Provide a 50-75 word discussion reply to the following post below.

 
Hydropower
What are the positive and negative impacts of renewable energy resource you chose?
Hydropower plants typically use the mechanical energy of water from  rivers, streams, or reservoirs to rotate generator blades and produce  energy. This allows zero emission power from a potentially unending  “fuel” source. Additionally, pumped storage plants can take water from  lower to higher elevations when excess flow is available and release it  to generate electricity during times of higher electricity demand (M3  33).  However, this comes at a cost, causing local environmental  problems since the 1960’s, according to the Norwegian Environment  Agency, (2015).  The dams and plants required for hydropower can cause  changes in the environment, specifically fish and wildlife, vegetation  and erosion (M3 61). A lack of indigenous support in the Phillipines has  not only lead to 30 people being killed defending their land and  environment in 2018, (as well as 48 murders in 2017), but also disrupt  the way of life of these same indigenous people who utilize the  waterways for their basic living needs (Delina, 2020). 
Can or cannot renewable energy replace fossil fuels?
I believe that it is possible to eventually replace fossil fuels with  renewable energy sources (and have written a few different papers on it  over my degree), although admittedly some large barriers still remain.   Norway currently boasts 97% carbon neutral power generation and are  still pushing to achieve their remaining 3% (Carroll 2019).  This  transition involves overcoming technological, regulatory and political  issues.  Norway’s Energy Act of 1990 deregulated its electricity sector  and developed the Nord Pool, which is the world’s largest market for  electricity (Hansen 2013).  Within the US, only almost 20% of the power  generated is renewable energy (with 7% hydropower, 7% wind energy, 2%  biomass, 2% solar energy and less than 1% geothermal), but separating  electrical generation from political gain, putting funding into  renewables for advances in energy storage and transitioning fossil fuel  jobs into comparable renewable jobs make this a possibility (IEA, 2019).
How does renewable energy affect current power industry infrastructure?
Ideally, as new renewable energy gets adapted, the demand on the grid  will decrease as efficiencies increase and some buildings will become  self-sustaining. In the interim, however, the creation and maintenance  of an updated distribution network to provides the safe and reliable  delivery of power will require substantial infrastructure investment (M5  33). The costs of new construction and upgrades to the system  (including but not limited to smart meters distribution networks that  detect and prevent overloads) will continue to increase along with  consumer demand (M5 34).
What help, if any, should governments give to help the establishment of renewable energy production?
Beginning a focus on a renewable power transition is beneficial to  the establishment in both economic and ecological ways.  The application  of a carbon avoidance costs has already shown large upgrades and  additions to current fossil fuel flue gas lines or pulled more money in  from these establishments.  Renewables would not only decrease the  consumer cost per energy when compared to carbon avoidance costs, but  also plays a direct role in minimizing the amount of carbon released  into the atmosphere.  Funding for renewable research and training for  renewable jobs transitions would feed into electrical corporations  financial balancing act of building new renewable power plants versus  the expenses of fossil fuels and the subsequent carbon emission costs. 
Will the Clean Power Plan Survive? Why or why not?
It is hard to believe that the Clean Power Plan will survive,  although much of my work in furthering my education comes at the hope  that I can be part of it succeeding. The Clean Power Plan (Links to an external site.)  of 2015 set limits on carbon pollution from U.S. power plants,  attempting to curb the impacts of climate change around the world (NRDC 2017).   It says that limiting carbon pollution from power plants is “the  single-biggest step we can take to fight” climate change (NRDC, 2017).   However, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says  that, with current operations, even expecting perfect execution going  forward, the goal of limiting temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius is  out of reach, and the 1.5-degree target that scientists say must be  achieved to save the earth’s coral reefs is farther still (Poneman,  2019).  I personally have seen the effects of the U.S. “clean coal”  technologies, removing mercury and acid gasses from the flue gas with  activated carbon and hydrated lime or pretreating the coal to decrease  the chance of those same toxins escaping (M3 55).  However, unless the  aforementioned political and training changes are fulfilled, it seems  unlikely that the IPCC prediction will change
Carroll, M. (2019, June 27).  Norway’s leading the charge on a  sustainable electric future. Retrieved from nationalgeographic.com: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/06/partner-content-sustainable-electric-future/ (Links to an external site.)
Delina, L. (2020). Indigenous environmental defenders  and the legacy of Macli-ing Dulag: Anti-dam dissent, assassinations, and  protests in the making of Philippine energyscape. Energy Research &  Social Science. Volume 65. DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101463
Hansen, Gard. (2013).  New renewable energy and the Norwegian policy triangle.  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281554074_New_renewable_energy_and_the_Norwegian_policy_triangle (Links to an external site.)
IEA. (2019). Data and Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics?country=NORWAY&fuel=Energy%20supply&indicator=Electricity%20generation%20by%20source (Links to an external site.)
Norwegian Environment Agency, (2015, November 11). Norway. https://www.environment.no/Topics/Norway (Links to an external site.)
NRDC. (2017). What Is the Clean Power Plan?  Retrieved from: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-clean-power-plan-works-and-why-it-matters (Links to an external site.)
Poneman, D. (2019, May). We can’t solve climate change without  nuclear power.  Scientific American.  Retrieved from:  https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/we-cant-solve-climate-change-without-nuclear-power/
Smith, B. (2015, July 23). Norway: Environmental Issues, Policies and Clean Technology. How Clean is your Country?  https://www.azocleantech.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=558