Dams - A Source of Sustainable Power
Dams have been around for a century now. Beavers
used it, although not for energy and now humans employ it as source for
that ingredient in survival: power.
Hydroelectricity
Hydropower generates hydroelectricity. It produces power with the help
of gravity. It is the most common alternate source of energy. After the
dam (called the hydroelectric complex) is built the complex it produces
no waste whatsoever. Hydroelectric power comes from waters potential
energy.
Imagine a glass bubble, and you’re in it. When the walls crack water
exerts pressure on that one whole until water comes through that tiny
gap. It’s the same thing with a dam. The engineers collect the dam’s
power by harnessing it with the use of a turbine which then connected to
a generator. In this matter the power extracted from the rushing water
depends on the amount of force the water exerts on the turbine and on
the difference of the water’s average gravitational pull. The difference
between the height and the outflow is called the head
The amount of the water’s potential energy depends on how high the dam
is from its outflow. Dams help cities by supplying energy during
extremely high demand times and during off peak the turbines pump water
into higher reservoirs so that when electricity consumption is high
again.
Where Is The Power Supplied
Most hydroelectric power plants supply public entities; there are some
which are funded by industrial companies for their specific use. Such
industries like aluminum electrolytic plants build there own
hydroelectric power plants due to their high energy consumption. In fact
the world’s largest dam the Coulee Dam, located in Bellingham Washington
was switched to support Alcoa Aluminum plant, which at the time was the
largest supplier of materials for war planes; afterwards though it was
used for public electricity and as a source for irrigation.
There are also small scale hydroelectric power plants, most of them are
located in north America. A plant is classified as small scale when it
only produces 10- 30 megawatts. These power sources are usually
connected to power grids to supply energy to small isolated communities
or even to a single family home. In China small hydro schemes are very
popular due to a high number of factories wishing to have their own
supply of electricity.
Other Common Water Energy Sources
Other common hydro resources are rivers, the ocean, waterfalls and even
ponds or lakes. Rivers power plants where in no reservoir can be built
are called run-of-the-river-, while the ocean is put into good use
because of the tides. A tidal power plant harnesses the energy of the
coming and the going of the tides. Uncommon but never the less employed
are kinetic energy water plants.
Why It Makes Sense
Economically the use of hydropower is cost effective because our primary
source the fossil fuel is expensive and slowly getting used up. Water is
of the abundance and most of the time it is free. Granted that dams and
other hydroelectric power plants are quite expensive to build, but the
pros far out weigh the cons. The operating and maintenance cost of a
hydroplant is considerably cheaper than looking for fossil fuel,
drilling for it, and refining it to become oil. What’s more a
hydroelectric power plant cannot be affected and is not subject to the
rise and fall of fuel prices.
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