Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks used water wheels to generate electricity from water. This technique became known as hydropower or hydroelectricity. The power of water has since developed throughout the decades, expanding to larger stations and newer solutions by harnessing water to produce electricity for diverse areas and sizes of population. Hydroelectricity is most commonly produced from dams across the world. While there are other applications, such as run-of-the-river stations, micro or large stations (smaller than dams) and conduit hydropower stations, that produce hydroelectricity, most are very costly or aren’t capable of creating enough electricity to support larger communities. Thus, settling on a decision for the best use of hydroelectricity is controversial. While there are many forms of hydroelectricity used throughout the world, this video’s primary focus will be of North America’s use of them. This documentary compares the pros and cons of each form of hydroelectricity and the environmental impacts of them.

Faculty sponsor: Philip Wade