The era of large, new hydropower projects is over, at least in the United States. But electricity generated from traditional hydropower — those big dams that aren’t going away any time soon — as well as from new hydrokinetic technologies such as tidal and oceanic power offers both many benefits and the possibility of incremental improvement. Plus, water-powered electricity plants are extremely cost-effective. The main cost of most water-powered facilities is their initial construction and installation — there are no perpetually incurred fuel costs — and once a dam or a turbine ... Read More
Reducing Big Problem With Little Hydro Plants
January 23, 2008 • By • Leave a Comment
The leading cause of climate change today is the burning of fossil fuels related to energy production. Numerous proposals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have included implementing cap-and-trade markets, applying carbon taxes and encouraging research and development into promising new energy production technologies such as fuel cells, ocean power and ethanol. We are currently at the vanguard of discovering which of these methods will prove fruitful, politically palatable and cost-effective. As we proceed, it is worthwhile to continue exploring all of our available options, to help ... Read More
Hydro Doesn’t Have to Be Big
January 22, 2008 • By • Leave a Comment
The era of large hydropower dams is clearly over in the United States. Hydropower production, however, has a future: By concentrating on small hydropower facilities with limited impacts on river ecosystems, we can maintain — and even improve upon — an important renewable energy resource. Two-thirds of all renewable electricity production in the United States — itself about 7 percent of the nation’s total energy consumption — currently comes from hydropower. Electricity generated through the kinetic energy of falling water, a proven technology, provides a number of benefits beyond ... Read More
