Electricity
Study Guide, Chapter 8:
Production and Distribution of Electricity
Essay Questions:
1. Where are the big electric power plants in your state and what type of fuel do they use1? What is the primary fuel source used overall in your state?
Massachusetts hosts three liquefied natural gas import terminals, one at Everett and two offshore of Gloucester (my hometown). Massachusetts generated 68 percent of its electricity from natural gas and 11 percent from coal in 2011.
http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=MA
2. The most efficient way to produce large amounts of electricity would be to use large power plants and run them at constant output all the time. We cannot do this, however, because of variations in electricity usage during the course of the day. Why don’t we simply store the excess electricity produced during time of low usage and then use this excess during time of high usage?
It takes a great deal of energy to start up and shut down the machines that are generating our electricity. It would be more of a loss to start up and shut down these machines than it is to continuously run them. Instead, the electricity is run at a constant output and during peak ours extra generators are used to make up for the huge gap in energy usage.
3. Who were Nikola Tesla, George Westinghouse, Thomas Edison? What role did each play in the development of the electrical utility industry? What were the advantages and disadvantages to the AC and DC electricity distribution systems? Why did AC win?
Tesla, Westinghouse, and Edison were all key people in the history of the development of the electrical utility industry. Nikola Tesla improved the AC electricity distribution system, where Thomas Edison created the DC electricity distribution systems. George Westinghouse had a great role in enhancing the use of Tesla’s AC electricity distribution system. Advantages of AC were that transmisstion power could be transferred farther at low voltage and this
Production and Distribution of Electricity
Essay Questions:
1. Where are the big electric power plants in your state and what type of fuel do they use1? What is the primary fuel source used overall in your state?
Massachusetts hosts three liquefied natural gas import terminals, one at Everett and two offshore of Gloucester (my hometown). Massachusetts generated 68 percent of its electricity from natural gas and 11 percent from coal in 2011.
http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=MA
2. The most efficient way to produce large amounts of electricity would be to use large power plants and run them at constant output all the time. We cannot do this, however, because of variations in electricity usage during the course of the day. Why don’t we simply store the excess electricity produced during time of low usage and then use this excess during time of high usage?
It takes a great deal of energy to start up and shut down the machines that are generating our electricity. It would be more of a loss to start up and shut down these machines than it is to continuously run them. Instead, the electricity is run at a constant output and during peak ours extra generators are used to make up for the huge gap in energy usage.
3. Who were Nikola Tesla, George Westinghouse, Thomas Edison? What role did each play in the development of the electrical utility industry? What were the advantages and disadvantages to the AC and DC electricity distribution systems? Why did AC win?
Tesla, Westinghouse, and Edison were all key people in the history of the development of the electrical utility industry. Nikola Tesla improved the AC electricity distribution system, where Thomas Edison created the DC electricity distribution systems. George Westinghouse had a great role in enhancing the use of Tesla’s AC electricity distribution system. Advantages of AC were that transmisstion power could be transferred farther at low voltage and this