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The Rise of Hydropower

  • Gaia
  • Jul 2, 2016
  • 2 min read

Before we talk about using hydroelectric power, let’s talk about what hydroelectric power is.

Hydroelectric power is a type of alternative energy that uses the kinetic (moving) power of running water to create electricity. Magnets are spun to make a changing magnetic field, which excites nearby copper coils and starts a slow of electric current.

These magnets will spin faster if the water is at a higher pressure, or has more energy upon entering the system. For this reason, hydroelectricity is often made in huge dams that take water from very high up, so it has falling energy, and a large amount of water, so that the approaching water puts pressure on the water in front of it.

Engineers at Oregon State University have made a tool for people who are looking to implement more small scale hydroelectricity, a computer modeling package that can assess the viability of a location or water source for current or future hydroelectric power production.

This is very helpful for people in areas where they don’t have access to electricity, because they can decide if a stream or river near them is good for making hydropower.

Professor Kendra Sharp says that “There are parts of northern Pakistan, for instance, where about half of rural homes don’t have access to electricity, and systems such as this are one of the few affordable ways to produce it,” meaning that they can use small hydroelectric generators in nearby mountain streams to create their own power.

Overall, hydroelectric power is on a rise. Global output of hydroelectric power plants is expected to double in the next twenty years, amounting to a capacity of 1,700 gigawatts. This increase in hydropower is wonderful, since alternative energy only makes up 20% of global power production today. Since hydropower makes up 80% of that small fraction, and increase in it could set us on a path to completely renewable energy.

Image credit: ESML

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