Adrian Zamora and Nick Huff

BC: Greeks use waterwheel to assist in grinding wheat into flour.

1881: Niagara Falls city street lamps powered by hydroelectricity.
1887: San Bernardino, CA opens first hydroelectric plant in the
west.
1905: Hydroelectricity powers 15% of Americas energy
consumption.
1940: Hydroelectricity powers 40% of Americas energy
consumption.
2003: Less than 10% of Americas electricity consumption covered
by hydroelectricity.
Falling water turns a turbine which produces electricity.
The turbine is attached to a generator which stores the electricity.
Power lines carry the electricity to where it is needed.
When demand is low water is withheld so that when demand is
high more water can fall and produce the extra electricity needed.
Most hydroelectricity is produced at dams.
The Hoover Dam has produced a minimum of 2.6 billion KW of
electricity yearly since 1956.
It is very important in todays world, more than 150 countries generate
hydroelectric power.
A 1997 survey by the international Journal on Hydropower & Dams found
that hydroelectricity supplies at least 50 percent of national electricity in 63
countries and at least 90 percent in 23 countries.
Globally, hydropower contributes to 24% of the worlds electricity,
supplying over 1 billion people with power.
Hydro-projects built to provide basis for industrialization and
social and economic development
Benefits include:
Water Supply
Irrigation
Navigation
Fisheries
Tourism
Hydroelectricity produced in Canada is sent to the US for
use.
Sparsely populated areas, like Canada, are perfect for
producing hydroelectricity.

Many African countries are without power in most areas.
These countries could be completely reliant upon hydroelectricity to
power their homes.
The undeveloped areas in these countries are perfect for large dams and
hydroplants.

Norway, which is almost 100% sustained by hydroelectricity could be a
model for other countries to follow.
Hydroelectricity production does not produce any harmful byproducts
like greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, or nuclear waste.
Fish ladders are put into dams to assure that the migratory routes of fish
are not interrupted.
No habitat for wildlife is affected by dams or hydroplants.
In the future we could see countries become almost completely
dependent on hydroelectricity.
At the moment we are still 70% short of our feasible harnessing of our
potential hydroelectricity.
New methods of harnessing hydroelectricity will allow us to more
efficiently use it which will minimize global warming and the burning of
our fading fossil fuels.

A new method of harnessing electricity was recently put into place in
Wales.
This method uses tidal turbines to harness the power of the waves in the
ocean.
This method uses large platforms, similar to oil rigs, these platforms have
large turbines lowered into the water which are rotated by the force of the
water.
The electricity is then stored in large generators on the platform and then
sent back to the mainland by cables that would run under the sea floor.
One of the main concerns for this method was that marine life may get
caught in the turbines and be harmed but this issue was quickly
addressed and this is now a method of harnessing energy that has
absolutely no downfalls.

With hydroelectricity we can preserve our planet while efficiently
powering it.
We can provide energy at very little expense to countries in Africa.
We can become less reliant on harmful methods like the burning of fossil
fuels or the use of nuclear energy.
With the use of new methods like tidal turbines we could move the
majority of our energy production off the coast which would keep it out
of the way of the general public.