Hydropower, as you may guess from the name, refers to the use of water to produce power. It is one of the oldest and most often used renewable energy sources, becoming popular when the paddle wheel was invented in the 1800's and accounts for almost 3/4 of the US renewable energy use today. Before of electric power was widely available, hydropower was used to power mills, textile machines and for irrigation.
Technically, hydropower works in a similar way to wind power. The power of the movement of water is harnessed usually through a pipe which contains blades that are pushed by the water. The spinning of the blades is what produces the electricity. Sometimes this power can be harnessed in what is called a "run of the river" system where the force of a river current is used. Other times a type of storage system is applied where the water is dammed up in a reservoir and then released when electricity is needed. The Hoover dam is an example of this type of system.
As long as we have water flowing on earth, hydropower is renewable. It is also generated with no waste products and no pollution. However, some environmentalists do not consider it to be the best source of power because harnessing this power does affect a change in the environment which changes the
natural habitats of creatures that live in and around the water in these areas. For example, creating a damn like the Hoover damn disrupts the natural flow of the river upsetting spawning grounds and getting in the way of fish, like salmon, that need to swim upstream.
Along with rivers, the ocean can be used to produce hydropower. Tidal power, tidal stream power and wave power are all examples of using this renewable resource. Tidal power can be used in areas that have a large tidal range where the incoming and outgoing tides turn turbines to create electricity. This technology has actually been used in France since the 1960s.
Tidal stream power is similar to tidal power however it uses the energy from the continuous currents in the water. This new technology is still being researched but does show quite a bit of promise.
It is thought that harnessing the power of waves from the ocean can actually yield more energy than tidal power. This too, is a new technology which uses devices which either float on top of the waves or are turned by the displacement of air by the waves. While this technology has yet to be proven, it also shows promise.
There is no doubt, hydropower is one of the renewable energy sources we should be looking into in the future. It's clean, renewable and abundant!
Author Resource:-
The author is the owner of an established plumbing business. He writes articles on consumer information / protection , business in general and home improvement.
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