US Water Pipes Contain a Wealth of Untapped Electricity

upstart writes:

1.41GW, in fact - enough to power around one million homes:

There is a wealth of untapped hydroelectric potential in the United States - around 1.41GW of energy flowing through pipes, irrigation channels, and aqueducts.

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) reached this conclusion after what they described as a first-of-its-kind study examining the potential power generation of small and micro-scale hydroelectric generators bolted on to existing water infrastructure.

Using both existing data from water regulators and "novel remote sensing and feature detection techniques," the ORNL team said it was taking the first step in not only understanding the US's untapped conduit hydropower potential, but also to raise awareness that such a power source exists.

"For all its benefits, the biggest barrier is a general lack of awareness of conduit hydropower's potential," said Shih-Chieh Kao, ORNL's water power program manager.

[...] For the sake of generating power, ORNL said it considers any "manmade water conveyance that is operated for the distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or industrial consumption and not primarily for the generation of electricity" as a tappable source. Most deployments would tend toward the very small scale - existing conduit hydro projects top out at less than 10MW, the team explains.

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