Alternative Energy: Hydropower!
What is hydropower, and what are the costs?
What can it do? What are the negative effects?
Hydropower can be used for a clean and efficient source of power, and can be used anywhere where flowing water can be found. It can be expensive, and the worst of it comes during building. You must first build the dam without getting people drowned, and stop the water flow. The effects on nature can be pretty bad, ranging from fish getting caught up in the machinery or groups of beavers and the safety of their homes. If a dam breaks, great rushing torrents could kill anyone or anything on the river. These dams work by having the water rush through and spinning a turbine, which generates energy and the energy is transferred by long range energy lines. These forms of energy started when people started using water wheels. These essentially
A Hydropower Dam.
These dams have water flow through openings in the back, and into turbines that spin and create energy within a generator. Holes on the front allow the water to exit and continue down the river so that it doesn't mess up the area as much as it already is.
A Dam Breaking
Dams usually break when they are left non-reinforced over time and can break when enough force is put onto the non-reinforced area. When a dam breaks, it can send out tons of water with enough force to bring down a forest, and kill anyone in the way.
Bodies of Water Leaking
When a dam is around a body of water too long and the dam is either taking in too much water or not letting enough out, the water will eventually lower and then it will dry out.
The Origins of Hydropower!
Hydropower has been around since the Greek times. The Greeks used waterwheels to grind grains into flour. Eventually, turbines (the machines inside of the dams) were invented by a French engineer named Bernard Forest de Belidor. In 1880, turbines started producing energy for the lights of New York. Since then, hydropower has gotten more and more popular.
Who Uses Hydropower Today?
Many people in America use hydropower today. They mostly use hydropower in western America, like California and the more northeastern sides of New York and a lot in North Carolina.. There's not as many hydropower plants in the middle of America, as there isn't as much water there as the coastal regions (obviously)