Hydro Power

       

Further reading

• Rhine Fall near Schaffhausen (1)

Probably the oldest method of generating electricity is hydro power. Indeed, in the debate about renewable energies it is often overlooked that large-scale hydro power generation is old, conventional technique but fulfilling the prerequisites of a sustainable economy. Once having stood next to a major waterfall, you may have perceived an impression of what a tremendous power there can be in a water current. If some data is given on the level difference and the water current, it is fairly easy to calculate how much energy is being wasted for instance to attract tourists to the Rhine Fall near Schaffhausen in Switzerland by not utilizing it for power generation. This tremendous – and pretty noisy – spectacle could generate about 13 MW of electrical power – enough to drive two high-speed trains at maximum speed.

On the other hand, one nuclear reactor, of which for instance the power plant in Biblis near Mannheim employs four, has 100 times more output – but the biggest power plants in the world are not nuclear but hydro! Those of Itaipú in Brazil and the Three Gorges Project in China equal about 1500 Schaffhausen Rhine falls each!