Question by festivedragon: Is Hydro electricity a Renewable energy?
Many in the energy community on the west coast of the USA and the world feel that Hydro electric power in its current form is a non-renewable energy source. They feel this way because how we currently make hydro power is a non-sustainable way of making power and a to be renewable you have to be sustainable. What do you think?
Best answer:
Answer by Oiler
There are new hydro technologies which are clearly renewable and sustainable.
Among them are systems designed to capture tidal flows and wave action in coastal areas. These will continue to create energy as long as there are oceans on the planet. The hydroelectric plants on the Niagara River in New York are certainly renewable, since the water flows constantly and does not require man's input to do so.
What do you think? Answer below!
Of course not, do you think that water is constant?
But on one way it is Renewable,the Sun provides the water by evaporation from the sea, and will keep on doing so. But you should know that this is not the best way for acquisition the energy.A dam can disrupt a river’s entire ecosystem, from headwaters to delta. Even smaller dams have detrimental effects, especially as many rivers suffer the cumulative effects of numerous dams throughout their watersheds. = )
people would say it is, but the surrounding environment is irreversibly damaged.
Hmmm interesting question i think this goes with the wind farms which are HIGHLY unsustainable but i think nucluer is the way to go. i don’t understand why people opt-against it
Hydroelectric power can be a renewable energy source. But it requires some planning and care.
On one level, it obviously is renewable–as long as a river continues to flow, the electricity can be generated.
However, like most things its not that simple. Altering the local ecology with a dam and resevoir can have unintended side effects–sometimes negative. And those have to be taken into account. If a hydroelectric facility disrupts the ecology in ways that make the whole project unstainable overall, then its hard to consider it a truely renewable resource.
Hydroelectri power, in and of itself, however, is renewable–used properly.
Renewable Energy is energy derived from resources that are regenerative or for all practical purposes cannot be depleted.[1] For this reason, renewable energy sources are fundamentally different from fossil fuels, and do not produce as many greenhouse gases and other pollutants as fossil fuel combustion. therefore since wind is renewable then also hydro… since it is under wind energy. please vote this a best answer.
It is renewable as long as it keeps raining, but it is very destructive to the ecosystem.
“Renewable” and “sustainable” are just PC buzzwords that greenies apply to their pet technologies. If they are going to split hairs and say that water behind a dam is not permanent, then neither is solar energy because the sun is eventually going to burn out.
Hydropower is renewable because the water behind a dam is renewed when it rains.
However when a river is dammed, a large part of the ecosystem is buried under water.That is what many environmentalists object to.
Some very good points have been raised, and a few uninformed opinions spouted (Kevin O) but one thing has not been mentioned. As the water flows down the river it carries silt with it. When the silt gets to the reservoir it looses it’s momentum and falls to the bottom of the reservoir eventually filling the back water of the dam. That is the situation we are in after a major dam construction phase post WWII. Now the effectiveness of the hydroelectric dam is lessened because it has less of a water head to drive the turbines that spin the generators.
The only way to reverse that situation is to tear down the dam and start over.
Hydroelectric can be unrenewable if we put a dam up to make a reservoir. Otherwise, it is renewable.
Renewable and sustainable go hand in hand here. It’s all down to one element. water. If it rains, it’s renewable. If keeps on raining then it’s sustainable.
As far as building dams and destroying ecosystems, this is complete rubbish. While some ecosystems may perish others are created. Water born ecosystems flourish. Lets take the beaver for instance. When they build a dam and change the environment above the dam large amounts of other species benefit. Beavers build dams for a reason and so do we. What’s the difference? One thing we didn’t allow for when we built earlier dams was to include migratory fishes. Now modern dams include these pathways and some of the older dams these pathways have been built to allow for this.
Here in New Zealand where power generation is predominately hydro, environmental impact is taken seriously and where new ecosystems are created they must be maintained. Lake levels behind the dam are strictly controlled. As far as I’m concerned, the advantages of hydro generation far out weigh the disadvantages.
yes they are a clean source of energy as long as you have the water to make it!