Using and Applying Hydroelectricity
Using and Applying Hydroelectricity
All energy sources have negative and positive aspects. Coal and oil pollute the environment, nuclear fission produces toxic waste, and solar heaters are not efficient. When compared to other energy sources, hydroelectricity has fewer disadvantages and is being explored and widely used today. Throughout the world an increasing amount of people are turning towards hydroelectric power as a new source of energy. Although the idea of converting water to power might seem simple, the process it must go through involves many steps. There is a lot about this energy resource that people do not know or understand. This leaves many people thinking, “Is hydroelectricity the best energy source for a clean and safe environment?”
Water is a resource found all over the world, which makes hydroelectricity available to people almost everywhere. Because of its abundance, it is not surprising that hydroelectric power has been around for thousands of years. Some of its first uses include grinding grain, pumping water, and powering saw and grist mills. Nowadays hydroelectric power is being used to produce electricity for homes and businesses.
The use of waterpower dates back to before Christ. Antipater, the Greek poet, mentioned the use of falling water to create energy in 400 B.C. writings. In Ancient Greece and Rome people used waterwheels for milling corn, and in 250 B.C. a clock was built that was powered by water. During the Middle Ages, large wooden waterwheels were developed with a maximum power output of about 50 horsepower. Later a British engineer, John Smeaton, built the first large waterwheel using cast-iron construction in the late 1880s. The U.S.’s first industrial use of hydropower to generate electricity occurred in 1880, when 16 brush-arc lamps were powered using a water turbine at the Wolverine Chair Factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Two years later, the first hydroelectric plant was built in Appleton, Wisconsin. This plant provided 12.5 kilowatts of electricity, which provided light for a home and two paper mills. Until that time coal was the only fuel resource used to produce electricity. As electricity demands soared in the middle of the 1900s, the efficiency of coal and oil fueled power plants increased, and small hydro plants fell out of favor. To gain more popularity, most new hydroelectric development since the mid 1900’s...