Micro hydroelectricity (or micro-hydros) is the use of flowing water to power turbines in order to create electricity. Instead of using large dams or water storage reservoirs, micro-hydros can be used on small streams rather than rivers. They are often marketed as an alternate source of energy to private property. A typical micro-hydro system starts off with a structure that funnels the water from the source into a pipe that has a filter before the water reaches the turbine. The water rotates the turbine and then has an exit back into the original stream. The energy from the turbine then needs a wire to transport the electricity to where it is needed (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food & Rural Affairs, 2009).
Another type of electricity comes from the energy obtained from fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are formed from the heat and pressure on plants and animals that lived up to 300 million years ago. They come in the form of coal, oil and natural gas. Fossil fuels have many hydrocarbons, a compound made up of hydrogen and carbon that has the ability to make long chains and contains energy in the bonds between the atoms. When hydrocarbons combust, they release energy in the form of heat (Chughtai and Shannon, no date).
Hydrocarbons are often not completely combusted, which releases hydrocarbons into the atmosphere. Hydrocarbons combine with sunlight and mono-nitrogen oxides, commonly found in the atmosphere, to produce ozone, which is a form of air pollution and contributes greatly to smog (Hydrocarbon Emissions, 2009).
Power plants have furnaces to cause the combustion of hydrocarbons and create a large amount of heat. This heat is used to evaporate water in boilers to produce steam, which increases the pressure in the boilers as the amount of steam raises. A turbine is placed at the exit of the boiler that spins when the steam escapes (Chughtai and Shannon, no date). The rotation of the turbine powers the spinning of a magnet in a coil of wire (Electricity, Magnetism, and Electromagnetism, no date) inside the power generator. This causes the magnet to collect electrons creating electricity, which is sent to the national power grid to be distributed (Chughtai and Shannon, no date).
Energy from fossil fuels is the most common type of energy used for producing electricity. In fact coal power plants, the type of plant that uses coal and oil to produce steam powered electricity, produce at least 60 percent of the nation's energy and 52 percent of the world's energy (Chughtai and Shannon, no date).
Apart from its benefits towards the ecosystem, micro-hydro energy has economic benefits. One way micro-hydroelectricity is economically superior to fossil fuel energy is the relatively low obtainment costs. Before the fossil fuels are extracted, a lot of money goes into just finding the oil. In fact, Exxon Mobil spent around 100 million dollars for oil exploration in east Palawan in 2009 (Gatdula, 2009). This does not ensure they will find an oil field. Oil explorers used to guess where oil would be and drill with high hopes, but now explorers use sound to determine unusual densities in the land, indicating a possible oil field. Even with this new technology, there is only a ten percent chance a drill will be successful (Freudenrich, 2005).
The construction of an oil well is also much more expensive than the construction of a micro-hydroelectricity system. An average cost of a horizontal oil well, the preferred type of oil well, is roughly 2 million dollars (Hayden and Pursell, 2005). In comparison, a six-kilowatt micro hydroelectricity system, which is large enough to drive an electric mill and provide light for a community of 500, would cost a mere 7,800 dollars. This means that for the price of one oil well, micro hydroelectricity systems could provide renewable energy to 128,205 people (Browne, 2009).
Another reason micro-hydros are economically superior to fossil fuel energy is the difference in maintenance costs. According to the United States Energy Information Administration, the total operating cost in 2006 of one 100 foot depth oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico was 9,337,148 dollars (Costs and Indices, 2007). On the contrary, micro hydroelectricity systems are supposed to run 25 years before they need any maintenance. Also, since the system is simple engineering, it is not difficult for the average person to fix it. Even if a person replaced a six kilowatt micro hydroelectricity system every time it need maintenance, it would take 29,926 years to reach the maintenance costs for one year of the oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food & Rural Affairs, 2009).
The final reason micro hydroelectricity is economically superior to fossil fueled electricity is that fossil fuels are expensive to transport. Micro-hydros are at the source of the energy, the stream of water, so the only transportation of the energy needed is the wiring to the power grid of the community. On the other hand, after extracting crude oil the oil must be transported to the power plants. One method is creating pipelines, which takes a lot of time, work, and money. In fact, the Alyeska Pipeline in Alaska that travels from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez cost 8 billion dollars to build (Pipeline Quick Facts, 2008). Even after the oil is transported through a pipeline like the Alyeska Pipeline, it must be shipped to other cities and countries. At a rate of 600 million tons of oil transported in the 1990s, the average cost per ton of oil transported was over four million dollars on one 40 foot ship (Tanker Spills, 1991).
With microhydroelectricity systems, it costs only a couple thousand to provide renewable and pollution free electricity to communities in comparison to the billions spent on the obtainment, transport, and use of fossil fuels. Through simple facts, it is obvious that micro hydroelectricity is a cheaper and more efficient way to provide electricity.
Ian Sia
WORKS CITED:
Browne, Pete. "The Rise of Micro-Hydro Projects in Africa." The New York Times, September 30, 2009.
Chughtai, Osman and David Shannon. Fossil Fuels. http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/fossilfuels.htm
Costs and Indices for Domestic Oil and Gas Field Equipment and Production Operations 1988 Through 2006. Energy Information Administration. Office of Oil and Gas U.S. Department of Energy Washington D.C., April 2007.
"Electricity, Magnetism, and Electromagnetism." Science Study Guide. The Fourth Grade. http://www.ftschool.org/fourth/science/electric_magnet.html
Freudenrich, Craig. "How Oil Drilling Works." Energy Capital Group Website. Energy Capital Group, 2005. http://www.encapgroup.com/drilling/
Gatdula, Donnabelle. "Exxon Mobil to spend $100M for East Palawan Oil Drilling." The Philippine Star, January 6, 2009.
Hayden, Jeff and Dave Pursell. The Barnett Shale: Visitors Guide to the Hottest Gas Play in the US. Pickering Energy Partners, Incorporated, October 2005. http://www.tudorpickering.com/pdfs/TheBarnettShaleReport.pdf
"Hydrocarbon Emissions." CleanAIR Systems, 2009. http://www.cleanairsys.com/emissions/hydrocarbons/index.htm
"Micro-Hydro Systems." Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food & Rural Affairs. Queen's Printer for Ontario, July 16, 2009. http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/ge_bib/micro.htm#2
"Pipeline Quick Facts." Pipeline Facts. Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, May 9, 2008. http://www.alyeska-pipe.com/pipelinefacts.html
Tanker Spills: Prevention by Design. Committee on Tank Vessel Design. National Research Council, 1991.
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