National Geographic Society. (2023, June 20). Hydroelectric Energy. Retrieved August 15, 2023, from 

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/hydroelectric-energy/

 

Hydroelectricity is one of the most if not the most used methods of renewable energy in the world. About 71 percent of all of Earth’s renewable energy comes from hydroelectricity. There are multiple different types of energy plants that are able to produce this hydroelectric energy with the most common being something called an impoundment facility. An impoundment facility is a dam that controls the flow of water, the more energy needed the more water is released. There is also a diversion facility which uses canals instead of dams. Hydroelectric energy works by having controllable reservoirs that release water. Just before water spills over the top, it gains potential energy, and that potential energy is converted into kinetic energy.

 

The article talks about the process and use of hydroelectricity and how it is used worldwide in multiple ways to help with the production of natural energy. It is related to environmental science because the process is a renewable energy which is a very large part of environmental science. This article makes me hopeful that at one point in time, the United States and even the rest of the world will be able to rely on renewable energy with things such as hydroelectricity. I think if the idea of hydroelectricity can spread to everywhere around the world that it is possible to do so, and it starts to become a continuously practiced process, it will change the whole world in how we are able to gain and use electricity and not have to burn fossil fuels.