How Electricity Is Made

One of the greatest discoveries of man was how to generate electricity. Despite the growth we have experienced thanks to this we haven't quite managed to use electricity in a manner that doesn't damage our planet. We built civilizations and invented new electricity-powered machines. Electricity is generated from either nuclear fission, wind, water or from fossil fuels.

To support the massive turbines that generate our electricity needs we need the matter to power them in the first place. We can do this:

By burning fossil fuels: When the blades of a turbine are moved through massive amounts of vapour, electricity is being generated. To create the vapour we need to heat water in large furnaces. To heat the water we need to burn fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas and coal.

The negative aspect of generating electricity through this method is the enormous amounts of carbon dioxide that are being disposed off in the air we breathe. This pollutes our environment tremendously. Therefore we need alternative ways to generate electricity.

By water: To produce electricity by water we need dams. You have most likely seen dam or two in your area. But how are they powered?

They use rivers. These rivers move the massive turbines which in turn produces our electricity. This method of generating electricity is favorable toward keeping the air clean and pollution-free. However, it still affects our ecosystem in the water bodies.

Most of the world's electricity is being generated through water.

By wind: Electricity is produced when the energy of the wind is converted to electrical energy. To do this we use wind mills or wind turbines. These churn up enormous amounts of wind energy and we use this energy to convert it into electricity.

By nuclear fission: You probably think of atom bombs when you hear the word nuclear fission. However, we can also generate electricity from this matter. When the element Uranium is bombarded by neutrons, it causes a chain reaction causing the Uranium to split. When this happens more neutrons are released causing even more splits.

This chain reaction creates masses of heat. We funnel this heat to heat water which in turn creates electricity for us.

By bio-waste: As we advance technologically, we also use bio-waste to generate our electricity. Third world countries like India for example commonly use bio-gas to do this and lately they've even resulted to using human waste to generate electricity.