WhereDoesOurElectricityComeFrom?

All of us use electricity every day of our lives, mostly taking it for granted, and despite only being a product of our modern age, a world without it seems almost incomprehensible. It is all too easy to consume electricity without a second thought, however, one of the biggest problems facing us in the 21st century is to maintain this supply whilst managing the impact that our consumption has on the world around us. When also taking into account the fact that utility bills are rising steadily, it is worth having a look at how we make our electricity and in essence where it comes from.

ElectromagneticInduction
The aforementioned environmental impact comes from manner in which electricity is created. The vast majority of our electricity, certainly in the UK, is produced through a process known as electromagnetic induction. The method, which dates back to Michael Faraday's experiments with electricity production in the middle of the 19th century, at its core relies on the movement of an electrical current through a magnetic field, in for example, an electrical generator, which in turns forces the release of electrons. In short it turns the energy of movement (kinetic energy) into electrical energy and therefore, the whole process relies upon having a source of this movement. Movement is generally created by one of three things acting on a turbine: steam, wind or water. Out of these steam is the most prevalent but crucially relies on a heat source for its creation and that need for a combustible source has led to the most prevalent energy sources of our time: fossil fuels and nuclear fission. The other two facilitators, wind and water can (unlike steam) be harnessed without the need for combustion and are consequently core to many of our renewable energy production methods.

SourcesofKineticEnergy
Fossil fuels: With fossil fuel energy, carbon rich substances formed from the fossilised

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remains of tiny marine animals, such as a plankton, or plants are first mined or extracted from the earth and then burnt. These fossils have, over millions of years, decomposed and compressed under mammoth pressures to form substances such as oil, gas and coal which can then be burnt to generate the heat that creates the steam that drives the turbines. Fossil fuels currently account for the significant majority of the world's sources of electricity largely because of their availability and the fact that they are efficient at producing heat when burnt. However, there are major drawbacks which are increasingly coming into play. Ultimately the supply of the materials which have taken millions to year to form is finite with no replenishing source, and the byproducts of the process are major pollutants such as carbon dioxide which contribute to climate change as well as more localised health issues. Nuclear: Many people may assume that the electricity generated by nuclear power stations is somehow produced as a byproduct of the nuclear reactions which constitute nuclear fission. However, the main purpose of the nuclear reactions is to cause vast amounts of heat, which, as with the burning of fossil fuels is then used to create steam to drive the turbines. Whilst nuclear power does consume less of the earth's finite minerals and produces lower levels of carbon based pollution, the key concerns over it instead focus on the stability of the reactors (and therefore the safety of the surrounding environment, with very high profile radioactive leaks occurring at plants such as Chernobyl in the Ukraine and Fukushima in Japan reinforcing concerns) and the disposal of the radioactive waste that can take hundreds of years to becomes safe. Renewables: Renewable energy is energy that is produced using sources that are not diminished when harnessed or are replenished in the short term. The most productive of renewable energy sources in the UK, and worldwide, is that of hydroelectric power which accounts for 16% of the world's supply. Hydroelectric power harnesses the flow of water to drive turbines, but, in addition, turbines can also be driven by wind, tides waves, solar energy and even geothermal heat. Whereas wind and water can directly drive turbines, solar and geothermal energy sources employ electromagnetic induction relying on the sun's rays and earth's core heat respectively to heat water to form steam to drive the turbines in a similar fashion to fossil and nuclear sources. Although the pollution caused by these energies is usually less than conventional methods and the depletion of finite resources is avoided, the use renewable energy does not negate all environmental impacts and concerns. For example, the positioning of wind turbines (which can be viewed as a blot on the landscape) is often controversial and building a hydroelectric dam in a valley to control river flow can drastically transform the landscape and the ecosystems that live in it.

Othersources
There are of course many other sources of electricity that don't rely on having to create

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motion to generate electricity but they are far less common. Under the umbrella of renewable energy, solar power, using photovoltaics is the most high profile source although the amount of electricity produced in the UK using this method is tiny. In the process sun rays cause cells to react, directly producing an electrical current. Aside from close association with environmental causes, one of the reasons for its profile is the recent government initiatives to encourage homeowners to use solar panels to become self sufficient and even contribute back to the national grid.

If you are interested in finding out more about generating energy, or the law surrounding it, you can get further advice from firms specialising in energy and natural resources law.

Stuart Mitchell

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