What are Some Methods of Power Generation?
Mankind has been generating electricity on an industrial scale since 1881. The first power plants used hydroelectric power and coal power. Since then, other methods of power generation have been introduced: natural gas, oil, nuclear, and small amounts of power generated by solar, tidal, wind, and geothermal sources. In 2006, about 15% of global power generation was through nuclear, 16% through hydro, 68% through fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), and less than 1% through renewables (solar, wind, tidal). Power generation involves either transforming heat energy, such a burning oil, into mechanical energy, or mechanical energy, such as the moving blades of a windmill, into electrical energy, using a generator. Even in the case of an advanced power source such as nuclear, the heat from fissioning nuclei is used to heat water, which turns a turbine and provides electricity. Power has been generated in large quantities since the Industrial Revolution, when it was used to run everything
