December 5, 2017

Mr. Alfonso Gandica, Adjunct Professor

NAMS Division
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Jimmie Leads Road
Pomona, New Jersey 08241

Dear Professor Gandica:

The attached report is the submission for our Final Project on “Hydrology and
Hydroelectric power.” We looked at the different avenues that are used to help provide
power with tidal patterns and damming across the world.
This technology has inspired us because of its natural powers, with the ability to
harness it coming with almost no detriment to earth, and was a great inspiration
because some of the group members are aspiring hydrologists. The great power that is
brought from water shows us how crucial of a lifeforce it is, and how we can rely on it to
carry us further into the future of renewable energy sources.

This report allowed us to explore and delve further into an already interesting field that
may well be the forefront of power for the world, and giving us the insight to see what it
may bring.

Sincerely,

Hunter Kerley Nicholas Freeman Robert Platanella

732-570-6171 609-787-9005 609-204-9806
kerleyh@go.stockton.edu freeman45@go.stockton.edu plataner@go.stockton.edu
Gustavo Singares
917-710-6922
singareg@go.stockton.edu
 STOCKTON UNIVERSITY
Galloway, New Jersey 08205

“Hydrologic Alternatives”

Robert Platanella
plataner@go.stockton.edu
Gustavo Singares
singareg@go.stockton.edu
Hunter Kerley
kerleyh@go.stockton.edu
Nicholas Freeman

GIS 3305
Energy And Ethics

Fall 2017
 Summary:

Throughout this paper we explored the different avenues that can be traveled
for the much sought after renewable resource of hydropower. We explored
hydrology and its various facets of energy production, from the early usage of
waterwheel technology, to the electricity generated from dams, to even the new
emerging practice that studies the power generated by blue green algae growth.
With many interesting paths to take, the initiative is in our hands to move forward
with a greener energy source that can encompass the various waterways that
surround our civilizations.
With rivers, lakes, and oceans surrounding more than 2 thirds of the planet,
water is all around us, and it has been the crux of prospering civilizations for
thousands of years, we turned to it to power our machines and towns since the
beginning of time. As time progressed and we discovered coal, the industrial
revolution took the world by storm, and shifted us towards a more constant, but
dirtier solution to energy. Leaving hydroelectricity largely to the wayside, with only
sporadic dams being used to power niche areas. Hydroelectricity only became
slightly popular in the mid-1900s as a way to combat the growth of nuclear power for
large areas.
The Hoover dam being one of the most popular, and supplying power to all of
Las Vegas. Though detrimental to the Colorado river, the dam helped steer the
country in the direction that coal, and oil were no longer the only way to safely
provide power to large areas. This was taken in large in other areas such as Europe
and Asia, with China taking large initiative throughout the 1900’s to build dams to
power their country, but took a large leap with the construction of the Three Gorges
Dam, which was the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. Showing us, that
hydropower is easily buildable and can sustain a country very similarly to nuclear
power.
Bounds in technology have now allowed us to pioneer into new fields of
power within hydrology, with underwater turbines on the shorelines of countries,
using the tidal power to draw energy in and convert electricity to be distributed. Or
the even newer avenue of study, where the growth of blue green algae allows us to
not only grow organisms, but the organisms provide us energy to convert into
electricity as well. Showing us that hydrology can become one of the intricate
networks of power that will one day allow us to break the dependence we have on
fossil fuels that is literally burning our planet.
 Table of Contents:

Page:

Letter of Transmittal

Title Page

Summary

Table of Contents

I. Introduction & Background 1-3

II. Analysis of Current Situation 4-8

III. Analysis of Proposed Alternatives 9-12

IV. Conclusions 13-14

V. Recommendations 15-16
 I. Introduction & Background

Energy, once the thought of harnessing it for everyday use was

unthinkable, now it’s a necessity of for life and none more so than Hydropower.

Since the days of the Greek empire, people have been using hydropower as a

solution to their problems, while those needs have progressed dramatically over

the two millennia from grinding wheat for food to powering entire cities,

hydropower has remained a reliable source to satisfy these needs. While many

peoples first thought is “that can’t be true, when was the last time you saw a

wheel generating energy for a building by moving water?” and this is because

most people aren’t aware of all the ways hydropower is used in their day to day

life. As of 2016, hydropower produced 71% of the worlds renewable energy while

being 16.4% of its overall total produced. Coming from sources such as offshore,

storage/ pump storage and river current, hydropower is a constant producer of

renewable, environmentally friendly energy. However, these numbers could be

improved. With additional research and funding into certain projects currently in

process, we could improve our usage of this reliable energy source to try and

ease the usage of more damaging energy sources in areas where available.

Sources such as off shore current turbines, aqua biotic energy (algae

photosynthesis) and even off shore wind farms.

While as previously mentioned hydropower was used as early as the

Greeks, it was not harnessed as a source of mechanical power until the 1700’s.
With most major cities at the time centered around ports and waterways, Nikola

Tesla was interested in finding a way to harness these objects raw power for

electrical use. Succeeding in 1895, when the first Niagara Falls power plant

came online for operation. In the 1940's hydropower provided about 75% of all the

electricity consumed in the West and Northwest, about 1/3 of the U.S. total electrical

energy.

There are four major types of hydroelectric energy, River/ run, dammed,

pump dam and offshore hydropower. Each has various one ups on each other

and a range of side effects to the environment. River or run hydropower is energy

created by the running of a turbine which is caused by the velocity of a rivers

current as the water moves from greater altitude to lower. Dammed energy

occurs when a dam or wall is built to build up water in a retention area. As this

water builds up to a fill point it is released through doors in the dam and as it

moves downward, spins a turbine and produces energy. Pump damming is the

same as the previous damming with the difference that hydraulic pumps are used

to bring water up and retain it until the energy is needed to be used, at which

point the water is released and the same turbine function is ran. A drawback to

this is the loss of energy used in the hydraulic pumping process. Offshore

hydropower encompasses a multitude of energy sources including some that are

currently in research and development such as offshore windfarms and wave

turbines, tidal current turbines and even photosynthetic bioenergy’s produced by

blue-green algae. The four of these sources essentially harness the naturally
occurring energies of the ocean (or one of its most active bacteria) to produce

energy for consumers. Figure 1 shows a model of these energy sources.

With so many diverse sources of hydrology and hydroelectric power, the already

emerging field could grow and provide massive stimulus for the entire global job

market. Letting in very well-educated professionals from chemical engineers, to

hydrological engineers, and even biologists for the algae farms. Letting us know

that moving away from coal and oil are not only good for the environment, but

can also deeply stimulate the economy with highly skilled workers.
 II. Analysis of Current Situation

The current situation of hydropower is one that is a mix of hope and

anxiety. At this time, Hydropower in all its variations supports 16.4% of the

world's energy budget. Used more in countries with higher frequencies of

rivers, China current leads in the world productivity of hydroelectric power,

followed by Europe and North America. With the world’s largest ventures

with hydropower being harnessed by China, the Three Gorges Dam.

Though detrimental in beginning its building plans, allows for China to take

another leap in the forefront of alternative energy. This is because unlike

other sources of energy production, hydroelectric turbines are able to

produce 90% of the available energy into electricity. This coupled with

producing very little environmental stress makes Hydroelectric power one

of the more solid answers to the energy crisis were currently facing. So

why is it only producing such a small percentage of the world's energy

budget? In the United States, Hydroelectric power only produces 2.4

percent of our energy according to the U.S Energy Information

Administration. Meanwhile sources like petroleum and natural gas still

monopolize a substantial portion of the board, sharing over 66% of the

national energy production market. Figure 2 is a chart of the current U.S.

energy production and use as of 2016.

 There’s a multitude of reasons these sources monopolize the board in a

way that hydroelectric energy just can do. For one, hydroelectric energy is not at

the convenience levels of sources such as petroleum or natural gas. While these

competing sources can be conveniently transported to the home and consumed

on point, hydroelectric energy must be produced by a turbine and then fed into a

grid, which means it can’t be used in areas where there isn’t a source of energy

readily available such as a river or dam. There also becomes a more superficial

problem in areas where hydroelectric capability is more abundant, and that is

with aesthetics. The most abundant place for hydroelectric power the nation’s

coastal regions where a large part of the population either resides or visits

throughout the year. The problem is most people don’t want to see these power

plants while they are trying to vacation, considering them eyesores and

unappealing. While superficial this is the reason a few hydroelectric plants across

the nation are currently on standby.

Other issues also occur when you change the pattern of a natural current.

These include geomorphological problems such as flooding, river bending and

even in worse case scenarios such as the Three Gorges dam, alter the planet in

irreversible ways. This process of damming causes ecosystem disruptions due to

the evacuation needs of species as the area behind the dam begins to flood up.

This also becomes a problem for humans as well, leaving massive refugee

displacements in some areas (such as the previous mentioned Three Gorges).

There also becomes an issue if proper clearing is not done before hand and the

organic material at the bottom of the reservoirs begins to decompose and release

chemicals such as Ammonium (NH4 ) and Hydrogen sulfide (H2S).

This doesn’t mean we aren’t using hydroelectric power, the U.S. is the one

of the leading countries in uses of dams for hydroelectric power. While none of

them compare to the aforementioned Three Gorges Dam in China, producing

about 22,500 Megawatts (while subsequently affecting the tilt of the earth), we

are producing 79,985 MW total across the country. While not the leading

producer of hydroelectric power, when it comes to this renewable source the U.S

is in the top five producers. figure 3 shows the current leading producers of

hydroelectric power across the world. With this amount being produced from over
200 plants across the nation, it seems reasonable that employing it at a broader

spectrum would be successful.

Currently, there is a stall in several programs that would otherwise

increase are production and dependency on this renewable source over other

more harmful sources. Locations like the Nantucket off shore hydro wind farm

are currently at freeze in production due to the massive “inconvenience” it would

cause its inhabitants. While this location would produce a combo of below

surface current energy and wind propelled turbine energy, the locals are

boycotting it. Though location would produce energy for an area encompassing a

few counties, the people of Nantucket feel it is aesthetically unpleasing and a risk

to the local wildlife and therefor have petitioned the stop of production, which has

caused many disputes but succeeded in keeping this massive energy unit which

would be 100 miles off shore and produce thousands of MW of energy, at a

standstill.

Hope however holds strong with current research and production of tidal

current turbines, which essentially when placed off the continental shelf produce

energy being run by the never ceasing currents out in the ocean. This in

combination with wave turbines (which essentially harness the power of waves

the same way the Tidal current use the tidal back and forth flows in order to

produce electricity) is a research subject currently in process in the U.S. which

could drastically escalate our usage of these energies being both

environmentally less invasive and barely noticeable to the untrained eye, looking

more like a bit of a buoy sticking out than anything as harsh as the offshore wind

farms. Even going as far as beginning studies in deep sea current turbines,

which would essentially harness the energy of the currents closer to the sea floor

to produce. Programs like these, as well as the research into harnessing the

photosynthetic energy of blue green algae as a sustainable source of energy are

promising leads in bringing hydroelectric power back to the glory producer it was

during the early 1900s and lessening our dependency on other more harmful

fuels such as petroleum and natural gas like we are in current scenarios.

This push towards hydroelectric or hydropower is a step in the right

direction for alternative energy sources that the world desperately needs right

now. With a lot of us looking toward electric powered vehicles to remove our

dependence on oil and non-renewables, hydropower is a great medium when

most of our power comes from natural gas, coal, or nuclear. Hydro being less

visually obtrusive compared to nuclear helps it be a bit more understanding to the

public, and much better for the air quality compared to natural gas and coal.

Especially since most of the highest population settlements reside along the

shorelines of the united states, and some of those cities already relying on wind

powered farms, the switch or accompaniment from hydropower would help spark

Americas movement towards a more sustainable future that we all could look

forward to.
 III. Analysis of Proposed Alternatives

While hydroelectric power is currently producing over 70% of the

world’s renewable energy, there are several projects currently in research

and production in order to improve these numbers and are promising to

advance the current scenario in a favorable manner. Attempting to raise

the world’s overall production from 16% to something a little more

promising in the hope to as previously mentioned, reduce our dependency

on harmful and nonrenewable sources. The hopes are that with research

into these alternative hydroelectric energies, we can improve these

processes and the applications involved in tidal current turbines, deep sea

turbines and photosynthetic energy harnessed from algal blooms. Our

hopes are aimed towards these becoming our primary source of energy

generation, allowing us to steer away from the dirty nonrenewable

business that is hindering our planet today.

Current research into tidal energy turbines is our most hopeful

source. Being rooted into the sea floor, these turbines would be placed in

the ocean currents and would essentially work like a wind turbine, spinning

with the movement of the tide. These generators would also be able to

move both clockwise and counterclockwise making it possible to harness

this energy as the tide goes both in and out. These turbines have a

promising argument when disputed with by positioners due to the ability to

produce much higher volumes of energy due to the increased density of

water as compared to the air that propels the wind turbines. By increasing

our research into this manner of turbine we would be able to produce more

than twice the energy of these wind turbines while removing that

“aesthetically unpleasing” factor that prevents many renewable sources

from being harnessed. Figure X shows a tidal current turbine. The only

argument against these turbines are the blades influencing travel patterns

for fish and other aquatic organisms. Though the drawing is a crude artist

rendition of what actually happens, where most of the turbines will have

some kind of grate system over the blades so things do not get sucked into

it as easily.
 Another proposed alternative is the increased research into the use

of hydro-photosynthetic organisms to produce energy such as algae farms.

These farms would essentially harness the power of cyanobacteria (blue-

green algae) through photosynthesis and respiration in order to produce

electricity. Working the same way as a hydrogen fuel cell, the difference

would be in placing the bacteria in the anode of the cell and allowing the

processes to naturally occur. During photosynthesis, these bacteria

produce electrons which can be harnessed by the battery cell in order to

produce electricity. While these cells are currently only in small scale

replication with little idea on how to make them on such a scale to produce

sustainable energy for consumers, this success proves it is entirely

possible in the long term for these biotic cells to be a dependable source of

electricity. With current applications proving possible to power things such

as cell phones, there is hope one day soon that this could become a

commercialized source. With research as promising as it is, it's only a

question of funding and time before these hydroelectric sources are out on

the market and producing energy for everyday consumers.

These alternatives help us pave the way towards not only alternative

fuel sources, but allow us to advance highly in the aquatic field. Which

would possibly allow the world to aim their trajectory towards water

preservation or furthering the ability to clean the water we have and help
our chances of overcoming surmounting droughts. The aim towards

hydrology will let us break away from coal and form a cleaner alternative

that does not destroy the countryside, and poison our air supplies.
 IV. Conclusions

While hydropower and then hydroelectric powers were some of the

originally harnessed energies, dating back as far as the ancient Greeks, their

popularity has diminished drastically over the last couple hundred years in favor

of more convenient energy sources such as natural gas. Going from producing

over 40% of the U.S.’s energy in the 1940s to less than 3% of the current energy

production, hydroelectric power has seen a downwind that it drastically needs to

recover from if it hopes to advance not only beyond the current state of

renewable energy but to surpass that of its nonrenewable competition. Even with

the drawbacks to the environment such as ecosystem disruption, the promise of

these hydroelectric sources far out way the negative effects that come with them,

especially when compared to its leading competitors. With hopes to alleviate this

downfall, research is being done into several hydroelectric sources such as tidal

current turbines and even aquatic bacteria based energy cells. With continued

research and application these could become long term answers to sustainable

energy sources. These energy sources are a promising alternative to the current

leading electrical producers which are both harmful to the environment and for

the most part at a limited supply. Plus, as we mentioned earlier, like most

civilization throughout the world, almost every major settlement whether it be in

the United States or internationally, is settled by waterways. This was done back

in the day to organize a way to have easy access to drinking water. Now we can
harness all the potential we have in most major cities by incrementally installing

hydroelectric power alternatives.

 V. Recommendations

This project taught us many things about the field of hydrology that we

were not always aware of, and helped solidify the ideas in our mind about the

power that could be harnessed when we unlock the true potential of hydro

energy. A goal is to hopefully have many countries around the world follow

suit, and attempt to steer their efforts towards powering their major coastal

cities with tidal power and turbines. With time and technological

advancements, we can soon use the power of rivers and larger lakes to take

the weaker tidal forces to power other areas.

These advancements in hydroelectricity will aid a large part in allowing

us to move further into the future of alternative energy sources, and help us

move towards a more sustainable future. This will help us break the

dependence that we have on both foreign and domestic oil and coal to power

our current electrical infrastructure. With the United States breaking off from

the Paris Agreement, the chances of advancing away from fossil fuels has a

large damper on it now, but still is an achievable future. Coupled with the

domestic and international movement towards electric cars, the push to more

towards a greener electric solution is a highly sought-after future. After all, if

we aim towards a green future with electric cars, but power those electric cars

with dirty coal generated electricity, we are taking one step forward and two

steps back.
 Hydroelectricity and tidal power are alternatives of the future that can

assure a safe median for growing electrical demands, and will easily supply

future generations. Whether the United States or China are the leading

forerunners, only time will tell.

 Works Cited:

https://www.worldenergy.org/data/resources/resource/hydropower/

https://teslaresearch.jimdo.com/niagara-falls-power-project-1888/

http://www.hydro.org/why-hydro/available/

https://www.usbr.gov/power/edu/history.html

https://www.hydropower.org/a-brief-history-of-hydropower

https://www.worldenergy.org/data/resources/resource/hydropower/

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/hydropower/tech.html

https://water.usgs.gov/edu/wuhy.html

https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=hydropower_where

https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2015/01/30/what-really-toppled-cape-wind-

plans-for-nantucket-sound/mGJnw0PbCdfzZHtITxq1aN/story.html

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115016676