The
Rainforest Mock World Summit Fall 1999
Hydro Power to The Rescue
Student
13
The rainforests of the world are filled with exotic species of plants
and animals, but they are also full of potential energy sources that can be
harvested to supply the world. Using
the resources in the rainforests can help eliminate some of the environmental
hazards that plague the earth. Being
able to breathe clean air should be a part of our reality, but in the society
we live in, how much of the air is really clean? I feel that it is my duty as a hydro-electric representative of
Georgia Power to participate in establishing more hydro-electric power plants
across the globe. Despite this fact, I
also believe that preserving the rainforest is also a top priority.
Capturing and converting the kinetic energy from rivers, streams, and
lakes is an effective way of supplying electricity to societies while
preserving the air. The use of fossil
fuels is polluting the air and water supply, and with the deforestation of the
rainforest, things do not seem to be getting any better. By using the hydro-electric plants, cities
can get their desired amount of power without the use of fossil fuel. With an increase of dams, there would surely
be a decline in the amount of fossil fuels consumed. Hydro-electric power is the world=s largest renewable source of electricity at the moment. In Canada, this power accounts for 60% of
the nation=s electrical needs. With the continuing destruction of the rainforest, how can the
remaining portion of the rainforest possibly purify the air? The only way this need can be met is with a
proposal of more hydro-electric plants and a decrease of fossil fuel
consumption.
In order to build more hydroelectric plants, more land would have to be
cleared, but not as much as for other sources.
There should be a balance in the amount of trees that are cleared and
the trees that are remaining. Laws
should be heavily enforced on timber companies concerning the amount of lumber
they consume. The trees that are removed
for the building of hydropower plants can be sold to a timber company. This could help to solve the problems of air
pollution and curtail some of the soil erosion that is occurring around the
globe.
An example of a community that utilizes hydro power and encourages
forest conservation is the village of Megkawayan, on the island of Mindanao,
fifty kilometers away from the largest city in the southern Philippines. This community uses a small stream to
generate electricity from micro-hydro electric power plant, which the community
controls and maintains themselves. The
system generates 3.5 kilowatts of power, enough power to light a small
city. This example encourages the
preservation of the environment.
Without the cover of the forest, it is unlikely that the water supply
would last for long in this area. The
use of this renewable energy source is a sign of progress, preserving the
forest and improving living conditions for the community. Compared to a large-scale hydroelectric
damns, micro-hydro systems encourage the community to preserve its forest. Without the cover of the forest in the water
catchment area supply, the stream or river there would not provide enough water
to power the hydro system.
Hydroelectric power plants can be divided into two categories: high
head and low head. High head power
plants are the most common hydro power plants.
These plants are usually equipped with a dam to store water. One benefit of having a dam is the ability
to store water during rainy periods, and being able to release water during dry
periods. Due to this situation, high
head power plants are able to meet high demands and provide consistent and
reliable production of electricity.
High head plants with storage are very valuable to power companies,
because of their ability to adjust to meet the electrical demand on a
distribution system.
The other type of power plant is the low head power plant. In the previous example concerning the
village of Megkawayan, the community was supplying their electrical needs from
a low head power plant. This type of
plant does not have dams or reservoirs.
Low head power plants utilize small rivers or streams to power their
system. Low head power plants have a
smaller impact on its environment than the high head power plants. Low head plants are better suited for
preserving the environment than high head plants, but high head plants can
provide more electric power and some relief during dry periods and standardized
turbine production better than low head turbine, lowering the cost of hydroelectric
power at sites. Also important is the
use of new computerized control systems and improved turbines, which may allow
more electricity to be generated from existing facilities in the future.
One bad example of a hydroelectric power plant that had a negative
effect on its environment is the Bakun Dam Project. The Malaysian government of Sarawak, on the Island of Borneo,
made plans to build a hydro-electric dam on the Rajang River. In the Bakun Dam Project, there were several
key issues that failed to be addressed, namely the impact of the dam on
downstream ecosystems and the lack of adequate data regarding the rate the
reservoir would fill with sediment.
With the trapping of river sediment, there would be a reduction in power
production from the dam, and the rate of erosion would increase, affecting the
downstream riverbed, banks, and deltas.
This disaster would harm the food chain of this environment. The people of this area ended up culturally destitute,
economically impoverished, and psychologically traumatized. The natives, the Long Bulan Kenyah People,
felt as though they were not given any information on the dam project and many
of the questions they asked were not answered.
How could an organization just come along and force a community to
relocate and throw away its values and way of life? The tribal leader stated that a Agovernment official came to visit us...He warned us that if we spoke
against the project {we} would be blacklisted.@
Hydroelectric power is not a perfect supply of power, but compared to
other sources, it is a whole lot closer to perfection than burning coal, oil,
or natural gas. Hydropower does not
emit carbon dioxide or sulfur dioxide like coal and oil burning. Also, hydropower does not contribute to
global warming or acid rain like the consumption of fossil fuel burning. Still hydroelectric power has its drawbacks,
including the decay of vegetation, the flooding of vast areas of land, and
flooding of the homelands of native people.
Some rare ecosystems are threatened by hydroelectric development, but
improvements are being made. Other
examples of the negative effects include the amount of silt that is trapped by
a dam that slowly fills up reservoirs,
preventing fish from migrating upstream. Also, bacteria from decaying vegetation can change mercury, which
is present in rocks under lying reservoir, into a form which is soluble in
water.
As a representative of the hydroelectric power company, we are making
progress in preventing the build up of silt in our dams. Georgia Power has come up with ways to allow
the silt to travel on downstream to prevent build up in the dam reservoirs. Twice a month, chemists are sent to the
reservoirs to check for any mercury accumulation in the water. To prevent the flooding of certain areas,
the dam will be allowed to run at a minimum capacity.
The use of small and low head hydro systems would have been a better
solution for acquiring electrical power in the Bakun Dam Project. The Malaysian government should have
provided the area with proposals of small scale and low head hydro systems to
meet their demands. By using these
micro-hydro systems, the ecosystem of the Malaysian province of Sarawak would
have been maintained with probably minimum negative effect to the
environment. The government could have
set up small stations near the systems to be properly maintained. Working to preserve the forest would
encourage the native to contribute their own free time to help out with the
power plants. This would have provided
extra manpower for the government and allowed natives to continue with their
customs and way of life.
The Brazillian government has built several hydroelectric dams. These dams have destroyed several thousand
hectares of rain forests, and they have led to the flooding of certain Indian
reserves. The Balbina Dam on the Rio
Uatuma in the state of Amazonas is one of the Brazilian=s government dams that turned out to be a
disaster. The dam flooded an area of 236,000 hectares of forest. This dam was another example of improper
planning and construction that destroyed a large area of forest. With the proper proposals, this government
could have set up micro-hydro plants along several of the rivers to accumulate
the electrical power needed. Following
this idea, the forest would have been preserved, along with the plant and
animal species, not to mention of the natives of this area. Considering all of the resources this dam
destroyed, it only produced about 32% of its proposed electricity generating
capacity (the average Brazilian dam produces 50-60% of its proposed capacity).
The use of large hydro plants is not a good idea at the moment. There are many problems that need to be
addressed with the use of high head power plants. Maybe with further development we can return to the use of high
head hydroelectric power, but at the present time we should focus on the low
head power plants. With the use of low
head plants, we can conserve our forests while providing electricity to our
cities. With the protection of the
forest, the rivers and streams provide a constant flow of water to the plants
and animals, while maintaining a balance of life in the environment. Hydroelectric power has been around since
1882, providing reliable, cost effective electricity which will continue into
the future. The environmental impact of
hydropower is very different than those of fossil fuel power plants. Some might see hydroelectric plants as
destroying the forest, but as a representative of a hydroelectric power
company, I see hydropower helping to sustain the remaining forest, and water
supplies, while providing electricity for home. Compared to the use of fossil fuels, it is a sign of good things
to come in our future.
Work
Cited
1.
Http://www.caa.org.au/horizons/h25/power.html
2.
Http://www.ei.educ.ab.ca/sch/sht/Destruction-Rain-Forest.html
3.
Http://www.iclei.org/efacts/hydroele.htm
4.
Http://www.ran.org/ran/info_center/wrr/wrr_95_10.html
5.
Http://www.worldwrite.org.uk/site/brazil/dam.html