Electricity: Sources, Delivery, Merits, and Demerits

1Electricity
ELECTRICITY
By
Course
Instructor
Institution
Location
Date

2Electricity
Introduction
When looking around us man is making life simple daily. Be it for domestic or industrial use
what can make the phrase “making work easy” apply to our daily functions in this age. Oh
yes in this current generation, electricity is the engine for every economy in the world.
Electricity is important be it a simple bulb in our houses or even the mighty machines in
factories. Even though majority lot of the people use electricity but they are in total darkness
on what it is, where it comes from, and even its distribution. So, this report will attempt to
look at electricity in general, what steps are involved for it to reach our houses, merits of
electricity, and the environmental issues surrounding it.
What is electricity?
Electricity involves the availability and flow of electric charges mainly positive (+) or
negative (-) using charge carriers namely protons, electrons, and electrons. Electric power is
the rate of transfer of energy and is usually measured as:
Power = volts x amperes = joules/second = watts
Sources of Electricity
These include the process where various forms of energy are converted to electricity. In
general in order for electricity to reach the final consumer and light a bulb, charge phones or
even run a machine it must come from someplace as described below:
 Wind power
This involves using air flow to run wind turbines in order to provide mechanical power that in
turn runs electric generators (Hughes, 2010). It is a renewable energy source and emits no
greenhouse gases and wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion.

3Electricity
Photo above shows sources of electricity in USA in 2014
 Solar power
This is the conversion of sunlight energy into electricity and may involve photovoltaic or
concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic uses solar panels converting sunlight into electricity
directly while concentrated solar power uses thermal energy from the solar panels in order to
make steam that finally is runs turbines to make electricity.
In 2017 alone, solar power provided 1.7% of the total worldwide electricity produced and
currently growing at a rate of 35% per year.
 Coal energy
This is a combustible rock primarily made up of carbon and it forms when dead plant matter
undergo biological and geological processes hence making it a fossil fuel. In electricity
generation coal is pulverized and burned in a furnace to heat water leading in steam
production. The steam runs turbines that turn generators and finally lead to electricity as the
final product.