About 70%
of the earth’s surface is covered with water.
It is an amazing and powerful resource and is the most common renewable
source of energy in the United States today.
Hydropower is the use of our great resource, water, to generate
electricity. A plethora of power plants
use dams on rivers to store water. The Bonneville
dam of the Cascade Locks is a beautiful example of the continued production of
renewable energy. It was constructed
using Federal money under the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration at a time
when electricity production was crucial.
The Bonneville Dam is located 40 miles east of Portland in the Columbia
River Gorge. The Bonneville Dam’s
primary functions include electrical power generation and river navigation.
Much
hydroelectric power is generated through the use of a dam on a river to store
water. The water released from behind the dam flows through a turbine, which
spins it, and turns a generator to produce electricity. The energy production resulting from this
process is hydroelectricity and accounts for 7% of the electricity used by the
nation. Hydroelectric power can be seen
on a large scale like a dam or on a smaller scare on a ranch with the use of a
channel to produce energy. The minimal cost
of hydroelectricity attracts many industries that use large quantities to the renewable
energy source. Hydroelectricity will
continue to be an effective resource promoting renewable energy has it has for
about 100 years.
~Kristen
Roland
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/hydropower-plant1.htm
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