User:Kawther.H/Hydropower
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hydropower or water power (from Greek: ὕδωρ, "water") is a process that involves forms of energy transformation in which kinetic energy of falling or fast-running water is converted to electrical or mechanical energy to be utilized for human benefits. [1] Hydropower is classified to be one of few technologies that produce green energy.
Since ancient times, hydropower from many kinds of watermills has been used a number of times as a renewable energy source for irrigation and the operation of different mechanical devices, such as gristmills, sawmills, textile mills, trip hammers, dock cranes, domestic lifts, and ore mills. A trompe, which produces compressed air from falling water, is sometimes used to power other machinery at a distance.[2][3]
The use water power has several benefits such as the generation of electricity, and powering machines. However, by extension hydropower has other environmental benefits such as the reduction of fossil fuels, and improve climate conditions. On the other hand, there are multiple economic, sociological, and even some environmental downside. [4]
International institutions such as the World Bank view hydropower as a means for economic development without adding substantial amounts of carbon to the atmosphere,[5]