The Pros and Cons of Hydropower

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Since the invention of electricity, mankind has found many ways to generate electricity by using different energy sources. Energy sources can be classified into two main types which is renewable and non renewable or finite energy (Twidella, & Weir, 1985). According to Twindella and Weir (1985) renewable energy is defined as energy that has sustainable sources and can be found in the natural environment. This means that the energy sources can be generated on its own without any human interference (Twidella & Weir, 1985). Examples of renewable energy sources are solar energy, wind energy and hydro energy. Non-renewable energy or known as finite energy is defined as energy that is idle and needs an interference to activate the energy to generate electricity (Twidell & Weir, 1985). Examples of finite energy are nuclear energy and fossil fuels.

Renewable energy is a wide topic to cover so we will narrow it down to one that is widely used which is hydropower. Twidella and Weir (1985) explained that the word hydro-power is restricted to the generation of shaft power through falling water (p.182). Basically, water that is in the dam has a high potential energy. When the water is falling through the shaft the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy and when the turbine moves through the force of the water it generates electricity (Darling, n.d). There are four types of hydro-power plants which are conventional hydro-power plant, pump storage power plant, tidal power plants and depression power plant (Dandekar & Sharma, 1983). According to Dandekar and Sharma (1983) Conventional power plants are those that make use of the normal flow of water to generate electricity, while Pump storage plant work like a conventional power ...

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