Gregs24
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The US is getting rid of hydro due to the impact on fish.
I don't always agree with @sk47 but at least the responses are detailed and informative rather than the 'it can't work', 'it'll never happen' type posts from someHello; You may not know of it but I live in a TVA area. (Tennessee Valley Authority.) There are several hydro-electric dams in this area. These dams were started in the 1930's in some cases. The power these hydro dams make is already earmarked for use. In fact if things are going as normal the water level is now being raised by rainfall. This happens every spring so there will be a full pool. That gives us some extra capacity during the AC use season.
It also is at full pool for the recreation side of the reservoir use. Boaters pull boats from several states away such as Ohio to have fun on the lakes. They like it with a full pool so the income to the state of TN is important enough so only so much water can be drawn down at any one time to make electricity. If we have plenty of rain there is not a problem. If, like this year, we are down a few inches of rain already then less water will be drawn out of the lakes. So to keep the recreational boaters happy we will get some less power from the dams.
There also is a big environmental push to do away with dams in many places. Save the salmon and such.
I notice what I think of as a "pat" answer. Yes all hydro power could be sent to make hydrogen so the hydrogen could be used to make "green" steel. But since making hydrogen this way takes a lot of electricity someone will have to do without seems a reasonable guess.
I mean that at night all the homes, EV's and other consumers will still need electricity and solar will not be working, right?
In my area with a good number of dams already in place there are times in the hot and cold seasons when the power companies already ask us to cut back during times of peak use. Not sure where the extra power will come from to specifically run a green steel plant.
I say extra power because to do a green steel type plant buy it's nature uses lots of power to break the bonds and release the Hydrogen. It has been the energy cost to make hydrogen that has kept it off the table for over a century. Now you champions imagine there will be huge amounts of extra electrical energy. Not saying it cannot happen but it is another of the "sometime in the future" speculations.
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