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Hydropower is an attractive alternative to [[fossil fuel]]s as it does not directly produce [[Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere|carbon dioxide]] or other [[Air pollution|atmospheric pollutants]] and it provides a relatively consistent source of power. Nonetheless, it has economic, sociological, and environmental downsides and requires a sufficiently energetic source of water, such as a [[river]] or elevated [[lake]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bartle |first1=Alison |date=2002 |title=Hydropower potential and development activities |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421502000848 |journal=Energy Policy |volume=30 |issue=14 |pages=1231–1239 |doi=10.1016/S0301-4215(02)00084-8 |access-date=}}</ref> International institutions such as the [[World Bank]] view hydropower as a low-carbon means for [[economic development]].<ref name="WP58132">{{cite news |author=Howard Schneider |date=8 May 2013 |title=World Bank turns to hydropower to square development with climate change |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-05-08/business/39105348_1_jim-yong-kim-world-bank-hydropower |url-status=dead |access-date=9 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722012858/http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-05-08/business/39105348_1_jim-yong-kim-world-bank-hydropower |archive-date=22 July 2013}}</ref>
Since ancient times, hydropower from [[watermill]]s has been used as a [[renewable energy]] source for [[irrigation]] and the operation of mechanical devices, such as [[gristmill]]s, [[sawmill]]s, [[textile]] mills, [[trip hammer]]s, dock [[Crane (machine)|cranes]], domestic [[Elevator|lifts]], and [[ore mill]]s. A [[trompe]], which produces compressed air from falling water, is sometimes used to power other machinery at a distance.<ref name="Hill-2013">{{cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Donald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oMceAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA163 |title=A History of Engineering in Classical and Medieval Times |date=2013 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781317761570 |pages=163–164 |author-link1=Donald Hill}}
== Calculating the amount of available power ==
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