Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeP
Hydroelectric power should be renewable, apart from the slight impact of building the dams in the first place. But I have a vague feeling it's not perfect. Anyone?
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Dams have a couple of problems. One is that many dams have been poorly designed in terms of the native migratory fish stock. That's a problem which can be dealt with, but retrofitting to accomodate migratory fish runs has proven to be a less than impressive effort. The second, although more long run, is more permanent...siltation behind the dams.
The problem with water is not that there is not enough, but that there is not enough water of sufficient quality for consumption and irrigation. Most of the water on the planet is salt water...unusable for consumption or crops. I have no idea of the costs or problems associated with desalination, but given that I see few instances of mass desalination (which would address a lot of problems worldwide), I suspect that there are problems which make it relatively uneconomic. That, of course, may change with the situation.
As for "fresh" water....much of it is polluted, thanks in large part to the presence of humans.
godfry