-
![]()
A Makeover for Hoover Dam
Hydropower has attracted increasing attention in recent years as a
renewable type of clean energy. As long as a suitable water source is
available, hydropower facilities are usually good investments, producing
energy in a manner that generates far less air pollution and CO2 emissions
than fossil fuels do. The most common way to generate hydropower is to
trap water at a high elevation behind a dam so it can be released and
used to spin turbines below, which, in turn, power electricity-producing
generators. However, hydropower has its drawbacks. Droughts and
increased water consumption have reduced the flow of many rivers. As
rivers become shallower, the necessary volume of water for electricity
difficult to maintain, and power supply and
generation is
dependability are negatively impacted.
more
Variability in water levels has particularly affected Hoover Dam, a
mega-scale hydropower facility in the US state of Nevada. Built in the
1930s at enormous expense to control the frequently flooding Colorado
River and maintain a water supply for farmland irrigation, the dam's
hydropower capabilities were seen as a way to recover some of the costs
of its construction over the long term. The dam's electricity-generating
capacity, however, was challenged from the start by seasonal variability in
water flow, and in recent years has been greatly reduced by droughts.
Combining hydropower with other alternative energy sources, though,
may offer a solution. Solar and wind plants can produce enormous
amounts of electricity, but one serious downside is that the energy they
produce is not available when there is little sun or wind. While
conventional batteries can help with this issue, storing such tremendous
volumes of electricity has long been a challenge. A recently proposed
system for Hoover Dam could provide an answer, though. The plan
suggests building a new pumping station that would be powered by both
wind and solar. It would push water from the river back up to Hoover
Dam, refilling the lake behind it. The water could be released anytime to
power the dam's generators in order to reliably meet demand for
electricity. Kelly Sanders, an engineering professor at the University of
Southern California, is enthusiastic about the storage plan, saying, "We
by the p
replace fo
solat
als are st
ons to the
What is
1 Inst
inves
2 WE
dams
3 A
neg
sys
1
en
