If water were fuel

[LDB]

Harvey, in hurricane and now tropical storm variants, is dumping insane amounts of rain on the Houston area. We are in a suburb that's on the lesser receiving end and have upwards of a foot of rain. Some areas have 2 feet of rain. The storm is moving so slowly it is forecast to have an additional 2 feet of rain coming for some areas. Our street is now a creek with water a bit over the curb. Fuel for life if only water were fuel.

[JockoT]

The weather man here pointed out that the rain, falling on Texas over the next few days, is the equivalent of 13 months rainfall in Birmingham UK (one of our wettest cities). That certainly brought it home to me.

[R.I.D.E.]

Actually one of the most powerful forces on earth is elevated water. One cubic meter of water, per second, flowing down a 60 foot tall pipe, provides 245 horsepower until the fuel (water) runs out with no emissions whatsoever.

Sadly Houston (lived there early 1980s) has no elevation to provide the 60 foot "head".

Hydro electric is still one of the best. Imagine an elevation of 10,000 feet. Now your cubic meter of water has 10000/60=333X245= 81,585 horse power until the water runs out!

Evaporation is one of the most efficient energy producers ever and should be utilized immediately to the fullest extent. Even the fish migrations can be preserved.

Then we would all be driving the electro-hydraulic version of my patented design, LOL.

[R.I.D.E.]

And you still have the water, just slowed down it's trip to sea level, got to love gravity.

[trollbait]

Just few places where we trap the water for energy, and too many people insisting on having grass lawns in desserts.

[R.I.D.E.]

lawns convert C02 into 02 through photosynthesis. Not much water lost in the process as long as they don't fertilize the aquifer into an acidic quagmire.

[trollbait]

It's a loss if grass wouldn't grow without water piped in from elsewhere.
The culprit isn't lawns alone, but Hoover Dam's output is likely permanently down because of the siphoning off of Lake Mead.

[R.I.D.E.]

you're grabbing for straws to support your position now. Maybe we should abandon Los Angeles?

[trollbait]

What?

Water for power is a great resource, but we've already tapped it out for the most part, and it isn't enough to provide power for everything. On top of that we have conflicting uses for the water. Some of which are frivolous.

Now, pumped water can be a great 'battery' for excess wind and solar energy. Site location still puts a practical limit on it though.