The Pros And Cons Of Hydroelectric Energy

Our world has seen several inventions that have greatly impacted our way of life. Of those inventions renewable energy sources is what we believe has the biggest impact to our daily routines. Hydroelectric energy is one of the biggest energy producing plants used today. Its efficiency is 70- 95% making it one of the biggest suppliers in the world and of high interest to energy companies. Based on new statistics, an unprecedented boom in global hydropower dam construction is underway, primarily in developing countries and emerging economies (Water World, 2014). Hydroelectric plants are operated by trapping a water source by building a dam and having it readily available to the plant. To produce energy the dam opens small doors at the bottom

Since this type of energy source relies on water and needs it to be trapped to be readily available it greatly causes problems to the farmland around the area. Farmlands usually see loss of produce simply because water becomes scarce due to the dam that traps it. Hydroelectric power plants on the Cekerek River are threatening the existence of 16 villages in the Zile district of Tokat (Todays Zaman, 2014). At the same time since water is trapped the bottom of the lake is incompatible to fish because it is much colder and lacks sufficient amount of oxygen. When this colder, oxygen-poor water passes through the turbines and into the river, it can kill fish living down the stream that are used to being in warmer, oxygen-rich

However the system is healthy to the environment in some ways. Hydroelectricity fights climate change as it only adds to GHG in a small amount. Hydroelectric dams make up 4% of total GHG emissions by humans. This 4% is primarily made up of methane which although traps heat a lot more than Carbon Dioxide, it does diminish in the atmosphere a lot faster than Carbon Dioxide. Hydroelectric also offers storage for drinking water. Although farms initially see a decrease in produce due to the scarce of water in the soil, Hydropower sources mediate these problems by offering irrigation systems. Hydroelectric power plant reservoirs collect rainwater, which can then be used for consumption or for irrigation. By storing this water, it protects the water tables against depletion and reduces our vulnerability to droughts. (Itaipu.gov, 2014) these irrigation systems change a major disadvantage of dams to a neutral one, suggested that all farms receive enough water that they were previously getting. Hydroelectric power sources have been altered through the years to both increase its production and limit the amount of damage it has to the ecosystem. To resolve the issue with the fish being affected by the dams, there have been several alternate pathways for salmon to travel pass dams. The salmon run is the time when salmon, which have migrated from the ocean, swim to the upper