So where do we stand on Hydroelectric?

[Shagbark Hickory]

What I know is that my state (Ga) is one of the leading producers of hydro east of the Rockies.
and I know it's widely generated in Canada. (Ironic, that is).
I also know that building dams is not exactly environmentally friendly.

Hydro accounts for a relatively small percentage of our power generation in this state but it seems, at least on the outside like this beats the pants off of having the perceived dangers of a nuclear plant and coal.

If only we could get the top energy consumers in the state (industry, of course) to pay more rather than less maybe we'd have a cleaner and safer planet? Just a thought.

Of course dams can fail too. And they don't last forever. Many dams are these ginormous structures and (at least in the movies) vulnerable to getting blown up. Depending on the type of dam, it can prevent fish from getting upstream to their spawning grounds as well as cause the loss of ecosystems and displace people and communities that are alongside the river.

They're not always (or not usually) close to the large population centers or the biggest consumers, which is generally industrial areas and longer stretches of transmission lines are often deemed not cost effective.


But the "spent fuel" you can swim in.

[wtmusic]

1. A significant source of power in Quebec

Variable, with limited possibilities in the US.

[Shagbark Hickory]

3. Limited possibilities because...

please elaborate cie vous plait.

[Statistical]

8. Hydro is geogrpahically limited.

Your potential capacity is based on the height the water can fall and the flow rate of the river.
The best locations for hydro have already been tapped.

Not every river is a viable candidate for hydro. You need head (vertical drop in water) and flow (size and speed of the river).

[Shagbark Hickory]

10. How do they do it in canada where it's so flat? nt

[applegrove]

14. Canada has lots of hills and elevations in places.

[SidDithers]

15. As of 1:00 pm, 23.4% of my electricity comes from Hydro-electric...

virtually all of it from the Sir Adam Beck Generating Station located just down river from Niagara Falls.

You do know that Canada is a big place, right? Thinking all of Canada is flat is like thinking all of the US is desert.

Sid

[Shagbark Hickory]

17. Right but the bulk of the population is in the big cities in the east near the border, isn't it?

What happens at 5:00? Does the amount increase or decrease?
Where does the rest of it come from?

Aye! So many questions.

[SidDithers]

19. Ontario power is tracked by the Independent Electricity Systems Operator...

http://www.ieso.ca/

They have a handy pie chart with real time usage and supply info.



As of 3:00 pm, we were:

59.5% from Nuclear
25.56% from Hydroelectric
7.88% from Natural Gas
almost none from Coal
6.26% from Wind
and a tiny fraction from other sources.

Demand doesn't fall off until late at night.

Sid

Edit: fixed typo in numbers

[Shagbark Hickory]

23. That is SO cool!

Man, it must be great to live in Canada.

Despite all the nukuler and coal of course.

[jannyk]

21. 80% of all electricity in British Coumbia is Hydro

Our cabin here on the west coast of Vancouver Island is on a hydro grid.

[Motown_Johnny]

2. Love it

including Tidal

[Broken_Hero]

4. My hometown runs on Hyrdo

about 4 plants if memory serves. My dad worked at all of them, specifically the one at Swan Lake, Alaska. From the talks, and stories my old man told me keeping up on hydro isn't that hard(him, and one other ran plant), the plant at SL had three generators and could easily power our hometown of Ktn.

eta:to change out, to at

[Broken_Hero]

6. One draw back to comes to mind

for the dam at Swan Lake, the salmon that use to run up that river no longer do so. At least, not fully, they come back and lay eggs at the base of the Power plant where the excess water comes pumping out, although the true number of returning fish is not known. SSRAA(a hatchery outfit) comes out yearly to spread/lay eggs to keep the salmon numbers up. Also, you got animals dying by falling off the damn, we have had beavers/deer try to make it across and they fall and slip to their death, although the death toll while I was there(about 2yrs) was 3, all beavers.

As for the impact during the construction of a dam, I'm completely ignorant.

[Lucinda]

5. I have a friend who talks about the possibility of using some sort of mat system

in the shallow waters of the ocean. I don't really understand his idea well enough to explain it here, but I believe that we may be able to think outside the normal parameters and find many more ways to use water in addition to solar and wind.

[Statistical]

7. We have tapped many of the viable locations already.

Most countries have. Some of the damns should actually be burst for environmental reasons.

Likely you could bust some damns, and rebuild larger more efficient ones in other places but the amount of net capacity gain you can get is limited.

Hydro will play an important part in the mix but the ability for growth is very limited.

[EstimatedProphet]

9. Hydroelectric is really bad for fish stocks

So, I'd rather not see more

[BobbyBoring]

25. Seems that oil has been bad for fish stocks too!

I bet nucular good really mess those fish up if given the opportunity!

[EstimatedProphet]

26. Yes, and yes

[hunter]

11. Hydro is loathesome and dangerous.

Riparian environments are rare, especially in the west. Hydro destroys them. Hydro killed the Colorado River. We haven't a clue what sort of wonderful natural environments we destroyed building dams on the Colorado.

Dams are dangerous too. In 1983 Glen Canyon Dam nearly failed. What might have been the greatest technology disaster in U.S. history was averted by dumb luck, quick thinking, and a few truckloads of lumber.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Canyon_Dam

There are quite a few dams in the USA that would not survive very large earthquakes, and some of them are upstream of densely populated urban areas. These dams ought to be closed. The dam failure in Japan caused by the earthquake was not a minor part of the ongoing tragedy there.

[Distant Observer]

12. Hydro is good re Climate Change. Some approaches avoid envirionmental damage.

[thelordofhell]

13. Nobody likes to hear this........

One of the worst death tolls ever for "power" disaster belongs to a Hydroelectric dam plant in China.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banqiao_Dam

[fatbuckel]

16. Big Oil gets behind anyone trying to squash anything but Big Oil. Wake up.

[AngryAmish]

18. People complain no matter what

Hydro good - no emissions
Hydro bad - poor fishies

Solar good - no emissions
Solar bad - sacred desert raped

Nuclear good - no emissions
Nuclear bad - TMI, Chernobyl, Japan

No matter what someone is going to bellyache. Hell, remember the raping of the moon goddess from a little science experiment?

THere was a time progressive stood for progress. Now there is a toxic strain of science-phobic do-nothings who think they are being poisoned no matter what.

WON'T ANYONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

[KamaAina]

20. Wind good - no emissions

Wind bad - poor birdies, plus it spoils the view from multimillion-dollar oceanfront estates

[EstimatedProphet]

27. You think this is science-phobic?

The research on endangered Colorado fish - which are endangered because of HYDROLELCTRIC DAMS - disagrees with you.

[AngryAmish]

28. There are trade-offs in every bit of our modern life

By replying it is clear that you enjoy living in a first world country with good communications and electric power.

Power needs to come from somewhere. And we use a ton of it.

So, hydroelectric creates lots of power that both you and I like. But it is bad for fish and other aquatic creatures especially in more arid areas with only seasonal rains. Thus we are confronted with a choice: Less power, less fish or other power technologies. Coal is dirty but cheap. Natural gas is cleaner but more expensive (price is coming down). Oil - not a real player. Nuke, solar (but I notice that it gets dark almost every night), wind and anything else smarter people than I come up with.

All have risks and all have benefits. It is adolescent to demand 100% risk free power but demand the power nonetheless. It is like a teenager who demands the car every night but refuses to pay for insurance, gas or the car payment.

We live in miraculous times. I can pick up my cellphone and talk to my cousin in Ireland and it costs a pittance. Within living memory such things were not possible ever. We cannot live in pristine wilderness and we probably don't want to. We must make choices and live with the consequences. It is childish otherwise.

[EstimatedProphet]

29. Of course there's trade-offs

I'm objecting to reflexively assuming something is "science-phobic" because someone doesn't want those particular trade-offs. Biology happens to be a science too.

Can't we try to find something that works for more than just one side of the equation? Can't we look for something that meets our energy needs and also isn't destructive of our resources?

[Johonny]

22. I like to stand up stream of the dam

:)

[Snoutport]

24. poor chopped up fish!

the fish sure don't like it!