ABSTRACT
When we look at rushing waterfalls and rivers, we may not immediately think of electricity. But hydroelectric (water-powered) power plants are responsible for lighting many of our homes and neighborhoods. Hydropower is the harnessing of water to perform work. The power of falling water has been used in industry for thousands of years (see Table 4.1). The Greeks used water wheels for grinding wheat into flour more than 2,000 years ago. Besides grinding flour, the power of the water was used to saw wood and power textile mills and manufacturing plants.
Hydropower (2018) reports that in 2017 alone, it is estimated that 4 billion tons of greenhouse gases were not released into our atmosphere by generating electricity from hydropower.
