Hydroelectric Power
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As much as I hate buzzwords and catchphrases, there’s no shadow of a doubt that we are living 21st century lives increasingly dependant upon electronics. All the same, the lion’s share of our tools and gadgetry are still driven by 20th century means. It’s a testament to design that the basic instruments that light our homes and power our devices are as useful today as they were at the time of their inception. Not as useful, however, are the environmental realities of depending on old models when more efficient innovations can be had.
For instance, hydroelectric power is over a hundred years old; in 2005 it was the source of 20% of the world’s power. Many active U.S. dams, however, are running on mid-century engineering. In Washington state alone, as the Wall Street Journal noted earlier this summer, increasing the efficiency of existing hydroelectric dams – and adding power generators to current non-hydro dams – would result in three times more electricity than developing all of the state’s remaining locations with hydro potential. That’s 2500 additional megawatts of electricity without developing one additional acre of space. Pretty good trade-off, no?
Wisconsin has seen the light of greater efficiency as well. The state is planning to upgrade its hydroelectric plants, both of which were built at the turn of the 20th century. Wisconsin will soon be enjoying greater green power generation without any additional developed land. Similarly, a Natural Resource Defense Council study noted that energy savings in Michigan could supply 22% of the state’s power needs. These savings could result from increasing efficiency in the existing power grid and combining heat and power distribution. Over one-fifth of Michigan’s power generating potential is currently being lost due to waste and old technology.
These are not radical ideas; the science isn’t even new. It’s just based on getting the most out of what we already have. As Steven Chu, Obama’s Secretary of Energy, stated about hydropower earlier this year, “We’re not talking about a lot of large, new reservoirs. Just work with what we have and it’s a massive amount of power.” Chu noted that the United States could increase its amount of hydroelectric power by 70,000 megawatts just by updating the technology in all of its hydroelectric dams – to put things in perspective, one megawatt can power 700 to 800 homes per year.
Increasing the efficiency of hydroelectric dams is vital to the viability of the technology, since the number of suitable locations to install dams is shrinking. Slowing the flow of a river is not a decision to be taken lightly, as the consequences can be felt far downstream. For one thing, water levels can drop, affecting plant life and residential water sources, not to mention horribly affecting aquatic life. Many modern dams have been updated with a system to transport up and downstream. All the same, the population of river salmon in some areas has still not recovered from the damage of older dams that prevented them from swimming to historic breeding grounds.
Since hydropower is the oldest green power generating technology – by far – it is the easiest area in which we can increase efficiency. It is, however, not the only area. As solar and wind power mature, the potential capacity of our available technology will begin to outstrip what we are actually generating. California understands this and recently authorized $3.1 billion to increase efficiency in its power grid. Not only is this cheaper than building new power plants, but it’s also less time-consuming and far, far easier. The state understands that it’s much quicker to upgrade technology at existing sites than it is to calculate environmental impact at new sites, obtain building permits, and construct a facility.
Though exploring new locations to tap green power should not, by any means, slow to a halt the nation as a whole needs to follow the examples set above. Environmentalism doesn’t always mean investing in the shiny and new. Sometimes the greenest action involves buffing up the old to make it sparklingly, squeaky clean.
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