Hydroelectric power attracts interest

Hamilton provides cheap electricity now with water

By The Associated Press • December 1, 2008

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081201/NEWS01/812010377/1168/NEWS

 

HAMILTON - Decades ago, Henry Ford turned to hydroelectric plants to power his car factories like the one by the Great Miami River near Hamilton. That assembly plant is long gone, but the power plant and the technology behind it are not.

 

 

Far from it. The push to get electricity from moving water is only picking up steam.

 

There is mounting political pressure to get more energy from alternative sources and developers are pushing ambitious projects to exploit America's biggest rivers for power.

 

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Destroys ecosystems, creates buildup of silt upstream, and breaks up connectivity of rivers for recreation and transport.  No thanks.

 

We should be concentrating nationwide on solar power and adequate power storage systems.

Solar power creates an equal amount of ecological destruction by shading the ground it is on... effectively killing any vegetation that once lived there and making the land uninhabitable for anything.  I'd take one hoover dam over 225,000 square meters of solar panels any day.  Now if you want to place solar panels on factories, offices, homes, garages... that's something I can get behind.

 

Solar power = small scale

Wind power = large scale

Now if you want to place solar panels on factories, offices, homes, garages... that's something I can get behind.

 

Solar power = small scale

Wind power = large scale

 

This is what I'm talking about though.  I don't agree with the installation of solar panels over swaths of land at all.  There's no reason why each home can't generate its own power with some sort of local power storage facility.  Solar panels would be included in the price of each home, much like energy savings is used as a marketing tool in real estate.

 

Widespread damming and irrigation has run rivers and streams dry in some areas of the world.

 

Like green roofs, incentives are crucial for widespread solar.

You don't need a dam to have hydrolelectric power.  You can use small submersible shafts, dropped from a parked barge.

To make solar power a serious alternative rather than a boost to the grid, you'd need those big solar farms in place that get lots and lots of sun out west. The older form of hydroelectric can be excessively damaging to the environment, but some of the newer ideas seem to offer a fair amount of power without the damage to the environment.

-Solar Panels dont necessarily "damage" the environment, they just change it. Solar panels in the desert may preclude one ecosystem and introduce another.

 

-Current solar cell technology translates solar energy into electricity only in the red wavelength. The blue and green wavelength remain a technological challenge but it is within sight of resolution. Reason: it requires different materials to translate different wavelengths and how does one stack all three on the same cell? This would make solar panels on northern homes cost-effective because they would be three times as effective.

 

-Any means by which we draw energy from our environment will have an impact on that system. Tidal, wind, solar, etc. There is no free lunch.

 

-Perhaps the most revolutionary prospect in all of this is the de-centralization of our energy grid, like farmers who ferment their manure and sell the energy back into the grid, or even homeowners doing the same thing with solar cells.

 

 

To make solar power a serious alternative rather than a boost to the grid, you'd need those big solar farms in place that get lots and lots of sun out west. The older form of hydroelectric can be excessively damaging to the environment, but some of the newer ideas seem to offer a fair amount of power without the damage to the environment.

 

The one thing that holds us back from any advancement is in battery technology.  Hydrogen-ion batteries will replace Lithium-ion batteries that we use today.  Battery life and storage expands our ability to move forward.  Solar power depends on this.  I see it as the *only* best alternative because as long the sun's here, we're here.  We can't depend on limited and polluting resources such as oil, coal, and natural gas.  Wind and water are volatile sources of power that are less dependable and more harmful to ecosystems than solar can be.  With individual installation and future energy storage, solar power looks to be the most sensible option.

-Current solar cell technology translates solar energy into electricity only in the red wavelength. The blue and green wavelength remain a technological challenge but it is within sight of resolution. Reason: it requires different materials to translate different wavelengths and how does one stack all three on the same cell? This would make solar panels on northern homes cost-effective because they would be three times as effective.

 

-Perhaps the most revolutionary prospect in all of this is the de-centralization of our energy grid, like farmers who ferment their manure and sell the energy back into the grid, or even homeowners doing the same thing with solar cells.

 

Strong points.  I agree with each of the above.  However...

 

-Solar Panels dont necessarily "damage" the environment, they just change it. Solar panels in the desert may preclude one ecosystem and introduce another.

 

Artificial alternation of an ecosystem can damage the natural balance that exists in each.  Obviously though, solar panels in the desert would be lower risk than elsewhere.

I do want to make it clear that I'm not fully against hydroelectric power, despite my tone earlier.  Hamilton has a resource that is very valuable, and its power source produces very little pollution.  Until we have the means to make solar a reality, hydro power is a safe alternative to coal and oil.  However, widespread hydro damming could be very harmful.

Another interesting possibility, with a far lower environmental impact than a dam:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/renewableenergy/3535012/Ocean-currents-can-power-the-world-say-scientists.html

 

Ocean currents can power the world, say scientists

A revolutionary device that can harness energy from slow-moving rivers and ocean currents could provide enough power for the entire world, scientists claim.

 

By Jasper Copping

Last Updated: 2:39PM GMT 29 Nov 2008

 

The technology can generate electricity in water flowing at a rate of less than one knot - about one mile an hour - meaning it could operate on most waterways and sea beds around the globe.

 

Existing technologies which use water power, relying on the action of waves, tides or faster currents created by dams, are far more limited in where they can be used, and also cause greater obstructions when they are built in rivers or the sea. Turbines and water mills need an average current of five or six knots to operate efficiently, while most of the earth's currents are slower than three knots.

 

The new device, which has been inspired by the way fish swim, consists of a system of cylinders positioned horizontal to the water flow and attached to springs.

 

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Wow, I can't wait to see what comes of that prototype.