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hydroelectric power

Page history last edited by Brian D Butler 15 years, 2 months ago

 

In emerging markets

 

Understandably, poorer nations are reluctant to invest in expensive alternative energy technologies, but Moreno said alternative energy could actually help the region fight poverty.

 

One well-known example is Brazil's investment in ethanol production, which has been an economic boon. Brazil's example sends somewhat of a mixed message, though, as ethanol production has raised the price of food, making life very hard for many poor people. Next-generation biofuels may find ways of avoiding what Moreno calls the "food-fuel-wilderness" tradeoff.

 

Latin America has been investing in other areas of alternative energy as well. Brazil has seen a nine-fold increase in wind power production, while Mexico has recently geared-up capacity to some 500 MW, (though still a paltry amount compared to tens of thousands of total electric capacity in the country).

 

Hydroelectric power , generated from the energy of river flow, has already been a significant player in Latin America. The construction of dams in such areas as Costa Rica and elsewhere has brought electricity to many rural communities, as well as reduced dependence on energy imports.

 

Due to the high cost of building dams and turbines, the IDB has been looking at "micro-hydro," smaller dams with shorter construction times, less capital investment, and, hopefully, mitigated environmental effect.

 

 

 

 

 

Programs such as micro-hydro, supported by international development money, can strike a formula for fossil-fuel reduction on rural development that is a winning equation for Latin American governments.

 

 

 

Summary

 

 

Of all renewable energy sources, hydroelectric has proven to be one of the most reliable, controllable and cost-effective, as well as the most viable alternative for fossil fuel energy. Other forms, such as wind and solar, have incredible potential, but they have the handicap of being less predictable sources of energy that require greater capital investments to capture. In the U.S., there were 288 billion kilowatt hours of hydroelectric generation capacity in 2006, according to the Energy Information Administration. Unfortunately, potential locations for new hydrodams are limited, and there is little projected growth for the industry in the U.S. Also, conventional hydropower is subject to the availability of running water—recent droughts in the Western U.S. greatly reduced hydro output, and it can happen again.
 
In other countries, it there is much new hydro development under consideration or construction. Although most industrialized countries have already realized their full potential for hydro generation, many developing countries are just getting started. For example, China, already a major producer of hydropower, completed structural work on the enormous Three Gorges Dam, which, when fully implemented in 2009, will have a peak generation capacity of 18 gigawatts. It will be the largest single source of electricity in the world. Due to China’s intense modernization and rapidly growing thirst for energy, this project is of great importance to the future development of the nation. Nonetheless, there is great protest worldwide over the fact that hundreds of thousands of people were displaced from homes in the path of the reservoir created by the new dam. Also, the project has been rife with controversy and claims of corruption. Delays and costs have burgeoned. Upon completion, the dam is conservatively estimated to cost $25 billion, making it the largest civil construction in Chinese history, excepting perhaps the Great Wall. Many less grandiose hydro projects are also underway around the world. Meanwhile, by 2020, China plans to triple its total national hydroelectric generation to 300 gigawatts as part of its long-term goal to get 15% of the nation’s energy from renewable sources by that year.
 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

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