Let's start talking about generation of electric power. Generating electricity has been the primary function of electric utilities since their creation. Electricity can be generated through a wide variety of processes, although far and away the most common is by the rotation of a generator shaft or router through opposing magnetic fields. Shaft rotating induces the flow of electricity in the generator. Power can be either direct or alternating current, DC or AC. Power is delivered to consumers in the United States as alternating current. So, shaft rotation literally turns an alternator rather than a generator. A thermal generator creates electricity by using heat from the burning of fuels, or nuclear energy to create steam which turns a turbine which rotates the generator shaft through opposing magnetic fields. The waste heat can be released through a cooling tower or used in co-generation applications in factories. External energy source or prime mover is required to rotate the generator shaft and that can come from a wide variety of sources. One of the prime movers is a turbine generator. In 1831, scientist Michael Faraday, discovered that when a magnet is moved inside a coil of wire, an electric current flows in the wire. An electricity generator is a device that converts a form of energy into electricity. Generators operate because of the relationship between magnetism and electricity. Generators that convert kinetic or mechanical energy into electrical energy produced nearly all of the electricity that consumers use. A common method of producing electricity is from generators with an electromagnet. A magnet produced by electricity not a traditional magnet. The generator has a series of insulated coils of wire that form a stationary cylinder. The cylinder surrounds the rotary electromagnetic shaft. When the electromagnetic shaft rotates, it induces a small electric current in each section of the wire coil. Each section of the wire coil becomes a small separate electric conductor. The small currents of the individual sections combine to form one large current. This current is the electricity that moves through power lines from generators to consumers. An electric power plant uses a turbine or other similar machine to drive these types of generators. Other types of turbines are steam turbines, gas combustion turbines, water turbines and wind turbines. A turbine converts the kinetic energy of a moving fluid, liquid or gas to mechanical energy. In a turbine generator, a moving fluid pushes a series of blades, mount it on the shaft which rotates the shaft connected to a generator. The generator in turn converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy based on the relationship between magnetism and electricity. Steam turbines that use biomass, coal, geothermal energy, natural gas, nuclear energy and solar thermal energy produce about 70 percent of US electricity generation. These types of power plants are about 35 percent efficient. Which means that for every 100 units of primary heat energy that goes into a power plant, only 35 units are converted to usable electrical energy. Other types of devices that generate or produce electricity include electrochemical batteries, fuel cells, solar photovoltaic cells, and thermoelectric generators. Most of the electricity in the United States is produced using steam turbines. The steam turbine converts the kinetic energy of a moving fluid, liquid or gas, to mechanical energy. Most of US electricity is generated using fossil fuels. In 2016, natural gas was the largest energy source for the four trillion kilowatthours of electricity generated in the United States. Natural gas was the source of about 34 percent of US electricity generation in 2016. In addition to burning natural gas to heat water for steam, it is also burnt to produce hot combustion gases that pass through a gas turbine spinning the turbine's blade to generate electricity. Coal was the second largest energy source for US electricity generation in 2016, about 30 percent. Nearly all coal-fired power plants use steam turbines. If you coal-fired power plants convert coal to a gas for use in the gas turbine to generate electricity. Petroleum can be burned to produce hot combustion gases to turn a turbine or to make steam that turns a turbine. Residual fuel and petroleum coke, products from refining crude oil, are the main petroleum fuels used in steam turbines. Distillate or diesel is used in diesel engine generators. Petroleum was the source of less than one percent of US electricity generation in 2016. Nuclear power provides about one-fifth of US electricity. Nuclear power plants produce electricity with nuclear efficient to create steam that spins the turbine to generate electricity. Nuclear power was the source of about 20 percent of US electricity generation in 2016. Renewable energy sources provide 15 percent of US electricity. Hydropower, the source of about seven percent of the total US electricity generation. About 44 percent of electricity generation from renewable energy in 2016, is a process in which flowing water spins a turbine connected to a generator. Most hydropower production is at large facilities built by the federal government, such as the Grand Cooley Dam, also Lewiston powerplant. Many of the largest hydroelectric dams are in the western United States, but many hydropower facilities operate around the country.
