• Question: What is your opinion on Hydroelectricity? Do you think it could be a useful replacement for fossil fuels? Are there any other cool renewable energy sources you have heard of recently, other than the typical ones?

    Asked by 242cmmb52 to Alex, Chris, Mohamed, Rik, Victoria on 12 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Rik Allen

      Rik Allen answered on 12 Mar 2015:


      Hi – Hydroelectricity already is an important replacement for fossil fuels – or it reduces the amount we use at least. Some of the big projects like the Aswan, Hoover, or 3 gorges dams are immense.
      The problems are that there are only so many places where you can build huge projects like this, and they tend to be beautiful and have people already living there. You have to build a lot of smaller projects to get the same effect though. I would love one day to live in a small cottage that was self sufficient for power from it’s own water wheel etc.

      In the Uk, we have so much coast, some of the schemes to use wave or tide might suit us better – but they still have environmental problems to worry about.

      Rik

    • Photo: Chris Waters

      Chris Waters answered on 12 Mar 2015:


      A company announced their plans to build a lagoon power station off the coast of Wales last week – it looks really cool but it’ll be one of the very first ever built so I’m a little wary what it might do the ecosystem of the bay they build it in. The power is generated by making use of the tide going in and out, which fills the bay with water which we can then hold back by closing the gates of the lagoon.

      The problem is it only provides power twice a day, unlike conventional power stations that can produce all the time (like a coal, gas or nuclear plant). Maybe these would be more use for powering factories that operate only during those times, or to create other fuels like Hydrogen which we can use in fuel cells.

      I think all renewables have their uses, but we can’t ignore the fact that most of them aren’t reliable enough to supply all our power demands 24/7. We need to be looking at nuclear stations that can use the waste we’ve created in our old stations over the last 50 years; that’d be a win-win for all of us I think.

    • Photo: Alex Shenfield

      Alex Shenfield answered on 13 Mar 2015:


      As Rik says, I think both hydroelectric power generation and wind power generation have an important parst to play in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels but I can’t see them replacing fossil fuels altogether. Solar energy has potential in some areas of the world but the UK isn’t particularly well suited for a reliance on solar energy.

      I agree with Chris that if we want to eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels entirely we should really be thinking about nuclear energy.

    • Photo: Victoria Sharpe

      Victoria Sharpe answered on 15 Mar 2015:


      It would be great if we could replace fossil fuels completely. This will only be achieved by exploiting a combination of renewable sources.

      My husband has been involved in the successful development of a tidal turbine that can generate oner 1mw of power.

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