How electricity is produced?
Where does Electricity come from?
When you flip a light switch or plug in your computer to a power source you can start using electricity. But you are so accustomed to it that you have hardly ever stopped to think – where does electricity come from and how it makes way from its generating point to your home.
In this post I am going to explain how electricity is produced and how do we get electricity in our homes to help you to understand – where does our electricity come from. But before that let me first explain – what is electricity.
What is electricity?
To put it in basic terms, electricity is the flow of electrons through a conductor. A voltage “pushes” the electrons through the conductor to create electric current. Electrons are negatively charged sub-atomic particles. If one of these electrons is freed from an atom and forced to move, electricity is produced. The electrons in the outermost orbit of an atom require the least amount of force to be freed from the atom. When free electrons find new atoms on the way to latch onto, they throw out an electron from the new atom and the process begins all over again, producing an electric current. The electrons can move freely through copper metal, and hence copper is a great conductor of electricity.
Now let’s see where does our electricity come from and how does it reach our homes.
Where does electricity come from
If we are to know the basics of where does electricity come from we need to know first how electricity is produced and made to flow from one place to another and what are the fuel sources used by the power companies to produce this electricity.
How electricity is produced?
Electricity is a secondary energy source, meaning, it is generated from the conversion of primary sources of energy. Energy from these primary sources is eventually converted into electricity in power generating plants. These primary energy sources can be nonrenewable or renewable.
The nonrenewable energy sources are mainly fossil fuels (coal, crude oil and natural gas) and renewable sources are mainly solar, wind and hydro. At present in all countries including United States, the main source of electricity is fossil fuels, which is bad for the environment and also harmful to human health. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, which adds to the greenhouse effect and increases global warming. Currently electricity production in the US is about 60% from fossil fuels.
The use of safer, more sustainable, and environment-friendly renewable sources for producing electricity, has not been that widespread as yet. However, because of severe impact of fossil fuels on our environment and health as mentioned above, the consumers in recent years have had an increasing interest in renewable energy sources like solar and wind that don’t harm the earth. It is, therefore, expected that we will see an increase in the use of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power in the coming days. In fact, at present about 20% of electricity produced in USA is already from renewable energy sources.
How electricity is generated from primary energy sources?
Now let’s see how electricity is produced from primary energy sources. The potential energy of the primary energy resources is converted into mechanical or thermal energy in the power plants. This thermal energy or heat source is used to boil water which produces steam. The steam, thus produced, is then forced under pressure through pipes to turn the blades inside a turbine. The turbine blades are attached to a shaft that spins when the blades begin to move. The spinning turbine causes large magnets to turn within copper wire coils inside a machine called generator. This movement of the magnets causes electrons in the copper wires to flow from one place to another, creating electrical current and producing electricity.
How electricity is generated from primary energy sources, can be explained in simple terms as follows:
- Electricity is produced in a coal-fired power plant, using the energy of steam;
- Electricity is produced at nuclear power plant, using the heat energy unlocked by splitting apart uranium atoms. This heat energy produces steam by heating water, that spins a turbine to generate electricity;
- Electricity is produced in a hydro power plant, using the kinetic energy of the running or falling water behind the dam that spins a turbine connected to a generator. The water in the dam is mainly collected from the rain;
- A wind farm produces electricity by spinning the blades of a turbine connected to a generator. The energy that turns the blades of the turbine comes from the kinetic energy of the Wind that blows;
- Solar panels (solar cells) when exposed to sunlight produces electricity directly from the energy of the Sun;
How does electricity get to our homes?
Now that we know where does electricity come from, let’s see next, how this electricity makes it’s way from power plant to our homes?
The entire process of taking power to our homes can be broken into three simple stages – generation, transmission, and distribution.
Once the electricity is generated as explained above, it flows through conductors/cables to reach the step-up transformers in the nearby switchyard where the voltage of the electric power is stepped up so that the electricity can travel long distances through transmission lines/grid without much power loss.
But the electricity doesn’t get to your house directly from the transmission grid. It first moves down to the distribution lines which carry the power at a lower voltage than the transmission lines. This lowering of voltage is done at a distribution substation through step-down transformers in order to begin the process of sending power to your home.
The distribution lines that carry the electricity, on reaching your neighborhood, pass through another local transformer, usually mounted on poles, that reduces the voltage further to finally make the power safe for use for your home.
Now that I have explained the basics of how electricity is generated and how do we get electricity in our homes let me also address to some of the related questions often asked by the people.
Where does most of our electricity come from?
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration as of 2019, most of the nation’s electricity was produced from natural gas and coal. Electricity is also produced from renewable sources like biomass, wind, geothermal, and solar power.
What is the best form of energy?
The most efficient forms of energy are hydro-thermal, tidal, wind and solar, which are renewable sources. Solar energy has been found to be the most efficient and effective among these renewable sources for home and commercial use.
You may also like to read this post: How does a wind turbine generate electricity
Conclusion
On going through the basics of how electricity is produced and what are the fuel sources used by the power companies for producing electricity, as explained in the post, it should be clear now where does electricity come from and how do we get electricity in our homes.
Currently the main source of energy for producing electricity comes from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas that pollute our environment with toxins and contribute significantly to the global warming problem. However, fossil fuels are not going to last forever. Fortunately, new technologies that use cleaner energy agents are being developed to reduce our dependence on this polluting energy source in the production of electricity. Most analysts believe that as time passes, safer, more sustainable, and environment-friendly renewable sources of energy, particularly wind and solar, will replace fossil fuels, reducing carbon emissions.
