> Almost all of our current hydropower is based on damns made of concrete. Creating the cement for that is very energy intensive. Is that really harder than bu

> Almost all of our current hydropower is based on damns made of concrete. Creating the cement for that is very energy intensive. Is that really harder than building hundreds of kilometers of aqueducts? Humans have known how to engineer water flows for thousands of years, if we valued power we would build those dams. That power would be more expensive so it would slow down the industrial revolution but it would still happen. Also you don't need continuous power for an industrial revolution, that is convenient but factories are still revolutionary even if they just run half the year.