14 DAY TRIAL // A new report identifies no less than 54,000 sites throughout the United States that could be developed to produce electricity from renewable sources. The investigation was focused on existing dams and hydroelectric power, and found that the country could generate an additional 12 gigawatts of electricity.
The document was compiled by the US Department of Energy (DOE), as part of President Barack Obama's energy strategy. It looked at all the dams that currently have no electricity production capabilities installed, and found a huge potential overall.
Available hydropower resources are substantial, the report indicates, even without building a single new dam. The nation's energy production from this source could increase by as much as 15 percent.
Obama wants the US to produce about 80 percent of its electricity from clean, renewable sources within 23 years, and this document – entitled “An Assessment of Energy Potential at Non-Powered Dams in the United States” – highlights a possible way for achieving this distant objective.
When fully developed, the 54,000 sites covered by this assessment could power up 4 million average homes all by themselves. The Ohio, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas Rivers were found to have the greatest potential for augmenting the nation's hydropower production capabilities.
“As part of the Obama Administration's all-of-the-above approach to American energy, expanding the deployment of America's hydropower resources can help to diversify our energy mix, create jobs, and reduce carbon pollution nationwide,” DOE Secretary Steven Chu explains.
“Together with new advances and innovations in hydropower technologies, the resource assessment released today can help use our existing infrastructure to further develop the country's significant waterway resources,” he adds.
Lock and dam facilities on the four rivers are owned and operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The DOE report estimates that these sites alone could generate 3 GW of power. The following 100 sites on the top can generate a combined 8 GW of energy.
“The resource assessment also finds many potential hydropower sites are located in areas of the country with fewer wind or solar resources, giving nearby communities another way to secure renewable energy for local families and businesses,” a DOE statement explains.
“And because hydropower provides reliable baseload power day and night, developing existing dams could also provide flexibility and diversity to the electric grid and allow utilities to integrate other renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power,” the release concludes.
The full report is available online.