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Hyrdo-electric and tidal power are really good sources of energy. Both produce massive amounts of it without any real noticable harm to the environment.
Just to give an example:
The Niagra Falls Hyrdoelectric Power provides power Toronto and most of eastern Canada that borders the US. It also provides power to Upstate New York and a lot of New England. The problem with hyrdo-electric power is that it can only be used in certain places (dams and waterfalls) Tidal power is obviously limited to coastal regions.
There is another interesting idea for power generation that I learned about in Physics class last semester. It uses electro-magnetic induction.
The basic idea is that the earth is sorrounded by a giant magnetic field. Magnetic fields are capable of inducing an electric charge by means of a change in magnetic flux. Magnetic flux is any component of the magnetic field normal to a surface in it.
The power is generated by a sattelite with large conducting surfaces (like large wings). It would be orbiting through the earths magnetic field and therefore would be changing the magnetic flux on its conducting surfaces and produce electricity.
Unfortunely the amount of electricity produced this way wouldn't be that much unless the satellite was really big (not sure how big we didn't discuss that). Plus harnessing the power would be difficult (imagine a giant power cable connecting to earth).
I thought it was a cool idea even though its rather unpratical. An electric generator works by the same principle of a clyinder rotating around a strong magnet.
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