Hydroelectricity

By Ahmed

What is hydroelectricity?

It is basically the use of water to produce electricity, it is much more kinder to the environment then burning fossil fuel, oil, coal. That is because this resources produce air pollution and poisonous wastes, but the best part of using water to produce electricity is that it is a renewable resource which we can use over and over, plus 70% of water covers the earth. Unlike other resources it doesn’t produce any pollution or any poisonous substance which will have a bad impact on the environment.

It supplies almost 20% of the world electricity. It is also known that Canada was the first country to use water to produce electricity, and it all started near the end of the 19 century.

How does it function?

In a hydroelectric power station there are reservoirs to store water. The only thing that’s holding back this enormous amount of water is a sluice gate, when it opens the water is guided through the penstock to the turbines where they spin the huge blades, which then spins the magnets and the copper wire to induce a current in the wire

which produces electricity.

Lastly the electricity goes to the transformers which are then carried by power lines to homes and offices

to supply with electricity When the reservoirs runs out of water it then fills up by pumping water back in it.

Which countries uses hydroelectricity

Countries that use hydroelectricity are India, Russia, China, Brazil, USA, Japan, France and Canada. Canada is by far one of the countries that use this resource a lot, more than half of their electricity is produced from Hydro Power

Stations.

Even a country like Bangladesh uses hydroelectricity in Chittagong, it is called the Karnafuli Hydro Power Station and it is situated in Kaptai approximately 50km off the port of Chittagong. This plant doesn’t only play a role in meeting with the power demand but is also vital to flood management for the areas downstreams.

Advantages

• It is renewable, so it can be used over and over again.

• The generator are non-pollutant, so it doesn’t pollute the water

• The reservoirs are so big that even in dry weathers it can continuously run and provide electricity.

• It is cheap to operate a Hydro Power Station.• The reservoirs can also be used to control

flooding or fishing.• It is so cheap that individual homes can get

electricity from streams.

Disadvantages

• It is very expensive to build a dam.• It is also a threat to the ecosystem.• When the reservoirs over flows, it flood people’s

homes, lands so there is a conspiracy between the government and the people living there.

Ways to overcome this issues

• Sites to build a dam should be chosen carefully, keeping in mind about the environment concerns.

• People who have to shift/move to another place because of dam or have loss of land, any economical damage should be paid back and treated fairly.

• To prevent damage to ecosystem, like fishes being killed when they are carried by the force of the water to the turbines, fishes should be removed from the reservoir and be moved to another place by truck.

How can the global community use the resource more efficiently and responsibly?

The global community can use the resource more efficiently and responsibly by making more hydro power stations in each country, and since water is free, renewable, non-pollutant and very useful then why not take advantage of it while we can, and it’s worth a lot doing it. Burning coal, oil, fuel to produce energy pollutes the air because they emit a lot of harmful/noxious gases such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide which affects the atmosphere and also plays a role in global warming, acid rain etc which has a negative impact on the environment.

It is obvious that building several hydro power stations in each country means spending an enormous amount of money but it’s worth it. Imagine a country being supplied with 60-80% of electricity from hydro power stations, and the rest 20-30% electricity by burning oil, fuel, coal, so there will be less emission of harmful gases in the air.