HYDROELECTRIC POWER

  Origin: because the source of hydropower is water, hydroelectric power plants must be located on a water source. Therefore, it wasn’t until the technology to transmit electricity over long distances was developed that hydropower became widely used. Of the renewable energy sources that generate electricity, hydropower is the most often used.

Extraction: the water cycle is important to understanding hydropower.

   Mechanical energy is derived by directing, harnessing, or channeling moving water. The amount of available energy in moving water is determined by its flow or fall. The water flows through a pipe, or penstock, then pushes against and turns blades in a turbine to spin a generator to produce electricity. In a run-of-the-river system, the force of the current applies the needed pressure, while in a storage system, water is accumulated in reservoirs created by dams, then released when the demand for electricity is high.

Hydroelectric Uses: basically the utility of this kind of energy is to generate electricity.

Producer regions: the most important producers of hydroelectric power are Canada, Brazil, United States, China and Russia.