Hydropower Sustainability and Generation and the Factors Affecting it (Research Paper Sample)

Hydropower Sustainability
Name
Institution
Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 1.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc39573712 \h 41.2 Problem statement PAGEREF _Toc39573713 \h 41.3 Report objectives PAGEREF _Toc39573714 \h 51.4 Hydropower generation PAGEREF _Toc39573715 \h 51.5 Environmental effects on hydropower generation PAGEREF _Toc39573716 \h 61.6 Effects of hydropower on the environment PAGEREF _Toc39573717 \h 71.7 Is hydropower sustainable? PAGEREF _Toc39573718 \h 81.8 Hydropower sustainability tools PAGEREF _Toc39573719 \h 10Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc39573720 \h 11References PAGEREF _Toc39573721 \h 13
Abstract
Global warming, health deterioration and environmental degradation have been on the rise over the years. The main cause of this has been the continued use of fossil fuels which emit harmful gases. Fossil fuels are also non renewable thus prone to depletion. For this reasons, a need to have a clean source of energy which can provide energy security for years to come has become obvious. Hydropower energy has been a key solution to this problem. Therefore, understanding how power is generated using water, knowing how hydropower reacts to the environment and how it is affected by the environment is emphasized. Although hydropower is sustainable, there are a lot of challenges which hinder its sustainability. Understanding these challenges and how they can be solved is also explained. Set protocols of how to create sustainability in hydropower generation, how to assess it and how to fix gaps that may arise from these protocols is illustrated. The report focuses on hydropower generation and sustainability, all the factors affecting it and their solutions.
Hydropower Sustainability
1.0 Introduction
Sustainability can be defined as the process using and maintaining available resources responsibly to meet current needs without jeopardizing the availability of these resources to future generations. The main aim of sustainability is to maintain a balanced ecological atmosphere. It focuses on stimulating innovation while protecting human, ecological and environmental health. These three make up the pillars of sustainability namely; economic, social and environmental pillars. For a system to be sustainable, it must be profitable, not harmful to the environment and approved by the society to be safe to them. Sustainability applies to various things, renewable energy sources being one of them. Hydropower is an example of renewable energy source. It is generating of electricity from flowing water. Water from rivers and dams is stored in reservoirs and then channeled to rotate turbines which activate generators thus generating electricity. Hydropower generation is cheap, abundant in supply and environmentally friendly. The source of hydropower that is water is a natural resource that affects and is affected by many things. It affects the aquatic flora and fauna and the general vegetation. It is affected by human activities such as deforestation, climate change, drainage concentration and so on. It is evident that hydropower is faced with a lot of environmental and social setbacks and thus for it to be sustainable, stringent measures must be taken ensure that current production of electricity is not affecting future production of this precious commodity. This is by ensuring that the process is not harmful to the environment, protecting catchment areas and eradicating vile activities like deforestation.
1.2 Problem statement
Currently, the world is faced with the challenge of creating a sustainable source of energy. For a long time, it has depended on fossil fuel as a major source of energy and it is becoming obvious the reservoirs for this fuel will deplete in the near future. Though new fossil reservoirs are being discovered around the globe, the fact remains that this energy source is non renewable and it might get depleted in the future. Also, oil prices are increasing by the day due to its high demand resulting from radical industrialization mostly from the developing third world countries. To top it all, fossil fuels have an enormous effect on the environment due to their harmful emissions and they have contributed greatly to the global warming. To conserve the environment, prevent degradation of fossil reservoirs and create energy security, people are coming up with ideas of alternative sustainable sources of energy. Hydropower has emerged to be the most popular sustainable source of energy. This is because its clean meaning it does no harm to the environment, it can be produced and supplied in large quantities, water is readily available and its cost of production is not that expensive as compared to other sources.
1.3 Report objectives
The aim of the report is to deduce how hydropower is produced, what factors affect its production, how hydropower production affects it’s surrounding, is it sustainable and what factors are used to measure its sustainability.
1.4 Hydropower generation
Hydropower production operates under the principle of energy conservation where energy is neither created nor destroyed but transferred from one form to another. For electricity to be generated, water has to be in motion and is said to contain kinetic energy (U.S. Power Resources Office 2005). The flowing water is used to rotate turbines thus changing the kinetic energy to mechanical energy. The turbines are used to rotate a generator which converts the mechanical energy into electrical energy. For this to happen, water is first harnessed from various sources such as rivers, canals or harvested rain water and stored in reservoirs or dams. These dams act batteries as they store energy used to produce electricity. They also act as an elevated ground from which water flows. A penstock is used to channel the water to the turbines at very high speed making them to rotate at high speed too. The turbine movement causes coiled wires in the generator’s rotor to moves against the coiled wires in the generator’s stator creating a magnetic field which creates electricity. This energy is then metered and transmitted where it is needed via various channels.
1.5 Environmental effects on hydropower generation
There are many factors which affect hydropower generation but the environmental factors have the biggest impact. This is because the main raw material of hydropower is water and the environment status dictates availability of water (EIA 2020). Environmental degradation has been on the rise and it has proven to be big challenge to tackle all around the globe. This because every economic undertaken, be it fishing, farming, mining, power production or even tourism has a possible negative effect on the environment. As stated earlier, hydropower is a renewable energy source which emanates from the pre existing recycling nature of water, namely the hydrological cycle (EIA 2020). Water goes through various phases like it evaporates from the earth and water holding bodies like rivers, lakes or dam into the atmosphere where it condenses to form clouds. The clouds then precipitate as rain and flows back into the ground and water bodies thus creating an endless cycle of water production. However, human activities such deforestation of catchment areas are affecting this cycle thus creating a water shortage which in turn affects hydropower production. Also, erosion and dumping is causing sedimentation which is a major setback in power generation. Use of inorganic chemicals on the soil and emission of harmful greenhouse gases is causing acidic rain and since hydropower production only uses natural water, acidic rain has become a major challenge. Climate change has also become a hindrance. Due to global warming, a lot of water is going to waste due to rapid evaporation and the rate and quantity of precipitation has also been affected. This has greatly reduced the run-off water which is a key source of water for hydropower reservoirs. The population therefore has an obligation of eradicating or minimizing