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Hydroelectric Power

Hydroelectric power is used all over the world.  Hydroelectricity is a very important energy source.  On this webpage  you will find  out about the history of hydroelectricity, how it works,  positive and negative effects and basic fun facts.

Hydropower has been around for a long time. According to the article "Hydropower" by SIRS staff, for 2,000 years people have used moving water to create energy.  The book Energy Alternatives by Robert Snedden on page twenty-six, Hydro-power was first used by using a water wheel.  They would be put in rivers and would make the wheel spin.  The article "Hydropower" also states that in 1882, the first hydroelectric power plant was built in Appleton, Wisconsin.  Three hundred hydroelectric power plants had been built by the end of the nineteenth century.  Hydropower is still used today by many countries around the world.

A hydro dam has many steps in its process. According to the web site Consumer Energy Center, there seems to be three main parts of the process: first the penstock takes in water.  The penstock is like a tunnel.  Then the water forced through the penstock turns the turbine.  The turbine is attached to an electric generator in the powerhouse.  The generator then makes electricity that goes to homes and other buildings.  This is how many houses have electricity.

Hydropower has many pros but also many cons.  The book Energy Alternatives by Robert Snedden, says on page twenty-six that hydroelectricity is a renewable energy source and the article "Hydropower" by the SIRS staff says that hydroelectricity is efficient, sanitary, pollution free and recyclable.  Those were the pros but next are the cons.  The cons that are stated in the article "Hydropower" by SIRS staff are that sometimes rivers change directions, some families must move out because of floods and fish and marine animals can get injured.  Unfortuantely good ideas usually have a bad and good side.

Hydroelectricity has a few fun facts that are very interesting such as the one stated in the book Energy Alternatives that the U.S, has 2,000  hydroelectric power stations.  The article "Hydropower" by the SIRS staff says that the U.S.  has 18 of the 60 largest dams in the world and California has six of them.  According to the book Energy Alternatives by Robert Snedden the Rogun Dam in Russia is the highest dam in the world.  It is 1,000 feet high.  I  hope this paragraph motivates you to go visit a dam some day.

That's all the information we have about Hydroelectricity.  Remember  it is always good to know about the past and the present.  Knowing how something works can help you learn more about it and you have to balance the good and the bad.   Good luck using these facts.

 
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