dam. The
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dams, in addition to controlling the flood, can store water and prevent drought. Stored water is

used for irrigation in time of water shortage and the lake can be one of the best places for tourists

to spend their holiday fishing, swimming, and boating. Finally, hydropower is a clean energy

resource. It uses flowing water as a fuel so it does not produce emissions or release greenhouse

gases to the atmosphere.

Disadvantages of hydropower

Although given the advantages, certain disadvantages of hydropower still restraint it

from being the absolute replacement for fossil-based fuel, including harmful effects to humans

who live nearby and the ecosystems. Firstly, hydropower needs a large area for constructing a

dam and installing power production units and, in some case, may require for the clearing of

forest which greatly impact the natural ecosystem. It might force the people in nearby towns or

valley that are needed to be flood to move out. Many people oppose hydroelectric dam

construction because of this reason. For instance, The Sardar Sarovar dam project had caused

one of the biggest protests in the history of India due to the failure of government to tell people

the importance of resettlements after they were uprooted from the project site. Secondly, the

initial costs for building the power plants are significantly high. In fact, the average cost of

building a small hydropower plant is $10 million and the large scale power plants can cost as

much as $450 million dollars (Rinkesh, n.d.). Moreover, settling land ownerships, water rights,

and reservoir dam and transmission lines costs additional money. The construction materials

must be of high quality to prevent the dam breakage, which can lead to massive flooding,

damaging humans, animals, and plants. An example of dam failure is the Banqiao Dam in China
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that led over 171, 000 people to die and millions of people to be homeless. Thirdly, hydropower

relies solely on water supply. Prolonged drought and dried up rivers mean less or no water to

generate electricity and the electricity price increases. Lastly, hydroelectric dam can permanently

change the ecology of the area, blocking river flow and migrations of aquatic lives. Some fish

population, such as salmon, migrates upstream to lay eggs. With the dam blocked their path, they

cannot access to their spawning ground and disturb their ways of life. Dams also slow down the

flow of river and cause dissolved oxygen level to decrease and water temperature to increase

(Environmental Impacts of Dams, n.d.). This situation is harmful to fish and downstream

habitats. However, there have been solutions to reduce the impacts of dams to fish. Young fish

may migrate across dams through fish passage facilities and fish ladders or through the spilling

water over the spillway, avoiding the turbines. This technology allow the fish to travel across

dams freely when the season changes. Also, water releases from upstream reservoir can reduce

water temperature and thus improve migration conditions. As a matter of fact, the problems

concerning ecology of nearby habitat due to hydroelectric dam are not necessarily had to happen.

They can be avoided through careful planning, choosing suitable location and high quality

equipment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, hydropower is one of the best renewable resources to use instead of

fossil-based fuel for the future. Its many advantages worth the construction cost and it helps

boost the economy as a whole. Hydropower, above all other advantages, is environmentally

friendly. Earths biggest concern today is, without a doubt, global warming. Earth is facing a
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rise in temperature and climate change. There is a drought in area where it should rain and late

raining season affects farmers and their crops. Glacier ice is melting, destroying Antarctic and

Atlantic ecosystem and causing rise in sea level. Rise in temperature cause animals to alter their

lifestyle and also resulted in coral breaching. Global warming is so serious that it affects human

daily life and we need to fix the problem we created. For that, hydropower is one big step to the

long-term solution. It is the best starts to reduce amount of greenhouse gases released to the

atmosphere that trap heat from radiating out of the earth as the biggest factor of greenhouse gases

emission comes from producing energy from coal, oil, and natural gases. Additionally, its

disadvantages can be fixed by technology and deliberate construction of dam. Hydropower

proves to have the potential to be the major energy supplier in every country. However, from 150

countries that produce hydropower, only a few countries and regions use it as the main nation

energy supplier. Hydropower provides only small amount of energy supply in well-known

countries such as USA while Albania, Bhutan, Lesotho, and Paraguay generate at least 90% of

their electricity from hydropower (Use and Capacity of Global Hydropower Increases, 2016).

Nevertheless, researches show that global use of hydropower has been increasing since the last

ten years. Moreover, unused hydro resources are still abundant worldwide. Hydropower plants

developed so far are only 17% of the energy potential. Also, U.S. Energy information

Administration (2016) stated that hydropower is a fast-going source of electric power and the

largest contributor to the increase in world electricity generation. Hydroelectric power plants are

adaptable and can be installed in any kind of locations. To summarize the use of coal, oil, and

natural gas for energy generation should be gradually replaced with hydropower or other

renewable resources. As Gro Harlem Brundtland, former director of world health organization,

had said, The climate challenge illustrates how we have to change. The developing countries
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need more support and opportunities to develop and use clean energy. Because if the current

situation continues, then the world will not be able to handle this burden. The world without

global warming and other pollutions can be created by our hand together.
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References

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Appendix