Who is making money on the Green Movement??? Someone is and here is why.?

Question

When we talk about clean energy we talk only about solar and wind and while those are energy sources neither are reliable or capable or producing enough energy for a country the size of the US. Now, why is there no talk of hydo. Hydroelectric has been a clean energy source used for years. The TVA miracle of electricity for the South decades ago was hydroelectric. Its a clean source of energy and can produce greater amounts of clean power. Solar and wind are centralized in the West and Soutwest with few good sites in the East. But the East is home to mightly rivers that run year round, are already locked and damned and can be converted to hydro dams easily and still maintain river transportation through the locks. A river the length of the Ohio alone can produce enough hydro for the eastern US and there are mightly rivers, Missouri, Allegheny, Mon, Mississippi, Wabash who can support the entire US. But they are mostly in the East. So is that why no one talks about hydro? Its not even part of the national clean energy discussion even though it is the only one that can work. So why? Who makes the money from the "new" jobs, the "new investment" of wind and solar? GE is in big for solar and wind and they own NBC, MSNBC who are really just mouthpieces for the Obama Administration, the Obama Channel. Are we being had just like the robber barons of the past century? Why no hyrdo?

Update:

I have heard the decaying matter agrunment but that would only apply on small units, not generators operating on huge rivers like the Ohio and others. There is no stagnant pool of water behind the river generators in fact they are no different that the locks and dams that are used to control depth of rivers for navigation.

Update 2:

And we are not talking about damned up rivers that flood areas, the major rivers in the East already have locks and dams so there is no loss of land. These are powerful rivers that can just as easily turn a turbine screw with the water that passes through them the same as the water runs over the locks now. There are hydros on the Ohio and they are incredibly successful...and totally clean.

David · Accepted Answer

Waxman-Markey includes "qualified hydropower", which means either increasing the generating capacity or efficiency of an existing hydroelectric dam, or adding electric generators to a dam that does not currently produce electricity (such as one used for flood control).

It doesn't say that new hydroelectric plants are included (though they might be), and I'm not really sure why. I'll try to find out.

whsgreenmom · Answer

I've seen lots of stories about harnessing tidal energy and putting water turbines into rivers etc. The new hydro technologies are just beginning to be developed. Putting dams with traditional hydro isn't as popular as it used to be, it is very damaging to the ecosystems and can create other problems. 

Solar has been around for about 20 years and wind since before electricity. So, they both have some time and development behind them unlike the new hydro power. All clean energy is being explored and developed, they are finding ways to harness the updraft on skyscrapers and solar is moving away from pv and moving toward more efficient technologies like the Sterling engine. Hydro will do the same, it just needs more time and more successful projects for it to be adopted. Wind and Solar also have the advantage of being abundant in the western states which have no vested interest in coal, in fact CA doesn't have a coal source and we don't operate any coal plants. We have strict laws to reduce our pollution so there is a greater financial incentive to adopt clean energy, and solar and wind are readily available. As the eastern states adopt stricter standards there will be new technologies developed that are suited for the area.

Ottawa Mike · Answer

That's a good question.

Off the top of my head I'm going to say that some people would be against creating reservoirs (lakes) which would affect the local ecology.  I have even read about CO2 being released by the decaying plant matter that a new reservoir envelopes.  I don't know the science behind that though.

However, there is also a new technique called mirco hydroelectric.  It is essentially the same technique of using the flow of a river to generate electricity.  However, it is done on a smaller scale such that there is no reservoir created.  It simply uses the flow of the river through it's turbines.  I guess an obvious drawback is that electricity production would go down as the river flow rate goes down (which usually happens in summer).

Rob · Answer

Fish spawning grounds. I have hear major companies being forced into bankruptcy due to the fact that their company relied on the same gravel as the fish need to spawn in. Interrupting the river in the slightest way can send fish out of an area for ever, and there are groups fighting to stop these interruptions

fred · Answer

Guess the "green movement" means something different in the US to the rest of the world - I'm sure they will define tar sands http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/tarsands as green before long, along with "clean" coal

Most people will regard any renewable energy source as a "green" option. including tidal, wave small scale hydro, bio-mass, methane digesters ...

the problem with large scale hydro-electric dams, eg 3 gorges Xingu or Barra Grande http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4146325.stm is the flooding of habitats and communities (1-4milloion people "relocated" for 3 gorges), the amount of concrete = lots of CO2; huge debt; spread of disease like bilhartzia.. and usually the power is exported and not for the benefit of local people
Small scale hydro as in Nepal is for the benefit of the local peopel so they will make sure there are no unmitigated side effects on their environment and no additional debt that can't be paid back.

? · Answer

reliable question. As they are asserting...follow the money. for occasion, NBC is making a huge deal this week approximately going "eco-friendly." curiously, commonly used electric powered owns NBC. commonly used electric powered is making an investment extensive quantities of money in "eco-friendly" potential sources. "transforming into" a panic over international warming rather is of their superb interest, through fact it stimulates a marketplace for their products. So...follow the money.

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Who is making money on the Green Movement??? Someone is and here is why.?

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