It would really depend on a number of factors, the amount of water pressure etc. There are most of these dams are fairly close to electrical wires, so connecting to the grid isn't a problem. The water pressure that would be needed to spin the turbines is a concern however. During the siege of Sarajevo I read about the electrical engineering school there had developed some low flow turbines that basically sat in the river and used its flow to generate electricity. I think that somethign could be easily adapted for using in a spillway.
Regardless even something that generates enough electricity to power 3 or 4 hourse is a net gain. On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 2:38 PM, Scott Stroz <[email protected]> wrote: > > When we were in Ocean City, MD this summer I kept looking at the ocean > and thinking 'Why can't we find a good/easy/cheap way to harness the > power of the waves?' That is a nearly endless source of potential > energy - even at low tide (or when the tide is going out) there are > still waves. Hell, in a storm, we could get more energy. > > That lead me to think of ways we could get energy from rivers without > having to dam them up - but this thought process got me nowhere. > > Larry - that is an interesting idea about using the dams from Old > Mills. Not sure how much energy could be generated from one, but a > bunch together may yield enough to make it worth while. > > On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 1:53 PM, Larry C. Lyons <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> I think its mostly going to be a mixture of different systems, like >> natural gas, methane from biomass, various green power etc. One thing >> no one has mentioned is hydro power. Greenhouse gas emissions are very >> low, - even those 2 or 3 studies that have claimed that hydroelectric >> dams create greenhouse gases used 2 examples of very poorly done dams >> in Brazil. >> >> Years ago I used to live in a rebuilt mill from the 1840's. The water >> was still dammed in a retaining pond, and went over a sluiceway. For >> this sort of system it should be relatively easy to put in a turbine >> system to generate power. Since all throughout the eastern US there >> are old dams left over from the old milling days, it may be a good >> alternative method of generating electricity. Even more so if the land >> (and dam) owners have incentives to install these turbine systems. >> That ought to go a long way towards reducing our dependence on oil and >> reducing greenhouse gas emissions. >> >> On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 1:00 PM, Gruss Gott <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Gel wrote: >>>> What we need are materials/organisms that create harvestable energy in >>>> appreciable amounts direct from the Sun. >>>> >>> >>> All the algae farms have gone bankrupt, but we better figure out >>> something fast because the world's demand for energy is exponentially >>> rising while the world's supply is exponentially falling. >>> >>> And the bad news is the planet's economic growth hinges on one single >>> factor: a growing supply of energy. >>> >>> So one of two things is going to happen: >>> >>> (1.) Humans devolve into a cold dark world. >>> >>> (2.) A new form of energy is invented / discovered and it creates an >>> economic boom. >>> >>> The problem with # 2 is that inventing / discovering new energy >>> *takes* energy and if that energy is getting more and more scarce then >>> you're in trouble. >>> >>> Which is why nuclear is so attractive. >>> >>> >> >> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:310440 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
