How Electricity is Produced

Electrical energy is one of humankind’s greatest discoveries. It has helped build new civilizations and establish amazing technology. The large amount of electricity produced has as sources: fossil fuels, nuclear fission, hydropower, and wind. This article will explore some of the different methods of how electricity is produced.

How Electricity is Produced – Electricity is produced by enormous turbines; the turbines need some kind of driver to be moved. These are some of the various ways of moving these turbines:

Burning fossil fuels: Electricity is produced when the blades of a turbine are moved by enormous amounts of steam. This steam is generated by heating large amounts of water in huge furnaces. This water is heated by burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas. However, this method releases enormous amounts of carbon dioxide in the air, severely polluting our atmosphere and impacting our environment. It is important to change to alternate methods of electricity production for long-term benefits.

By water: You may know that dams are constructed to produce electricity. A popular method to produce electricity, a water dam serves two purposes: restricting bodies of water and production of electricity. Water dams use the flow of river water to move turbines, helping them produce electricity. Electricity generated this way helps control air pollution; unfortunately, this method of electricity production adversely affects the ecosystem in these bodies of water.

Accounting for 90 percent of the world’s electricity generated through renewable resources is water. Care must be taken in the planning of future dams due to the potential impact on a wide area.

By wind: Wind energy produces electricity when converted to electrical energy. Wind mills, or wind turbines, are used to generate enormous amounts of wind energy which is then converted into electrical energy. While some consider wind “farms” an eyesore with their row upon row of tall, three armed towers, there are more and more who see a future with large wind farms as a viable source of cheap power, once infrastructure is set up.

The latest in wind energy advancements: wind energy is helping create portable cell phone chargers!

By nuclear fission: Nuclear fission not only makes atom bombs, it also helps produce electricity. Nuclear fission causes a chain reaction when the element Uranium is bombarded by neutrons causing it to split. Each time a Uranium nucleus is split, more neutrons are released, causing more splits in the already split Uranium nuclei. The resultant chain reaction generates enormous amounts of heat which is used to heat water, with the resulting steam eventually moving the turbines to create electricity.

By bio-waste: Electricity is also being produced by bio-waste. Bio-gas is currently a typical way of generating electricity for rural areas in countries like India. In fact, a new technology has evolved in the state of Bihar in India that uses human waste to generate electricity, an interesting solution to two environmental issues.

I will review more on how electricity is produced in future articles.