Normally we usually remember how important electricity is in our day to day when there is a cut in this service. Then it leaves us at home with almost no possibility of being productive, entertaining, or communicating with our friends and loved ones. How is electricity generated ?
Indeed, electricity has become a basic element for the modern lifestyle, one without which we could not take advantage of the vast majority of technological advances produced over the last century, and which tend to facilitate our tasks, both of leisure as the obligatory ones.
Now, even being aware of its indisputable relevance, almost no one can explain how electricity is generated , and that is precisely what we want to stop at next.
What is electricity?
In general terms, we could define it as a physical property that manifests itself through the attraction or rejection that each of the parts of matter exert towards each other. You’ve probably heard of the negative charge of electrons, and the positive charge of protons.
Likewise, electricity as almost all of us know it is a type of energy, which manifests itself in movement, when we speak of electric current, as in rest, when referring to static. Its current uses are varied, ranging from interior and exterior lighting, to air conditioning.
How is electrical energy generated?
It is possible thanks to the movement of electrons through a material capable of conducting them. Its molecules have both positive and negative charges, and they attract each other. Eventually, that gives rise to both the aforementioned current and static.
To reach our houses, offices or commercial premises, electricity follows this path:
- Generation : electrical energy is generated in the power plants, classified according to the type of original energy used to move the motors, and thus allowing us to differentiate between renewable and non-renewable energies.
- Transmission : once the energy has been generated, it must be transmitted to strategically located substations, which is done by elevated track thanks to towers, or underground.
- Distribution : the last step before the electricity reaches our homes consists of supplying the service from the substations to the end users, which can be from small individuals to large multinationals.
And that is how it is generated, quite simply, a process that you will now have much more present, especially when the power goes out at home.
