Category Archives: Hydropower

Power density of biomass, wind, & solar take too much land to replace fossil fuels

Posted on May 7, 2018 by

Preface. Vaclav Smil writes “The fact that wind, solar, and biomass have incredibly low energy density per square meter means that a fully renewable system to replace the 320 GW of fossil fueled electricity generation and 1.8 TW of coal, … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Biomass, Coal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Oil | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Underground pumped hydro storage is the only technology capable of massive storage for renewable electricity

Posted on September 27, 2017 by

[ Picard concludes that “None of the candidate technologies for massive-scale renewable and sustainable generation of ‘‘green’’ electricity deliver it in a form suitable for high-efficiency storage. None of the prospectively-massive storage modes for transformed electricity is at present well … Continue reading →

Posted in Electric Grid, Energy Storage, Grid instability, Hydropower, Renewable Integration | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Climate change effects on hydropower in California

Posted on May 11, 2017 by

[ The main impact is on hydropower, the largest source of renewable electric power in California, and besides natural gas, the only other way to balance wind and solar power, (unless utility-scale energy storage batteries become available).  But hydropower is often … Continue reading →

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Electric Cars and Biofuels switch dependence from foreign oil to domestic water and weather risks

Posted on December 29, 2016 by

  Figure 1. Energy/Water Nexus Amy Hardberger, Matthew E. Mantell, Michael Webber, Carey W. King, Karl Fennessey [ This Senate hearing covers a lot of ground. I found the most interesting testimony to be the intersection of water and energy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Drought, Energy Production, Hydropower, Transportation, Water | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

How climate change will affect energy production and transportation

Posted on August 1, 2016 by

[ Climate change and extreme weather will harm oil and gas exploration and production, fuel transport, thermoelectric power generation (coal, natural gas, nuclear, geothermal, solar concentrated power), hydropower, biofuels, wind, solar PV, the electric grid, and increase energy demand from … Continue reading →

Posted in Blackouts, Cascading Failure, Climate Change, Electric Grid, Electric Grid, Energy Production, Hydropower, Ships and Barges, Water | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How climate change will affect energy production and transportation

Hydropower has a very low energy density

Posted on March 17, 2015 by

To store the energy contained in 1 gallon of gasoline requires over 55,000 gallons to be pumped up 726 feet (CCST 2012). As a thought experiment look at what it would take generate all of America’s 4,058 TWh electricity, where … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Storage, Hydropower, Pumped Hydro Storage (PHS) | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Hydropower is temporary. Dams silt up, limited rivers, long permitting process

Posted on July 10, 2011 by

1) Ultimately dams silt up, usually within 25 to 200 years, so hydro-power is not a renewable source of power. 2) We’ve already dammed up the best rivers. There are now more than 45,000 dams around the world, affecting more … Continue reading →

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