Hydropower is power that is generated from a dam by making water fall from a certain height behind the dam to a power plant that is lower in height. As a result, the water behind the dam has gravitational potential energy, which is converted to kinetic energy as it falls to the power plant. The power plant uses its turbines to convert the kinetic energy to electrical energy. In this assignment, we are figuring out “to what extent can hydropower meet the electrical energy needs in the United States and China for the coming decades?”. Essentially, we need to calculate the amount of energy hydropower that can be practically generated and see if it can satisfy the electrical energy demand of the US and China. In addition, we need to find out if
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Building dams have “negative environmental impacts on local ecosystems and habitats. Damming a river alters its natural flow regime and temperature, which in turn changes the aquatic habitat.” as stated by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions’ website (www.c2es.org). It mentions that fish migrations are affected by huge dams that can separate fish from their own species and their habitats. Large dams as a result of these issues “have led to the extinction of many fish and other aquatic species, …, and many other unmitigable impacts” according to the International Rivers’ website (www.internationalrivers.org). Although the environmental impacts are significant, we need to take into account the limitations of generating …show more content…
I believe that we cannot rely on hydropower as a dependable source of energy in both the US and China in the upcoming decades, due to its limitations and environmental impacts hindering its development. Dams block two sides of a body of water to generate electricity, this means that the only way fish can move from one side to another is through the turbine, which is dangerous for the fish. Until we can find a way fish can move between both sides of the dam without harm, building more dams will cause catastrophic consequences to aquatic species that can lead to their extinction, as stated by International Rivers’ website (www.internationalrivers.org). Even if we find solutions to the environmental issues of dams, we still face a limitation that cannot be solved in climate change. Climate change makes dams undependable in generation of electricity due to its unpredictability, like whether a certain area having a substantial amount of rain in one year and little to none in the next year. Until we find solutions to both the environmental impacts and limitations of dams, hydropower will not be able to fulfill the consumption demands of both the United States and China, and it will be limited to a small percentage of the consumption demands of both
Building dams have “negative environmental impacts on local ecosystems and habitats. Damming a river alters its natural flow regime and temperature, which in turn changes the aquatic habitat.” as stated by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions’ website (www.c2es.org). It mentions that fish migrations are affected by huge dams that can separate fish from their own species and their habitats. Large dams as a result of these issues “have led to the extinction of many fish and other aquatic species, …, and many other unmitigable impacts” according to the International Rivers’ website (www.internationalrivers.org). Although the environmental impacts are significant, we need to take into account the limitations of generating …show more content…
I believe that we cannot rely on hydropower as a dependable source of energy in both the US and China in the upcoming decades, due to its limitations and environmental impacts hindering its development. Dams block two sides of a body of water to generate electricity, this means that the only way fish can move from one side to another is through the turbine, which is dangerous for the fish. Until we can find a way fish can move between both sides of the dam without harm, building more dams will cause catastrophic consequences to aquatic species that can lead to their extinction, as stated by International Rivers’ website (www.internationalrivers.org). Even if we find solutions to the environmental issues of dams, we still face a limitation that cannot be solved in climate change. Climate change makes dams undependable in generation of electricity due to its unpredictability, like whether a certain area having a substantial amount of rain in one year and little to none in the next year. Until we find solutions to both the environmental impacts and limitations of dams, hydropower will not be able to fulfill the consumption demands of both the United States and China, and it will be limited to a small percentage of the consumption demands of both