PROS AND CONS OF HYDROPOWER

According to the Connecticut Siting Council, there are 10 hydropower

facilities in the state, with generating capacities ranging from 70 kilowatts
(Bantam 1) to 41.5 megawatts
1995 DOE study
(http://hydropower.id.doe.gov/resourceassessment/pdfs/states/ct.pdf)
identified and assessed 68 hydropower sites in the state. 6.5 kilowatts to 10
megawatts
Most have capacities under 1 megawatt.
Pros
have high capital costs but very low operating costs.( For small hydro
facilities, the report
estimates O&M costs of $20$25 per kilowatt per year. For mini
hydropower
facilities, the estimate is $3$19 per kilowatt per year)
have high capital costs but very low operating costs.
increase or decrease power production to reflect changes in electric demand.
(instead of constant)
renewable resource, water cycle
no air pollution.
greenhouse gas emissions are less than most other types of generation
variety of recreational opportunities
cons
environmental harm
aesthetic concerns

CCEF Hydropower Report

According to Connecticut hydropower developers, re-powering a hydropower

facility in Connecticut tends to range in cost from $1,000$3,000 per installed
kilowatt
r installing a small
hydropower facilitywhich they define as between 1 and 30 megawatts in
size
as $1,000$2,500 per kilowatt. For mini hydropower facilities, defined as
between 0.1 and 1 megawatt, the report estimated the capital costs as
$1,000
$1,800.
There are over thirty operational hydropower facilities of 10 kW or more in
the
state of Connecticut,
Nonetheless, developing
even a modest percentage of these sites would add meaningful renewable
megawatts to the states electricity mix.

Energy Needs And The Collapse Of Connecticut

Wind Power: Pros and Cons

How more wind farms will reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Factsheets and Statistics
Pro
its clean and renewable and relatively cheap to produce
11 grams of carbon dioxide-equivalent per kilowatt-hour (gCO2e/kWh), wind's
carbon footprint
t's estimated that these reduce the UK's CO2 emissions by over 6.4 million tonnes
every year by displacing electricity from fossil fuel power stations.
non space consuming
Con
(e.g. land use, noise and visual pollution).
f course, the main disadvantage of wind power is that the wind does not blow
consistently or steadily.
capital costs of construction are extremely high