phelan.MMA.Spring2011.EnergyandWater

**What is the Proble****m** **at Hand?**
====The problem at hand is that fossil fuels are short on supplies. In just a few short years gas prices could spike drastically as oil reserves begin to dry up. In order to avoid an economic disaster we m ====

**What is the Driving Force of the Problem?**
====The driving force is that fossil fuels run the majority of our day to day lives. Without them we could not run our cars, heat our homes, or even have many commercial petroleum based products. So there is no choice but to find alternative energy. ====

 The most effective protocol currently in place is the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an agreement that
leading nations would cut CO2 emmissions. Although it was adopted in 1997 it did not enter in force until Febuary 2005, according to UNFCC. There are three parts included in the Kyoto Protocol: Emmissions Trading, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and Joint implementation. These parts work together to set standards for industrialized countries.

==== Emmissions Trading is defined as allowing countries that have emission units to spare, to sell this excess capacity to countries that are over their targets. This trading is carefully tracked and is now referred to as the Carbon Market. ====

==== The Clean Development Mechanism allows a country with an emissions-reduction or emissions-limitation commitment under the Kyoto Protocol to implement an emissions-limitation project in developing countries. These projects can earn saleablecertified emission reduction credits, each equivalent to one tone of CO2. ====

==== Joint Implementation allows a country with an emissions-reduction or limitation commitment to earn emission reduction units (ERU) from emission-reduction or emission removal with another Annex B party. ====

**Hydro Power**
====Hydro Power consists mainly of dams that utilize the flow of water to generate power. The dam is constructed on a river where the terrain is able to support a reservoir. The dam channels the water into a tube, called a penstock. The water passes over a turbine, which powers a generator. This process is nearly 95 percent efficient converting Kinetic energy to electricity, according to need.org. ====

====There is an enormous amount of benefit to Hydro Power. Mainly, there is a massive supply of kinetic energy readily available, the huge reservoir is clean and is renewed each year by rain and snow.. These reservoirs also provide habitats for fisheries and recreational ==== ====activities. Many dams not constructed for the production of energy are used as cheap irrigation methods or for water flow control. These dams can also be retrofitted with generators so that they too can provide energy. ====

==== Another benefit is that dams can be a major economic benefit. Once the dam is built and set up it requires some management and maintenance, but the source of fuel (water) is free. According to need.org, It costs one cent per Kilowatt-hour to produce electricity at a typical hydro plant, while Coal plants produce energy at around four cents a Kilowatt-hour and Nuclear plant two cents a Kilowatt-hour. ====

==== Hydro Power is not without its setbacks though. Currently, 73 percent of the electricity supplied to Oregon, Washington, and Idaho is already Hydro Power. What this means is that this renewable resource is already utilized on a large scale, leaving less room for expansion and development. Despite this there is still an estimated additional potential of 1 million Kilowatts that could be generated based on need.org’s data. ====

**Work Cited**
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The NEED Project,. "Hydropower." need.org. The NEED Project, n.d. Web. 3 Jun <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> 2011. <http://www.need.org/needpdf/infobook_activities/SecInfo/HydroS.pdf>.

====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Mr Lau Sail,. "International Hydropower Associatio." International Hydropower Association. International Hydropower Associatio, n.d. Web. 3 Jun 2011. <http://www.hydropower.org/Policy_Statements/IHA_Policy_Statement- Hydropower_and_the_CDM-2010_03_22_LR.pdf>. ====

====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">"Micro Hydro Power – Pros and Cons." Alternative Energy. International Hydropower Associatio, n.d. Web. 3 Jun 2011. <http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/hydro/>. ====