Since the beginning of the 21st century, sustainable development has always been a highly concerned issue for countries around the world. Scientists have also been working hard to study how to reasonably and efficiently utilize more natural resources for the benefit of humanity.
For example, wind power generation and other technologies have gradually replaced traditional thermal power generation.
So, what stage has China’s hydropower technology developed to now? What is the global level? What is the significance of hydroelectric power generation? Many people may not understand. This is only the utilization of natural resources. Can it really have such a profound impact? Regarding this point, we have to start with the origin of hydropower.
The Origin of Hydroelectric Power
In fact, as long as you carefully understand the history of human development, you will understand that so far, all human development has revolved around resources. Especially in the first industrial revolution and the Second Industrial Revolution, the emergence of coal resources and oil resources greatly accelerated the process of human development.
Unfortunately, although these two resources are of great help to human society, they also have many drawbacks. In addition to its non renewable characteristics, the impact on the environment has always been an important issue that plagues human development research. Faced with such a situation, scientists are researching more scientific and effective methods, while attempting to see if there are new energy sources that can replace these two resources.
Moreover, with the passage and development of time, scientists also believe that energy can be utilized by humans through physical and chemical methods. Can energy also be utilized? It is against this background that hydropower, wind energy, geothermal energy and solar energy have entered people’s vision.
Compared to other natural resources, the development of hydropower actually dates back to an earlier time. Taking the water wheel drive that has appeared multiple times in our Chinese historical tradition as an example. The emergence of this device is actually a manifestation of human active utilization of water resources. By utilizing the power of water, people can transform this energy into other aspects.
Later, in the 1930s, hand operated electromagnetic machines officially appeared in human vision, and scientists began to think about how to make electromagnetic machines work normally without human resources. However, at that time, scientists were unable to connect the kinetic energy of water with the kinetic energy required by electromagnetic machines, which also delayed the arrival of hydropower for a long time.
Until 1878, a British man named William Armstrong, using his professional knowledge and wealth, finally developed the first hydroelectric generator for household use in his own home. Using this machine, William lit up the lights of his house like a genius.
Later, more and more people began to attempt to use hydropower and water resources as a source of power to help humans generate electricity and convert electrical energy into mechanical kinetic energy, which has also become the main theme of social development for a long time. Today, hydropower has become one of the most concerned natural energy generation methods in the world. Compared to all other power generation methods, the electricity provided by hydropower is astonishing.
The Development and Current Situation of Hydropower in China
Returning to our country, hydropower actually appeared very late. As early as 1882, Edison established the world’s first commercial hydroelectric power system through his own wisdom, and China’s hydroelectric power was first established in 1912. More importantly, the Shilongba Hydropower Station was built in Kunming, Yunnan at that time, entirely using German technology, while China only dispatched manpower to assist.
Afterwards, although China also made efforts to build various hydroelectric power stations throughout the country, the main purpose was still for commercial development. Moreover, due to the influence of the domestic situation at that time, hydropower technology and mechanical equipment could only be imported from abroad, which also led to China’s hydropower always lagging behind some developed countries in the world
Fortunately, when New China was established in 1949, the country attached great importance to hydropower. Especially compared to other countries, China has a vast territory and unique hydropower resources, undoubtedly a natural advantage in developing hydropower.
You should know that not all rivers can become the source of power for hydroelectric power generation. If there were no huge water droplets to help, it would be necessary to artificially create water droplets on the river channel. But in this way, not only will it consume a lot of manpower and material resources, but the final effect of hydroelectric power generation will also be greatly reduced.
But our country is different. China has the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Lancang River, and Nu River, with unparalleled differences among countries around the world. Therefore, when constructing a hydropower station, we only need to select a suitable area and make certain adjustments.
During the period from the 1950s to the 1960s, the main goal of hydroelectric power generation in China was to build new hydropower stations on the basis of maintaining and repairing existing hydropower stations. Between the 1960s and 1970s, with the maturity of hydropower development, China began to attempt to independently build more hydropower stations and further develop a series of rivers.
After the reform and opening up, the country will once again increase investment in hydropower. Compared with previous hydropower stations, China has begun to pursue large-scale hydropower stations with stronger power generation capacity and better service to people’s livelihoods. In the 1990s, the construction of the Three Gorges Dam officially began, and it took 15 years to become the world’s largest hydropower station. This is the best manifestation of China’s infrastructure construction and strong national strength.
The construction of the Three Gorges Dam is sufficient to demonstrate that China’s hydropower technology has undoubtedly reached the forefront of the world. Not to mention excluding the Three Gorges Dam, China’s hydropower accounts for 41% of the world’s hydropower generation. Among numerous related hydraulic technologies, Chinese scientists have overcome the most difficult problems.
Moreover, in the utilization of power resources, it is also sufficient to demonstrate the excellence of China’s hydropower industry. Data shows that compared to any other country in the world, the probability and duration of power outages in China are much smaller. The main reason for this situation is the integrity and strength of China’s hydropower infrastructure.
The significance of hydropower
I believe everyone deeply understands the help that hydropower brings to people. For a simple example, assuming that the world’s hydropower disappears at this moment, more than half of the world’s regions will have no electricity at all.
However, many people still cannot understand that although hydropower is of great help to humanity, is it really necessary for us to continue developing hydropower? After all, take the crazy construction of a hydropower station in Lop Nur as an example. The continuous closure caused some rivers to dry up and disappear.
In fact, the main reason for the disappearance of rivers around Lop Nur is the overuse of water resources by people in the past century, which is not related to hydropower itself. The importance of hydropower is not only reflected in providing sufficient electricity for humanity. Similar to agricultural irrigation, flood control and storage, and shipping, they all rely on the help of hydraulic engineering.
Imagine that without the help of the Three Gorges Dam and the centralized integration of water resources, the surrounding agriculture would still develop in a primitive and inefficient state. Compared to today’s agricultural development, the water resources near the Three Gorges will be “wasted”
In terms of flood control and storage, the Three Gorges Dam has also brought great help to people. It can be said that as long as the Three Gorges Dam does not move, the surrounding residents do not have to worry about any floods. You can enjoy sufficient electricity and abundant water resources, while at the same time providing peace of mind for living resources.
Hydropower itself is the rational utilization of water resources. As one of the renewable resources in nature, it is also one of the most efficient energy sources for human resource utilization. It will definitely exceed human imagination.
The Future of Renewable Energy
As the disadvantages of oil and coal resources become increasingly apparent, utilizing natural resources has become the main theme of development in today’s era. Especially the former fossil-fuel power station, while consuming a lot of materials to provide less power, will inevitably cause serious pollution to the surrounding environment, which also forced fossil-fuel power station to withdraw from the historical stage.
In this situation, new power generation methods such as wind power and geothermal power, which are the same as hydroelectric power generation, have become the main research directions for countries around the world today and for a long time. Every country looks forward to the enormous help that sustainable renewable resources can provide to humanity.
However, based on the current situation, hydropower still ranks first among renewable resources. On the one hand, this is due to the immaturity of power generation technology, such as wind power generation, and the relatively low comprehensive utilization rate of resources; On the other hand, hydropower only needs to decline and will not be affected by too many uncontrollable natural environments.
Therefore, the road to sustainable development of renewable energy is a long and arduous one, and people still need to have enough patience to face this matter. Only in this way can the previously damaged natural environment be gradually restored.
Looking back at the entire history of human development, the use of resources has brought assistance to humanity that is absolutely beyond people’s imagination. Perhaps in the past development process, we have made many mistakes and caused a lot of damage to nature, but today, all of this is gradually changing, and the development prospects of renewable energy are definitely bright
More importantly, as more and more technological challenges are overcome, people’s utilization of resources is gradually improving. Taking wind power generation as an example, it is believed that many people have built many models of wind turbines using various materials, but few people know that future wind power generation may be able to generate electricity through vibration.
Of course, it is unrealistic to say that hydropower has no drawbacks. When constructing hydropower stations, large-scale earthworks and concrete investment are inevitable. When causing widespread flooding, each country has to pay huge resettlement fees for it.
More importantly, if the construction of a hydropower station fails, the impact on downstream areas and infrastructure will far exceed people’s imagination. Therefore, before constructing a hydropower station, it is necessary to ensure the integrity of engineering design and construction, as well as emergency plans for accidents. Only in this way can hydropower stations truly become infrastructure projects that benefit humanity.
In summary, the future of sustainable development is worth looking forward to, and the key lies in whether humans are willing to spend enough time and energy on it. In the field of hydropower, people have achieved great success, and the next step is only to gradually improve the utilization of other natural resources.
Post time: Apr-23-2023
