Hydropower

Emma Khazzam

Acadmie de la Capitale

Mme Neena

11th grade, Physics

The 29th of January, 2014
Water is life. Nothing could survive with out it. It is found everywhere, from the
oceans below to the air around us. Water is vital to our existence. Two thirds of our
bodies are composed of water. Not only is water an essential part of life, but it is an
amazing source of power. Harnessing power from water has been an enormous benet
to the human race. Sixty percent of Canadas electricity comes from Hydropower. It is
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the most efcient and least expensive method of creating electricity in the United States.
Waters power can be used to make electricity anywhere in the world, as long as there
is falling water. Hydropower is an extremely successful way of generating electricity.

How do we get energy from water? All energy comes from one source; the sun.
When the heat of the sun evaporates the water from oceans, it gets transformed into
vapour which rises up against gravity. This is the beginning of the hydrologic cycle
(gure 1). The vapour condenses into clouds and when the clouds get too heavy, gravity
forces rain or snow to fall. The rain returns to the earth and ows into tiny rivulets and
streams, then into large rivers, and nally into oceans, and the cycle begins again.
During the hydrologic cycle, the force of the water after it falls and ows until it reaches
the ocean, can exceed several million horsepower. This is the force humans attempt to
harness when they build hydroelectric power plants.

Electricity is the ow of electrons in a conductor or metal wire. This is called a
current of electricity. Electrons have tiny negative changes which create a magnetic
force, but electrons can move if you "push" them with a magnet, which is how the
generator in hydropower plants works. A still lake might have potential energy but it can
not generate power until the water moves.

How does hydroelectricity work? The force of gravity causes rain and snow to fall,
streams to gush, and rivers to ow, as seen in the hydrologic cycle. Hydroelectricity
extracts the energy from the water as it moves and ows by. Simply, hydroelectricity
works by using energy from moving water to turn a turbine, which spins a electric
generator, which is the motor that produces electricity. The turbine converts water power
into rotational power, then the generator converts the rotational power into electrical
power. Power is never created, it is only converted.

Humans have been using contraptions, such as waterwheels, to contain water
power for hundreds of years. The amount of power that can be collected depends on
three things: the head, the ow and the tubing design. Without the head and the ow,
water power can not be produced. The ow is the water quantity, measured in volume
per second or gallons per minute. The head is the difference in elevation between the
water intake and the turbine, expressed in meters, if measuring the vertical elevation, or
PSI (pounds per square inch) if measuring the pressure. If the vertical drop is higher,
then the pressure will increase. The pressure from the falling water spins the turbines at
a high speed, which generates power. If the pressure of the water increases, the
amount of power will grow. Pressure is added by putting the water in a container, such
as a tube or a reservoir, and the weight of the water applies pressure on the bottom of
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"Backgrounder Water Power."
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the container. When an opening is placed at the bottom of the container, the water will
cascade downwards. If turbines are at the bottom, then the water will turn the turbines
at a high speed and generate electricity. There are two common ways of harnessing the
energy from hydropower; dams and run-of-river.

A dam is a wall of water-tight material built across a river to block the ow of the
water (gure 2). They are used to raise the head, which causes the pressure to
increase. When the water from the reservoir is released, it ows through a pipe called a
penstock which carries the water to the turbine. The water rushes around the turbines
causing them to turn. As the turbines spin, the generator turns, converting the kinetic
energy from the water into electricity. The electricity goes though transmission lines that
connect our homes and business providing us with hydroelectricity.

Run-of-river, micro-hydro or low-impact facilities (gure 3) are more
environmentally friendly then dams. Run-of-river hydro uses water that is available at
the moment that is it available. These low-impact facilities work by diverting some of the
river's ow, carrying it to a turbine, then returning the water downstream. Small dams
are made to ensure that the intake of the penstock is always underwater. Using the
force of gravity, the penstocks carry the water to the turbines. As the turbines spin,
energy is converted and electricity is sent through transmission lines. After the water
ows through the turbine, a channel returns it to the river of origin. Run-of-river centres
are simple to instal and maintain, and produce important local jobs because the local
people can maintain their own systems. There are many benets to run-of-river facilities,
as there are many benets of hydropower over all.

The benets of hydropower are numerous. One of the most important advantage is
that hydroelectricity is a renewable energy source. It uses the energy from the
movement of the water to produce electricity, without reducing the quantity of water. The
greenhouse gas emissions are ultra-low in Canadian hydropower. The hydro facilities
are durable, some have even lasted more than 100 years! It is extremely efcient. In
modern stations 95% of hydropower can be converted into electricity. The water used
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to turn the turbines in dams are stored in reservoirs, which means that they can produce
electricity on demand. It is cost effective and certain, thus it can provide long-term price
stability, which is affordable and attractive to consumers. Hydropower is renewable and
abundant.

Hydropower is an extremely clean source, but it has disadvantages. Initial, short
term capital costs for building hydropower projects can be very high. Only governments
and large corporations can afford to build them. The impact on the ecology can be large.
Upstream from the dam, areas are ooded and natural migrations can be blocked.
Engineers have tried to help the migration of sh by building sh ladders which are
narrow articial streams that ow next to the power plant to bypass it. Hydro can also
affect the area downstream, causing the water to rise and fall drastically on a daily basis
and reducing the amount of organisms that can live in the region. When an area is
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(MJ Whiticar, University of Victoria)
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ooded for a reservoir, the trees get covered in water. Trees contain a small amount of
mercury, and when they are ooded, some of the mercury seeps out of the tree. The
mercury is absorbed by small organisms, which get eaten by larger creatures, which
then get eaten by bigger animals and so on until a large animal at the top of the food
chain contains an abnormal amount of mercury. The mercury can potentially harm the
animal. The reservoirs from dams create new, human-made lakes that can alter erosion
patterns, natural acoustics and local scents. Though by itself electricity is clean, how it
is generated is not as clean.

Compared to other energy sources, hydropower is exceptional in many ways
(gure 4). After the initial high capital costs, the operating costs are low and since it is
exible, hydro is more efcient and economical than other sources. The amount of
greenhouse gases, or GHG, is minimal whereas other power plants that use coal, gas
or oil, have much larger GHG. For example, if you use, on average, 10 000 kWh per
month. If your electricity comes from coal, 200 000 pounds of CO2 would be emitted to
create the electricity for you personally. If your electricity came from hydropower, the
CO2 emissions would be zero! Even after the sun goes down and the wind stops
blowing, hydro power keeps on generating electricity.

Water is awe inspiring, renewable and powerful. Its power is so abundant that
humans are able to harness some of its power for their own purposes. Hydropower has
its benets and its disadvantages, but when water is harnessed with patience, skill and
respect, it is indeed a precious and inexhaustible natural resource.
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Antoine de Saint-Exupry, French author and aviator
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Figure 1
Figure 2

Figure 3
Figure 4
Bibliography:

Websites:
"Backgrounder Water Power." re-energy. Green Learning. Web. 21 Jan 2014. <http://
www.re-energy.ca/docs/water-power-bg.pdf>.

Woodward, Richard. "How Dams Work." That Dam Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan 2014.
<http://members.optusnet.com.au/~engineeringgeologist/page5.html>.

"10 REASONS FOR PROMOTING THE HYDROELECTRICITY." . ITAIPU. Web. 29 Jan
2014. <http://www.itaipu.gov.br/en/energy/10-reasons-promoting-hydroelectricity>.

"Run-of-River Hydropower in BC." . Watershed Watch Salmon Society Coquitlam,
British Columbia, n.d. Web. 29 Jan 2014. <http://www.watershed-watch.org/
publications/les/RoR-CitizensGuide.pdf>.

"Hydro Systems Overview." The Guide to Hydropower. Canyon Industries, n.d. Web. 29
Jan 2014. <http://www.canyonhydro.com/guide/index.html>.

"How Hydropower Works." Why Hydro Power. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan 2014. <http://
www.whyhydropower.com/HydroTour2a.html>.

MJ Whiticar, University of Victoria, . "Large-Hydro." . Energy Bc, n.d. Web. 29 Jan 2014.
<http://www.energybc.ca/proles/largehydro.html

Museum:
Canada Science and Technology Museum

Books:
Hydro Qubec, . Electricity from the power station to the home. 3rd quarter. Canada:
2004. Print.

Davis, Scott. Microhydro. Canada: New Society Publishers, 2003. Print.

Parker, Steve. Water Power. USA: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2004. Print.