FREE ESSAY ON POWER

POWER

Hydro Power
My alternative power source is Hydro power. It comes from water. The oldest and simplest
form was the water wheel first used in ancient Greece for grinding grain. The water wheel
design was changed by Jean Victor Poncelet in the 18th century. He made the blades curved
which raised the efficiency by 70 percent. The water wheel was now called a hydraulic
turbine. The turbine is a rotary engine that changes the energy of a moving stream of
water to mechanical energy. Mechanical energy is then transferred through a drive shaft
to operate a generator. 
A Hydro power plant cost a lot to set up but once it's set up and running it's a lot
cheaper than a fossil fuel plant. Hydro power is a cleaner source of energy than fossil
fuel. Hydro power has its drawbacks. It needs a steady flow of water to keep its turbines
at a constant speed. 
The changes in water flow could affect the output of electrical power. Fossil fuel plants
can adapt to changing electrical needs more quickly. As long as we have fossil fuel
available. 
Hydro power is a renewable source of power. It doesn't hurt the environment as much as
fossil fuel. In 1978 to encourage the production of electricity from renewable resources
the federal government passed the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act. The law says
that utility companies by electrical power from small power produces from hydroelectric
plants.
The largest hydroelectric power plant in the United States is the Grand Coulee. Which has
a capacity of 7,600 megawatts. The total usable hydro power of the world is estimated at
2,789,000 megawatts of which only 15 percent is being used now. The future of Hydro power
looks good because of the problems from using fossil fuels.