Renewable Energy Sources Flashcards
What can we do with waves, rivers and tides?
Transfer its kinetic energy into electrical energy.
What does hydroelectric usually require?
The flooding of a valley by building a big dam.
The rainwater that is caught and…
Allowed out through turbines.
No pollution.
What is a negative about hydroelectric power?
Big impact on the environment due to the flooding of the valley and possible loss of habitat for some species.
Reservoirs unsightly when they dry up.
What reduces the impact when is comes to hydroelectric power stations?
Putting them in remote valleys reduces impacts on humans.
What is an advantage about hydroelectric power stations?
Provides an immediate response to an increased demand for electricity.
No problem with reliability only in drought.
What are the cost for hydroelectric power stations?
Initial costs are high.
No fuel and minimal running costs.
Where can it be useful to generate electricity?
On a small scale in remote areas.
What happens in most large power stations?
Huge boilers have to be kept running all night even though demand is very low.
Surplus of electricity at night.
It is difficult to find a way to store this spare energy for later use, give on way how?
Pumped storage is one of the best solutions.
What happens during pumped storage?
‘Spare’ night time electricity is used to pump water up to a higher reservoir.
This then can be released quickly during periods of peak demand such as teatime each evening, to supplement the steady delivery from the big power stations.
How is pumped storage and hydroelectric power different?
Pumped storage isn’t a way of generating power its a way of storing energy which has already been generated.
What country uses a lot of hydroelectric power?
Norway.
99% of energy comes from it.
