Electricity Generation

Wind energy, one of the oldest forms of renewable energy used by humans, is produced simply by harnessing the power of the wind with wind turbines and generating electricity. Geothermal energy is energy from the heat of the Earth, and is drawn from locations with naturally heated water like hot water reservoirs and geysers or areas deep within the Earth accessed by drilling (NREL, "Learning About Renewable Energy"). Hydroelectric power, in simplest terms, uses the power of water rushing downwards to rotate a propeller attached to a generator that in turn produces electricity (Perlman). Another form of renewable energy is biomass, such as wood, biofuel, and bio-waste, which is burned to produce energy; however, it is not clean energy.

Hydropower is a renewable resource that is clean, affordable and durable. This resource is clean due to the way you gather the energy from it. hydroelectric and coal-fired power plants produce electricity in a similar way. In both cases a power source is used to turn a propeller piece called a turbine, which then turns a metal shaft in an electric generator (the motor that produces electricity). A coal-fired power plant uses steam to turn the turbine blades; whereas a hydroelectric

Power production can come from multitude of sources with different types of power plant facilities each with some sort of unique need; these sources include coal, natural gas, nuclear, wind, water also known as hydroelectric, solar, geothermal and biomass (U.S. Energy Information Administration). These energy sources are broken down into one of two categories, renewable or nonrenewable.

Electricity can be generated from any source of energy which is available in abundance and can be used effectively.

When the wind is blowing on wind turbines it produces electric power, Fans are old techniques used in the mills and then the water pump, but now it has developed the technology and has become used for electric power production.

Turbine: A machine that converts the energy from a moving fluid into rotary motion, and is used to produce continuous power.

Hydroelectric is a form of energy it is a renewable resource. Hydroelectricity is the most important and widely used renewable source of energy. Hydroelectric relies on water, which is clean and renewable energy source. Renewable energy comes from natural resources. Non-Renewable energy source includes coal, oil and natural gas. Water is renewable because water continually recycles itself. To harness energy from flowing water, the water must be controlled; a large reservoir is created, usually by damming a river to create an artificial lake or reservoir. Water is channeled through tunnels in the dam. The energy of water flowing through the dam causes the turbines to turn and make the

C. Rivers are the source of another popular technology. Hydroelectric Turbines leverage this hydro energy.

First, dams block the water from moving downstream so it collects at the top of the dam. When they open the gates or intakes water rushes into a channel called the penstock. A penstock is a channel for conveying water to a waterwheel or turbine. From the penstock it travels to the turbine where it pushes past the turbine were the flow of the water causes the turning of the turbine blades. So, from the flow of the water downwards to it turning the turbine it is transferring from kinetic energy to mechanical energy. The water will then move out of the dam and continue to travel downstream. A shaft is connected from the turbine to the generator so when the turbine is spinning so is the generator. The generator uses a electromagnetic field to convert the mechanical energy so the energy is now electrical. Today modern dams can convert the water energy into 90% of

To elaborate, dam is one of major parts to discuss about firstly. The process of a dam is to store water by creating a large reservoir. This reservoir could be a lake or any other natural water source. The dam is most likely located at higher level ground than the turbines of the power plant. The dam contains gates at its bottom to control the water flow. As the gates open, the water stored in the dam flows downstream as gravity pulls everything down or towards the earth’s surface. The falling water goes through a pipeline called penstock. This pipeline leads to the turbines in the hydroelectric power plant. Much water flow in the pipeline means greater pressure from water. As the water comes down the pipeline, it hits the blades of the turbines and makes it rotate simultaneously. The speed of the rotational blades depends on the speed of the water flow. As a result, much pressure of water flow will rotate the blades with a higher force and vice versa. Francis Turbine is the turbine that is most common for building hydroelectric power plant. This type of turbine looks like a big

then steam which passes through turbines with thousands of blades. The steam pushes the blades

The way that hydroelectric energy is created is actually pretty simple. In bodies of water where the water travels quickly, like at the bottom of a hill, there are turbines. Turbines are rotors that spin when the water goes through them, sort of like a windmill underwater. The turbine is connected to a piece of metal in a generator above land, so when the water spins the turbine, the metal spins and electricity is generated.

Geothermal energy works by the heat from the earth fossil in the Earth’s crust. This heat from the earth generates the electricity or heats homes from underground. Power plants are apart of geothermal as well. There are three types of power plants. The three types of power plant dry steam, binary ,and flash. These power plants are helping us produce more electricity but in a renewable way.

In 1831, scientist Michael Farday discovered the first form of electricity. He found that when a magnet moved inside a copper coil it created what is known as an electric current. This invention is known as a turbine generator. Even today, in full sized power stations this simple invention is still used and works very effectively. These power stations create mass amounts of energy to turn the turbines. Most of the time the energy is made from the heat, for example when coal is burned. More environmentally friendly power stations use wind or flowing water to turn these turbines. This is known as renewable energy because it will not run out, unlike when oil and coal are used.(3)

sources produce, namely pollution, through the formation of CO2, heat, and other waste materials. Once factors such as health problems, global warming, destruction of wilderness and such come into play, wind energy becomes a very