Damless hydro or Damless hydro-electric is a renewable technology based on capturing the kinetic energy of rivers, channels of chutes, spillways, irrigation systems, tides and oceans without the use of dams. Mankind has been benefiting from the “energy of moving water…since before the Roman Empire” to power waterwheels for mills and the billows for blacksmiths . Ultimately, the harnessing of water power into usable energy developed into hydroelectric power via dams. However, due to the sheer size of the infrastructure of a dam, they have many collateral effects. For example, the damming of a river “blocks the movement both of fish upstream to spawn and of silt downstream to fertilize fields” . In addition, “the vegetation overwhelmed by the rising water decays to form methane – a far worse greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide” .
Damless hydro electric power options exist in the form of tidal power, wave power, and stream or river power. In today’s current Green energy mind set, Fortune 500 companies strive to develop and market their environmentally friendly methods and products.
Since no dam is required, damless hydro may dramatically reduce the following:
1) The safety risks (of having a dam), avoiding the risk of a flash flood caused by a breached dam
2) Environmental and ecological complications
3) Need for fish ladders
4) Silt accumulation in basin
5) Regulatory issues
6) The initial cost of dam engineering and construction
7) Maintenance
8) Removing silt accumulation
No comments:
Post a Comment