What is hydropower?
Q: What is hydropower?
A: Hydropower is the capture of the energy of moving water for some useful purpose.
Q: What was the use of hydropower in the 1830s?
A: In the 1830s, hydropower was used to transport barge traffic up and down steep hills using inclined plane railroads.
Q: What industries used hydropower for direct mechanical power transmission?
A: Industries that used hydropower for direct mechanical power transmission had to be near the waterfall.
Q: Where were many grist mills built during the last half of the 19th century?
A: During the last half of the 19th century, many grist mills were built at Saint Anthony Falls, to use the 50 foot (15 metre) drop in the Mississippi River.
Q: Why were the mills built at Saint Anthony Falls important for the growth of Minneapolis?
A: The mills were important for the growth of Minneapolis because they utilized hydropower to function, which was a low-cost form of energy highly accessible in the river.
Q: What is the largest use of hydropower today?
A: Today the largest use of hydropower is for electric power generation.
Q: What does the use of hydropower for electric power generation allow?
A: The use of hydropower for electric power generation allows low cost energy to be used at long distances from the watercourse.
