Assignment 3

Hydroelectric Plant Trip

Today, we got the opportunity to see another form of alternative energy, an energy source that does not run off of conventional fossil fuels, but rather a hydroelectric plant. I observed at the top of a mountain these very long pipes that feed down into this factory like building, which spin giant turbines to create electricity. The water is fed by gravity, and so there is less energy expended in order to create the energy. The water is then fed back into the river, to go to the city of Cubitão.

I was talking to the main engineer and I had come to learn what kind of output they could produce, around 900 MW, and I thought that was absolutely enormous compared to what can be produced versus solar power. I think that although there is a combination of alternative energy sources needed in order for us as a society to get off of using conventional fossil fuel energy and use sustainable renewable energy, I feel the biggest step is to capitalize more on hydroelectric energy, due to its very large output as well as what I consider less environmental impact. Based on what I saw today, it was definitely clear that there had to be a disruption made to the natural environment there, especially the wildlife as well as for the trees. However, I feel that as a whole, a much smaller area is disrupted compared to what might be the case with solar power, where one would need immense amounts of area in order to generate equivalent amounts of power.

I had also observed that not only were there above ground turbines, but there were underground turbines there as well. The main engineer had explained to us that there were underground and above ground turbines just based on what the project requirements were. I found this rather interesting in terms of tying it back to disruption of the environment. I think that because there is more flexibility in terms of how a hydroelectric plant can be situated, i.e. above ground or underground, I think this can help further minimize environmental impact.

The main engineer had also explained to us a bit about the direct wildlife disruption by installing pipes to channel the water to the turbines. He said that unfortunately the fish do suffer from this, but based on what we had learned in class it sounds like there are some possible ways for mitigating the effects it has on wildlife living in the rivers and streams, like an exit path for them. I believe that as hydroelectric technology develops, we can further mitigate our effects that we have on the environment while continuing to meet the energy demands of our society in a sustainable way. Although we might need to create some further disruptions by installing some new infrastructure for hydroelectric plants, it gives us the opportunity so that we might be able to remove old infrastructure such that maybe one day it can return to its natural state, and if not, I believe other energy sources could perhaps be installed where old infrastructure was, so that way we do not take up any more land or have to deforest any more than we are already. I believe that hydroelectric should be our main future alternative energy development, due to its high yield and arguably small environmental impacts.