Our ancestors made the most of what they had.That included using the power of streams and rivers to power their saw mills and grain mills and early manufacturing plants. Today, In the age of coal, natural gas, nuclear, wind and solar, we often wonder whether we’re not overlooking this valuable, renewable energy source.
So, we were pleasantly surprised to learn from the U.S. Department of Energy that "hydropower remains the most common and least expensive source of renewable electricity in the United States."
According to the recently released hydropower market report, roughly seven percent of the country’s electricity is produced from hydropower resources.
Still grinding along, for example, is a grain mill owned and operated by six generations of the Weisenberger family in the heart of Kentucky since the Civil War.
DOE Communications Specialist Sarah Wagoner writes:
"In 1862, August Weisenberger emigrated from Baden, Germany, to start milling grains in Midway, Kentucky. He purchased the existing three-story stone mill on the banks of South Elkhorn Creek in 1865—the perfect location to harness water power to operate the mill.
"More recently, with a $56,000 Energy Department award, Weisenberger Mills installed a generator and power electronics in 2013. The new system utilizes water flowing through the turbines more efficiently, generating enough power to run the mill when it’s grinding grain. Eventually, the generator will operate 24/7 and produce more than enough power for all the mill’s needs; and using net metering, Weisenberger Mills may even sell back electricity to the utility as needed.
"Equipped with a permanent magnet generator controlled by a variable speed drive—a device where magnets rotate around conducting wires to generate electricity—the new system better captures the varied flow of the creek, which results in improved annual energy production. Small hydropower projects like this, ranging between 100 kilowatts and 30 megawatts in capacity, can efficiently convert energy from low-head stream flows and often use existing infrastructure with little to no environmental impact.
Learn more about hydropower at the DOE’s Water Power Program’s website.
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