Electrification

[4] In 1851, Charles Babbage stated:One of the inventions most important to a class of highly skilled workers (engineers) would be a small motive power - ranging perhaps from the force of from half a man to that of two horses, which might commence as well as cease its action at a moment's notice, require no expense of time for its management and be of modest cost both in original cost and in daily expense.

Some historians and sociologists considered the interplay of colonial politics and the development of electric grids: in India, Rao [14] showed that linguistics-based regional politics—not techno-geographical considerations—led to the creation of two separate grids; in colonial Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Chikowero [15] showed that electrification was racially based and served the white settler community while excluding Africans; and in Mandate Palestine, Shamir [16][page needed] claimed that British electric concessions to a Zionist-owned company deepened the economic disparities between Arabs and Jews.

While electrification of cities and homes has existed since the late 19th century, about 840 million people (mostly in Africa) had no access to grid electricity in 2017, down from 1.2 billion in 2010.

[39] Ceramic and Induction heating for cooktops as well as industrial applications (for instance steam crackers) are examples of technologies that can be used to transition away from natural gas.

[41] In the short term, because electricity must be supplied at the same moment it is consumed, it is somewhat unstable, compared to fuels that can be delivered and stored on-site.

Solar and wind are variable renewable energy sources that supply electricity intermittently depending on the weather and the time of day.

[49] The most commonly used storage method is pumped-storage hydroelectricity, which requires locations with large differences in height and access to water.

[51][52] Batteries typically store electricity for short periods; research is ongoing into technology with sufficient capacity to last through seasons.

Seasonal thermal energy storage requires large capacity; it has been implemented in some high-latitude regions for household heat.

Around 1832, Hippolyte Pixii improved the magneto by using a wire wound horseshoe, with the extra coils of conductor generating more current, but it was AC.

Wheatstone and Cooke made an important improvement in electrical generation by using a battery-powered electromagnet in place of a permanent magnet, which they patented in 1845.

The first commutator DC electric motor capable of turning machinery was invented by the British scientist William Sturgeon in 1832.

[76] Frank J. Sprague improved on the DC motor in 1884 by solving the problem of maintaining a constant speed with varying load and reducing sparking from the brushes.

[8] Manufacturing was transitioned from line shaft and belt drive using steam engines and water power to electric motors.

[78] The first person to conceive of a rotating magnetic field was Walter Baily who gave a workable demonstration of his battery-operated polyphase motor aided by a commutator on June 28, 1879, to the Physical Society of London.

[79] Nearly identical to Baily’s apparatus, French electrical engineer Marcel Deprez in 1880 published a paper that identified the rotating magnetic field principle and that of a two-phase AC system of currents to produce it.

In 1882 the British inventor and electrical engineer Sebastian de Ferranti, working for the company Siemens collaborated with the distinguished physicist Lord Kelvin to pioneer AC power technology including an early transformer.

[82] A power transformer developed by Lucien Gaulard and John Dixon Gibbs was demonstrated in London in 1881, and attracted the interest of Westinghouse.

[citation needed] Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti went into this business in 1882 when he set up a shop in London designing various electrical devices.

[83] John Hopkinson, a British physicist, invented the three-wire (three-phase) system for the distribution of electrical power, for which he was granted a patent in 1882.

Other inventors were the American engineers Charles S. Bradley and Nikola Tesla, and the German technician Friedrich August Haselwander.

Built on an unprecedented scale and pioneering the use of high voltage (10,000 V) AC current, it generated 800 kilowatts and supplied central London.

Despite the protestations of the Niagara commissioner William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) the decision was taken to build an AC system, which had been proposed by both Westinghouse and General Electric.

This made parallel operation of AC generators feasible, and improved the stability of rotary converters for production of direct current for traction and industrial uses.

It was costly and ultimately impossible to provide a belt-drive between a low-speed engine and a high-speed generator in the very large ratings required for central station service.

The modern steam turbine was invented in 1884 by British engineer Sir Charles Parsons, whose first model was connected to a dynamo that generated 7.5 kW (10 hp) of electricity.

In 1916 Merz pointed out that the UK could use its small size to its advantage, by creating a dense distribution grid to feed its industries efficiently.

In the United States it became a national objective after the power crisis during the summer of 1918 in the midst of World War I to consolidate supply.

[106] In China, the turmoil of the Warlord Era, the Civil War and the Japanese invasion in the early 20th century delayed electrification for decades.

[108] Deng Xiaoping, who became China's paramount leader in 1978, initiated a rural electrification drive as part of a broader modernization effort.

Threshing machine in 1881.
World map showing the percentage of the population in each country with access to mains electricity , as of 2017. [ 17 ]
80%–100%
60%–80%
40%–60%
20%–40%
0–20%
Electrified transport and renewable energy are key parts of investment for the renewable energy transition . [ 22 ] [ 23 ]
Hybrid Power System
Energy from sunlight, wind or other renewable energy sources is converted to potential energy for storage in devices such as electric batteries or higher-elevation water reservoirs . The stored potential energy is later converted to electricity that is added to the power grid, even when the original energy source is not available.
refer to caption
Construction of salt tanks to store thermal energy
Faraday disk, the first electric generator. The horseshoe-shaped magnet (A) created a magnetic field through the disk (D) . When the disk was turned, this induced an electric current radially outward from the center toward the rim. The current flowed out through the sliding spring contact m , through the external circuit, and back into the center of the disk through the axle.
Yablochkov's demonstration of his brilliant arc lights at the 1878 Paris Exposition along the Avenue de l'Opéra triggered a steep sell off of gas utility stocks.
Electricity grid simple- North America
Three-phase rotating magnetic field of an AC motor . The three poles are each connected to a separate wire. Each wire carries current 120 degrees apart in phase. Arrows show the resulting magnetic force vectors. Three phase current is used in commerce and industry.
An 1899 Parsons steam turbine linked directly to a dynamo
This black and white photograph shows construction workers raising power lines next to the railroad tracks of the Toledo, Port Clinton, Lakeside Railroad tracks in a rural area. The workers are using a railroad car as their vehicle to carry supplies and themselves down the line. It was taken in approximately 1920.
Construction workers raising power lines, 1920