Water and energy

The science and engineering required for harnessing the energy from falling water are well established; the basic concepts are understood by the general public, and up to the last decade, there was strong public acceptance in developing water resource projects to provide an economic, reliable, and renewable source of electric power. At this time, however, water development projects are being critically analyzed with regard to overall justification on an economic, environmental and social basis. Further, various alternative power sources are being considered, which are widely variable with regard to economic justification, environmental effects, social and political problems, technology, reliability, and practical utilization.The purpose of this paper is to present a brief, nontechnical review of the principles of hydropower in order to give a non-water specialist an understanding of its overall potential and capabilities as well as problems related to its development. The paper considers the association between water and energy as related to hydropower, but it does not attempt to analyze the use of water in developing other forms of energy from thermal sources. The discussion presents a brief summary of (1) the historical background and physical concepts of hydropower; (2) the elements of hydropower engineering; (3) the overall availability of hydropower on a worldwide basis; (4) the integration of hydropower projects into multipurpose water development programs; (5) the environmental aspects of hydropower development; (6) and a case study of the Columbia River development.