Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Benefits to Hydroelectric Power

worth it in the end. In fact, after the initial costs of building the dam, hydroelectric power is essentially free. It is naturally replenished as water travels through the water stream every single day. Furthermore, dams are expected to last up to 50 years which is two to ten times as long as the conventional nuclear power plant or coal plant.

Hydropower is completely emission free and thus it can be considered not only a renewable energy source, but also a non polluting source of electricity. By using hydroelectricity instead of burning fossil fuels, we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide by 77 million tons. This is the equivalent to 62 million cars being driven for a year. Furthermore, it does not release steam or chemicals into the environment either. And, because most dams are located in remote areas, it does not affect the noise or the living environments of anyone around it.

In regards to cost, hydroelectricity costs around the same as generating power by burning fossil fuels. However, given the environmental and individual additives that hydroelectricity can bring, the choice to use hydroelectric power is an easy one. Furthermore, hydroelectric plants do not use fuel to run them and thus they are a lot cheaper to run on a daily basis than nuclear power plants or coal plants.

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