hydroelectric power w/o the damn dam

[AlecBGreen]

originial link via the Economist.

A new generation of free-standing turbines will liberate hydroelectricity from its dependence on dams

IN TODAY’S green world, hydroelectric dams are often unwelcome. Though their power is renewable and, on the face of it, carbon-free, there are lots of bad things about them, too. Blocking a river with a dam also blocks the movement of fish upstream to spawn and the movement of silt downstream to fertilise fields. The vegetation overwhelmed by the rising waters decays to form methane—a far worse greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. The capital cost is huge. And, not least, people are often displaced to make way for the new lake. The question, therefore, is whether there is a way to get the advantages without suffering the disadvantages. And the answer is that there may be.

The purpose of a dam is twofold. To house the turbines that create the electricity and to provide a sufficient head of water pressure to drive them efficiently. If it were possible to develop a turbine that did not need such a water-head to operate, and that could sit in the riverbed, then a dam would be unnecessary. Such turbines could also be put in places that could not be dammed—the bottom of the sea, for example. And that is just what is starting to happen, with the deployment of free-standing underwater turbines.




I know they havent produced an exojoule yet, but hey, a fella can dream ...

[liberal N proud]

1. Dams are also created to control flooding, BUT...

I see these things similar to wind turbines. They could be placed in rivers where flooding is not the purpose of the dam or in ocean currents where they could use the natural flow.

A few years ago people thought wind turbines were a fad as well. Drive through the midwest you will see differently.

Cool technology

[Warpy]

2. Wind power was never a fad in the midwest

I spent a part of my early kidhood counting the windmills between one town and the next on road trips. Wind power was used to pump well water for home use and for irrigation.

That we're using it now for electricity would be no shock to those farmers.

[liberal N proud]

4. I grew up in Iowa

I know that farms used them for more than a century pumping water. During the 70's and 80's many windmills were abandoned and tore down replaced with electric pumps.

I was always under the impression that large scale wind power was being discredited. But then again, the energy companies keeping us as slaves to their product.

If we all had our own windmills the electric companies would be singing a different tune.

[Warpy]

6. I saw my first wind farm in Oklahoma

when I was driving out here from Boston 18 years ago. There is a huge wind farm here in NM, on land that is poor for grazing and unusable for farming but rich in canyon winds. There is a big PVC farm going in on similar land elsewhere in the state.

The local electric company is investing in these things because fossil fuel power is just getting too expensive. The break even point is being reached on harvesting natural energy vs. building new coal plants. The change is just beginning, but it is happening.

The personal wind generator isn't that great an idea for most folks because it's noisy and uses up the yard. Unless they combine them with swing sets for the kiddies on the base, they'll never be that popular.

However, when thin film solar technology takes off and the prices start to come down, I'll be resurfacing my roof with it. My meter will run backwards during the day and forwards at night.

[ben_meyers]

5. Here is some irony for you.

My Grandfathers brother and his kids used to erect and maintain windmills for "Monkey Wards" and Sears in western Minnesota back in the day. Had a nice little side business to supplement the farm income. They ran out of work when the Rural Electrification Program came in and most farmers put electric motors on their pumps.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. Similar turbines are already being deployed to a limited extent

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=130340&mesg_id=130340
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=133051&mesg_id=133051