Hydrological energy:
Classification / Renewable:
It’s a renewable energy because it uses the water currants’ mechanical energyand transforms it into electricity.
Players / Countries.
- In the United States, it represents 7% of the electricity used while the other renewable energies altogether represent only 2.5%.
- Brazil is a major hydroelectricity producer with 800 power plants.
- This energy represents 14% of the capacity of GDF SUEZ which is one of the many players.
Availability /
- Highly available as long as you have a water source. This energy can be produced with the rivers or the tides and therefore can only be found on the coast and the river but you have to build a barrage or a tidal.
- Major producers
The European countries produce a lot less than the top three, with Norway in their highest rank at 1/3 of China’s production.
Advantages / -Doesn’t pollute. Its production doesn’t need to burn fuel and therefore doesn’t release any greenhouse gas into the atmosphere and the water doesn’t undergo any transformation
-Direct use : The water is provided by the streams and can be used directly.
-Low cost energy : doesn’t need a lot of workers nor maintenance
-Permanent source of energy: rhe reservoir refills itself with the rainfalls and thereforeno need to transport the primary material
-Prevents floods:In California,The Mount Morris Dam was built to protect the city of Rochester.
-Long lasting infrastructures: about 50-60 years.For example , the world’s first concrete dam was built in 1880, in Warwick, Australia
The video presents the problems with fossil energies and the renewable energies are seen as the solution to solve them. Afterwards, they present a new tidal model that has less disadvantages than the others which are causing problems with the tides.
I chose this video because it shows the hydrological energy’s advantages and how we can improve the installations (barrage, tidal,…)to reduce its disadvantages
Disadvantages / -Environmental impact: it disrupts fish migration, it may change the water temperature thus affecting the fish and the plants in the area and the reservoir that it not regulated properly can release methane into the air.
The video talk about fish migration and the problems caused by dams in the United States. This issue sometimes leads to the destruction of the dam.
-Relocation: because of the reservoir, some lands are covered in water, so when a new barrage is built, in some cases the locale population must be relocated.
Environmental issues caused by dam of the “Three Gorge”, China
People forced to move out of their home because of the construction of the dam “Three Gorges”
-Expensive: building the infrastructure requires a lot of money
the article explains the economic impact the dams cause in both developed and poor countries