This potential is nearly the equivalent of the country's current hydropower capacity

Apr 30, 2014 19:35 GMT  ·  By

When he was re-elected, United States President Barack Obama promised that he would do his best to pursue an all-of-the-above energy strategy intended to make sure that the country's power demand was properly dealt with and that progress was being made in terms of curbing pollution.

By the looks of it, the Obama Administration has not forgotten its promises. Thus, it was this past April 29 that the United States Energy Department released a new report focusing on the possibility to further harvest the power-generating potential of waterways across the country.

In this report, the Department details that rivers and streams in the United States currently hold over 65 gigawatts’ worth of potential new hydropower development. Should they be exploited, the country would benefit from quite a lot of sustainable and eco-friendly domestic power.

Specialists explain that, all things considered, western states such as Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington have the greatest hydropower potential. When it comes to stream-reach hydropower potential, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming are best.

“The United States has tremendous untapped clean energy resources and responsible development will help pave the way to a cleaner, more sustainable and diverse energy portfolio,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in a statement.

“As the Energy Department works with industry, universities and state and local governments to advance innovative hydropower technologies, the resource assessment released today provides unparalleled insight into new hydropower opportunities throughout the country,” he added.

On its website, the United States Energy Department details that the 65 gigawatts of potential new hydropower development documented in its latest report are almost the equivalent of the country's current hydropower capacity.

To put things into perspective, it must be said that, for the time being, hydropower accounts for 7% of the total electricity produced in the United States on a yearly basis. In fact, it appears that, despite recent investments in wind and solar power, hydropower continues to be the country's largest source of clean energy.

It is estimated that, by relying on hydropower to such an extent, the country keeps some 200 million metric tons of carbon emissions from entering our planet's atmosphere on a yearly basis. Should the United States decide to make further investments in this clean energy source, its ecological footprint would greatly improve.

“The results of the resource assessment released today show that there are still many opportunities to develop new hydropower projects around the country, most of which would likely be smaller, run-of-river facilities that could utilize new low-impact designs and technologies,” the Energy Department wished to stress.