🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <5vuhtp$jda@acmey.gatech.edu>,
Adam Moore <gt4551d@prism.gatech.edu> wrote:

[...]

>I would point out that hydro-electric is far from perfect.  Sure, there's
>little to no waste, but the construction of dams upsets the ecosystems
>both upstream and down (reference the answar dam (if i recall it's name
>correctly) in Egypt) not to mention that there is, unless i'm mistaken,
>some thermal pollution from the water being warmed by it's trip through
>the turbines.  I'm not against hydro-electric, but I really don't think
>it's th answer.

Hydroelectric has more problems than that:

1.  It is the inevitable fate of all dams to silt up sooner or later. Some
will silt up a lot sooner than most people might think, in terms on the
order of a century or so. Then what? The reservoir loses the storage
capacity required by the electric turbines and the storage capacity to
perform the flood control that was frequently one of the justifications for
building the dam in the first place.

2. In the case of biota that requires a flowing stream or longitudinal
access, most notably salmon, the dam is a disaster.

3. They can be dangerous; they do break from time to time. Or the rock/soil
surrounding the dam fails. A failed dam can be a true catstrophe.

4. Because they retain silt, downstream land is deprived of the periodic
soil refreshment that the floods used to bring, and deltas are deprived of
their natural building material; the Aswan High Dam is causing both problems
for Egypt.

5. The impoundment obviously floods "bottom land", the richest growing land
in the area.

6. The impoundment may displace populations. In third world countries,
especially, this usually works to the detriment of the displaced population.

There are of course areas where a hydro project may have few liabilities,
but in general hydro is not as benign as might seem at first glance. 


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