How is water power more efficient and better than other energy sources?

Question

Highschool student makeing a report need some good info so if ya want just post a good site you kno of that will have the anwser to my question

Answer 1

The water just passes through a turbine and generates the electricity directly.

Most other power sources have to make a lot of heat somehow to boil water and make steam. Only 33% of the energy gets turned into electricity, so it is pretty inefficient.

Answer 2

water is readily available

water is a latent heat source

Answer 3

Density of the medium?   Water is much more dense than wind, so the blades can be much smaller to produce the same amount of energy.    Wind is much more dense than sunlight, so more energy is created by an equal area covered by the blade sweep compared to photovoltaic cells.

Answer 4

Because the natural water cycle includes solar energy lifting the water up to a higher level where it has increased potential energy for "free"/without humans needing to input any additional energy.

but to harness that potential energy there needs to be a way of allowing it to flow down through a turbine. Large dams require large construction project, loads of CO2 generating concrete etc & environmental damage.

Answer 5

it takes advantage of two virtually free & unlimited power sources. "solar power" from the sun lifts the water to a higher elevation & "gravity" forces it down to a lower level while turning a turbine or water wheel in the process.

it doesnt matter how efficient the process is because both power sources are free in unlimited quantitys as long as you have a difference in elevation & a constant supply of water.

the only dissadvantage is you usually have to build dams to retain enough water for constant power generation during long dry spells.

Answer 6

Water produces power with no co2.  However since there almost always a dam associated with hydro, the ecology of the river is changed, and not always for the better.

Answer 7

wind and solar power isn't consistent, where water runs at a consistent volume, fossil fuels are very heavy pollutants