Hydropower

Hydroelectric Power

          The world has come to rely on electricity to power all the everyday things such as refrigerators and computers. This electromagnetic energy can be acquired from many different places. Today, power plants mostly burn coal in order to power homes and businesses. About 85% of the electricity in the United States comes from fossil fuels. Another source of energy is nuclear power. Nuclear power comes from the separation of the atom. This releases an incredible amount of energy and is called nuclear fission. In the Sun’s core, hydrogen atoms are bonded together and releases energy. This process is called nuclear fusion but can only be achieved with a massive input of energy and a very high temperature. Those are the 2 conventional methods of obtaining electricity. The third most conventional way of obtaining electricity is hydropower.

          Hydropower is electricity obtained from falling water turning a turbine. The turbine is turned turning mechanical energy into electromagnetic energy. This energy provides electricity to homes all around the area. Hydropower is a renewable resource. It is the third most used source of energy. Hydropower is found in dams. There are many dams all around the world. These dams obtain energy from a river or reservoirs. The water falls from the top of the dam and turns the turbine on the way down and usually falls into a river and keeps flowing downward.

          Building a dam usually requires a lot of funds since it is a monumental task to make a dam since it has to be very tall to create great pressure to provide the maximum amount of power. It takes many years to actually construct a dam. For example, the Three Gorges Dam in China is still being built. It is costing millions of dollars. The construction of the dam is also causing massive environmental damage all around the area. Over 1 million people had to be relocated from that area. The Three Gorges area was an area that had increased in population and was heavily populated. But now only few people remain in that area since the people were relocated. Also the people that remain are actually in danger of mudslides caused by all the upheaval of dirt.  Dams are thought to change the quality of the water after it is sent downriver. The dams also damage the ecological life around the area, including humans.  The dam can control floods but it can actually flood the area upriver and cause damage.