Here is a video about hydroelectric power generation. The 2 minute video shows the basics on how hydroelectric power generation works and includes helpful diagrams which show the interior of a hydroelectric power plant. If you are unfamiliar with how hydroelectricity is generated then take a few minutes to view this video.  If you are still interested you can read about hydroelectric power in our previous post. Enjoy!

Hoover Dam Tour 2009

Hydro electric energy is one of the most well-known sources of power generation. While hydro electricity made up a large portion the US power supply in the 50’s and 60’s, hydro electric power generation has become less popular as fossil fuel generation became more common. Like wind, solar geothermal and more hydro electric power generation is a clean way to convert mechanical power into electricity. Most people know how hydro electric power plants work but we wanted to do a write-up on it anyway as it is an important source of electricity, especially in the western part of the US.

Hydro electric power plants work by converting mechanical energy into electricity. Basically, hydro electric plants use the energy from falling water to spin turbines which are connected to electric generators. These generators send the electricity generated to transformers for increasing the voltage and distribution it to millions of consumers in the surrounding cities.

Typically, hydro electric plants (dams) are built on large rivers, where they can collect water in large reservoirs. The water collected behind the dam of hydro electric plants stores potential energy. The potential energy is then converted to kinetic energy when the stored water is allowed to flow down a channel to spin a turbine. The kinetic energy of the water spins a turbine, which uses the kinetic energy to generate electricity.

Probably the most common hydro electric power plant in the United States is Hoover Dam, located on the Colorado River, where half of the dam lies in Arizona and the other half in Nevada. The Hoover Dam supplies electricity to cities in Arizona, Nevada and Southern California. Many smaller dams on the Colorado River, downstream from the Hoover Dam, are used to generate electricity for other cities in Southern California and Mexico.

There are many hydro electric power plants located all over the United States. The electricity generated by these plants is considered to be clean because virtually no emissions or pollutants are released during the energy generation process. Hydro electric energy is thought of as a sustainable energy source, although research shows that the natural water sources are drying up. The Hoover Dam reservoir measures 15 meters lower this year than in previous years. And with nuclear power generation and fossil fuel generation as competitors, hydro electricity supplies approximately 10% of the United States’ consumed energy.

Countries Join Together in The Kyoto Protocol

Our new President Barack Obama has joined the US with the Kyoto Protocol. For years the United States the only country in the world not willing to join in the cause of reducing our grennhouse gas emissions.  Now that the US has joined the Kyoto Protocol we really need to focus on reducing our greenhouse gases. Many people might think the best way to reduce pollution is to reduce the use of our automobiles. This is a common misconception that most people have. While our automobiles do emit harmful toxins like CO2 gas, the amount of pollution from automobiles is relatively small compared to that emitted by fossil fuel power plants. The real answer to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions is to reduce the amount of electricity consumed on an individual level.

Individually reducing the amount of electricity we use may be more complicated than it sounds. We have all become too comfortable with our way of life. We like to leave the lights on when we go out, watch our big screen TV’s with theater-like surround sound, and use the world wide web for virtually everything. Reducing individual energy consumption would also mean less hours playing Halo 3 on Xbox. I mention this because I read an article on Yahoo a few days ago about the large amount of energy consumed last year by gamers playing Xbox. I wish I could find the article to provide the link. The point is that it is unlikely that Americans will reduce their individual energy consumption enough to help us meet the Kyoto Protocol.

That means that something or someone else will have to step up and make the changes necessary to reduce the US greenhouse emissions for the Kyoto Protocol. This something is cleaner, more efficient energy generation and the someone is our new President Barack Obama. More companies will begin to focus on energy efficient products and building cleaner energy generation plants (wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, hydrogen, etc). It is very likely that President Obama will push for congress to offer incentives for companies to build cleaner energy generation plants. One incetive already in effect is that tax credit that homeowners can receive for using solar panels. Also, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was recently passed which will ensure that the wind energy industry continues to grow.

President Obama has taken swift and quick action to lead the United States towards the future of cleaner, more efficient energy generation. It seems as though he is surely taking some important steps to lead us in such hard times. Lets hope that joining the Kyoto Protocol will help the US to focus more on cleaner energy and ultimately lead to more jobs in this tough economy. Things can only get better from here.

United States Energy Needs

Earlier this week we wrote an article talking about geothermal energy. In this article we will take a closer look at geothermal energy. In the article earlier this week we mentioned that we would follow up with more information on geothermal energy. This article will look more closely at some of the advantages and disadvantages of geothermal energy as well as identify some areas around the world that are currently using geothermal plants to generate electricity. We’ll start our closer look by pointing out some advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages: The main advantage to geothermal energy is that it generates ‘clean’ energy. No fuels are used during the process meaning there is no need to worry about emissions. Energy is generated by converting the Earth’s interior heat into useable electricity. Geothermal energy is thought of as sustainable energy generation, unlike conventional fossil fuel energy generation. Also, geothermal energy can theoretically be generated 90% of the time; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (with the exception of a leap year ).

Disadvantages: Arguably the main disadvantage of geothermal energy is that the fluid is relatively lower in temperature than conventional stream power plants. This negatively affects the efficiency of power generation. Some harmful chemical can be present in the stream produced by geothermal power plants and could potentially polute local water sources if not controlled. Another concern is that the geothermal power plant locations could cool down over time, making the plant virtually useless for generating any power.

The big question is whether or not geothermal power generation can produce enough energy to supply a town, city or even country as effiecient as conventional fossil fuel power plants. Currently, geothermal energy plants supply less than 5% of the world’s energy needs. The largest geothermal generation site in the world is called The Geysers located in Northern California. For more information on The Geysers visit their website at www.geysers.com.

Another notable geothermal location is in the country of Iceland. The hig concentration of volcanoes in the area makes Iceland a perfect location for geothermal energy generation. Currently, over 80% of homes in Iceland are heated by geothermal energy and over 15% of the country’s energy needs is supplied by geothermal power plants. Other regions utilizing geothermal energy include Canada, Germany, Kenya, Mexico, and the Phillipines. A quick Google or Yahoo search on these countries will reveal much more information on the geothermal energy they use. Germany is particularly interesting because of the new laws encouraging geothermal technology development.

We don’t know what the future of geothermal technology will bring but itsounds like a promising technology that could potentially supply more of our energy needs over the next few years. We can only hope that the race will continue in researching and developing cleaner and more efficient ways to generate electricity.

Old Faithful Geyser

Most people don’t know about geothermal energy and some have never heard of the technology. Today we want to talk about geothermal energy in hopes to make people more aware of the technology. Geothermal technology is currently being used to generate a very small amount of the world’s energy, less than 5%. So how does geothermal technology work? And why aren’t we using more of it?

Geothermal technology is somewhat simple, and very innovative. The technology utilizes the heat generated inside the earth to produce energy. There are a few different ways that energy can be produced from the heat below the Earth’s surface:

• Conventional Geothermal Energy Production
• Geothermal Heat Pumps
• Direct Heat From Geothermal Sources

Conventional Geothermal Energy Production – There are a few different conventional methods that utilize the Earth’s interior heat to generate energy. All of them use steam to turn a turbine generating energy in the same method as a fossil fuel power plant would. The most common method uses hot geothermal water from within the Earth to superheat another fluid, using the superheated steam to turn a turbine. Another method pumps water into cavities of hot rock deep below the surface, and collects the steam generated to turn a turbine. Natural steam from within the Earth can also be collected to turn turbines.

Geothermal Heat Pumps – This type of geothermal technology utilizes the heat of the Earth’s crust to heat water. The heated water can then be used to heat homes in the winter. During the summer, heat can be pulled from the home to heat water, providing free hot water heating.

Direct Heat From Geothermal Sources – Heating can be provided to buildings by piping naturally heated water from beneath the Earth’s surface. Generally, the naturally heat water does not hold enough energy to turn a turbine or generate more power, but it does have enough energy to heat a home, building, or greenhouse, and is much cheaper than other conventional methods of heating.

This is geothermal energy in a nut shell. The examples explained here are simplified to provide a general idea of geothermal technology. There are many advantages and disadvantages to geothermal technology which will be explained later this week. Also later this week, N-er-G will talk more about the regions of the world that are currently using geothermal technology to produce energy. Check back for more on geothermal energy…..

Cleaner Energy Sources

With Barack Obama sworn in as the 44th president of the United States there are some changes that all Americans hope to see. The biggest changes may be seen in the Energy Industry as businesses receive grants for further research and development in renewable energy sources. We can only predict what the new president has in store for our country.

The one prediction that has all N-er-G writers talking is that the money spent on Bush’s ‘War on Terrorist’ will begin to shift towards being spent in our own country developing new technologies. More money will be spent on developing more efficient solar technologies, building wind turbine farms, and perhaps even testing geothermal energy generation. The biggest mistake that our government could make is that they pick an industry ‘winner’ and dump all of their money into one technology and/or one firm.

By picking a ‘winner’ the government could be making the same mistake they made years ago when investing millions in oil shale technologies. Maybe they had good intentions, but they may as well just thrown money down a black hole. The main thing that came out of the government’s spending on oil shale years ago was that it was too expensive to be a reasonable alternative to drilling for oil.

N-er-G has an opinion on how the government should invest hard working tax payer money in the energy industry. Spread the money across the industry; solar, wind, geothermal, hydro electric, etc. Have companies in each area of the energy industry compete for a grant by giving presentations on what they would do with a government grant. Then, offer special incentives (i.e. bonuses) to the companies that can present reasonable, cost effective results within a specified time period, say 6 months. This will help to identify the companies who are potentially wise investment choices and make these companies work extra hard to reach a solution.

Energy From the Sun

The big question these days is: “will solar energy be the answer we are looking for?”

Solar technology is nothing new. NASA has been utilizing solar technology to power their space shuttles since the 1950′s. So why isn’t the answer to the world’s current energy crisis?

Well, the radiation from the sun is much more powerful outside of the earth’s atmosphere, for one. Two, solar cannot seem to generate much energy per unit area. Solar energy may be great for space ships and satellites OUTSIDE of the Earth’s atmosphere but may not be too helpful underneath the Earth’s protective cover. In order to utilize power from the sun on the earth’s surface we need much larger panels then needed on a space craft or satellite.

As solar technology continues to be refined, one thing is certain. We will one day be able to product enough energy per unit area to make solar technology much more feasible. When that day comes is completely up to us. We need to continue moving forward with designing, experimenting, and cheaper manufacturing processes.

Wind Turbines Along the Coast

Utilizing the wind as a power source may be the answer to the world’s oil dependency. Wind power generation is clean, efficient, and relatively cost effective compared to solar energy. So why not implement it everywhere? Why not build more wind farms all over the United States and break our dependency on oil? Lets take action today.

Although many believe that wind power generation is the future of power generation there are a few negatives to its use. Wind turbines are big and bulky, making them stick out like a sore thumb. They take away the beautiful views that we all love to enjoy. Imagine waking up in your beach house one day, and looking out the window to see a concentrated mass of wind turbines where a beautiful sunset was. Or having a home with a once mountain range view, no obscured by a wind farm. What does the future have in store if wind power generation is the answer?

Lets go back to the period in time before skyscrapers cluttered the skys. City’s were showered with sunlight, plants flourished almost everywhere, and on a clear day people could see for miles in the distance. The skyscraper eliminated all of this.

Today, sunlight touches one street for a brief part of the day before moving on to the next. Plants that once flourished with the abundance of sunlight withered and died, being replaced by asphalt and concrete. Calm streets turned into wind tunnels and people still complain to this day that the new skyscraper being constructed will obstruct their view of the landscapes.

Time to get out the history books and look at pictures of say Time Square in New York City in the 1930′s compared to pictures today. What you will notice is that much of the sky has been covered since the 1930′s with enormous architectural marvels. While many see this as progress of the great city, some may wish that the skyscrapers could be less intrusive.

So the real question is what the impact of wind power generation will have on our future. Will wind farms pollute the skys with their massive and bulky structures? While wind power generation is, without a question, less pollutive than burning fossil fuels, what affect will wind farms have on things like the housing market. A wonderful view of the nearest wind farm is certainly not a great selling point for any home.

For all our sake, lets hope that engineers can see the future and think outside the box when designing wind tubrines. If wind power is the answer to our oil dependency, is there some way that we can manufacture wind turbines using a transparent, light-weigth and durable material? These will be less of an eye sore than the current designs.