Erik Brown

Michigan State University | MSU · Department of Mechanical Engineering

Current hydro power turbine technology is reviewed regarding safe fish passage. Much of the literature has focused on dam turbine configurations, while some have recommended to develop in-stream turbines as an alternative and potentially more environmentally- and ecologically-friendly option. Throughout the literature, several key design parameters...

Millions of people across the world live off-grid not by choice but because they live in rural areas, have low income, and have no political clout. Delivering sustainable energy solutions to such a substantial amount of the world’s population requires more than a technological fix; it requires leveraging the knowledge of underserved populations wor...

While there have been efforts to supply off-grid energy in the Amazon, these attempts have focused on low upfront costs and deployment rates. These “get-energy-quick” methods have almost solely adopted diesel generators, ignoring the environmental and social risks associated with the known noise and pollution of combustion engines. Alternatively, i...

Given growing energy demands and continued interest in hydropower development, it is important that we rethink hydropower to avoid detrimental socioenvironmental consequences of large dams planned in regions such as the Amazon River basin. Here, we show that ~63% of total energy planned to be generated from conventional hydropower in the Brazilian...

With increasing electric demand and the continued underproduction of existing dams and the environmental and social concerns of traditional hydropower dam expansion in the Amazon region, alternative power sources are needed to meet future power needs. Recently, large-scale deployment of photovoltaic (PV) systems has gained more interest globally, m...