Reference Source

Part 1 of many


Stout, James J. "Hydroelectric Power." Encyclopedia Americana. 2008. Grolier Online. 13 Apr. 2008 <http://ea.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0210430-00>.

James J. Stout is a lawyer for Business and Commercial Law. He lives and works in Medford, Oregon. This article talks about hydroelectricity, and the process that occurs to produce it. First, it gives a general idea of how hydroelectricity is produced, and how the entire process takes place. Then, it talks about the geographic conditions and investigations that have to occur to find a suitable site for a hydroelectric power project to be built. After that, it talks about the different designs and layouts that have and are being used at hydroelectric plants. Then it goes on to give exquisite details about all of the components of a hydroelectric plant, and how each component functions internally and in conjunction with the rest of the project. Next, it talks about alternative forms of hydroelectric plants, like tidal power. After that, it gives a detailed account of the history on hydropower. Finally, it talks about hydroelectricity in the modern world, like how much is used, and where it is produced the most. This article was very good because it gave a lot of information without a lot of extra sidebars or extra fluff, so I didn’t have to search for good information. Unforteanately, this meant that I had to sort through all of the information to find the information that was related to what I was working on. This article aided my research by giving a lot of details about the specific components about a hydro-project. It also gave me several ideas for more subtopics, like the environmental affect of a hydro-project. Also, it confirmed several pieces of information that I gained from my previous resources.