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PaperProphet

11/15/06 1:04 PM

#3043 RE: vindication #3040

The Energy Commander is fish-friendly...but a hydro turbine of the same size would be just as fish-friendly due to the low flow rates. Here's an excerpt from a website that explains the oxygenation problem in large turbines...

"During hot summer months, lakes upstream of hydro turbine power plants can experience stratification of dissolved oxygen. The surface water is well oxygenated, but the deeper layers are not. In most existing hydro stations, the turbine intakes are far below the surface, so the water that is passed to rivers downstream contains little oxygen. Low dissolved oxygen levels in the downstream water have an impact on fish and other aquatic species, since they depend on sufficiently high levels of dissolved oxygen for survival."

http://www.fluent.com/about/news/newsletters/04v13i2/s5.htm

A small hydro turbine or an Energy Commander would have little impact on the environment. There isn't an advantage there.