>Isn't there a large environmental impact on traditional hydro electric dams? >(Not trying to be snarky...just asking) > >I read something a few weeks ago that New Jersey is doing something with a >wind farm off the coast (that intersts me as I am from NJ originally) >
There is some, but depending on the design, for instance low flow turbines that just sit in the rivers etc (University of Sarajevo developed these during the siege in the 1990's) have a very low impact. Traditional dams do have an impact but they can be designed to minimize them. Also one idea that has not really been discussed is retrofitting existing small dams with turbine generators. Throughout the North East and the Atlantic regions there are hundreds of these dams left over from old mills that are no longer in operation. These may be a very good source of electricity. For instance when I lived in south west Virginia, I had an apartment in a renovated mill. The dam beside the mill could have taken a small turbine system and generated enough power to supply the residences around the mill area and contributed the rest to the grid. these systems have little or no additional impact on the local ecosystem, mainly because any impact has already happened years ago. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:278128 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
