Editing Electricity (section)

===Generation and transmission===
{{Main|Electricity generation}}
{{See also|Electric power transmission|Mains electricity}}
[[File:Gorskii 04414u.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Early 20th-century [[alternator]] made in [[Budapest]], [[Hungary]], in the power generating hall of a [[hydroelectric]] station (photograph by [[Prokudin-Gorsky]], 1905–1915).]]

In the 6th century BC the Greek philosopher [[Thales of Miletus]] experimented with amber rods: these were the first studies into the production of electricity. While this method, now known as the [[triboelectric effect]], can lift light objects and generate sparks, it is extremely inefficient.<ref name=batteries>
{{citation
| first1 = Ronald | last1 = Dell
| first2 = David | last2 = Rand
| title = Understanding Batteries
| journal = NASA Sti/Recon Technical Report N
| pages = 2–4
| year = 2001
| publisher = Royal Society of Chemistry
| isbn =0-85404-605-4
| bibcode = 1985STIN...8619754M
| volume = 86
}}
</ref> It was not until the invention of the [[voltaic pile]] in the eighteenth century that a viable source of electricity became available. The voltaic pile, and its modern descendant, the [[Battery (electricity)|electrical battery]], store energy chemically and make it available on demand in the form of electricity.<ref name=batteries/>

Electrical power is usually generated by electro-mechanical [[electrical generator|generators]]. These can be driven by [[steam]] produced from [[fossil fuel]] combustion or the heat released from nuclear reactions, but also more directly from the [[kinetic energy]] of wind or flowing water. The [[steam turbine]] invented by [[Charles Algernon Parsons|Sir Charles Parsons]] in 1884 is still used to convert the thermal energy of steam into a rotary motion that can be used by electro-mechanical generators. Such generators bear no resemblance to Faraday's homopolar disc generator of 1831, but they still rely on his electromagnetic principle that a conductor linking a changing magnetic field induces a potential difference across its ends.<ref>
{{citation
| first = Peter G.
| last = McLaren
| title = Elementary Electric Power and Machines
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/elementaryelectr0000mcla/page/182 182–83]
| year = 1984
| publisher = Ellis Horwood
| isbn = 0-85312-269-5
| url = https://archive.org/details/elementaryelectr0000mcla/page/182
}}
</ref> Electricity generated by [[solar panel]]s rely on a different mechanism: [[Solar irradiance|solar radiation]] is converted directly into electricity using the [[photovoltaic effect]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 November 2022 |title=How electricity is generated |url=https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/how-electricity-is-generated.php |access-date=2023-02-19 |website=U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)}}</ref>

[[File:Parque eólico La Muela.jpg|thumb|alt=A wind farm of about a dozen three-bladed white wind turbines.|[[Wind power]] is of increasing importance in many countries.]]
Demand for electricity grows with great rapidity as a nation modernises and its economy develops.<ref>{{citation
 | last =Bryce
 | first =Robert
 | author-link =Robert Bryce (writer)
 | title =A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations
 | publisher =PublicAffairs
 | date =2020
 | pages =352
 | url =https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/robert-bryce/a-question-of-power/9781610397490/
 | isbn =978-1-61039-749-0
 | access-date =2021-11-07
 | archive-date =2021-11-07
 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20211107190916/https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/robert-bryce/a-question-of-power/9781610397490/
 | url-status =live
 }}</ref> The United States showed a 12% increase in demand during each year of the first three decades of the twentieth century,<ref>{{Citation
| last = Edison Electric Institute
| title = History of the U.S. Electric Power Industry, 1882–1991
| url = http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/chg_stru_update/appa.html
| access-date = 2007-12-08
| archive-date = 2010-12-06
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101206094624/http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/chg_stru_update/appa.html
| url-status = live
}}</ref> a rate of growth that is now being experienced by emerging economies such as those of India or China.<ref>
{{Citation
 |last=Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum
 |title=An Energy Summary of India
 |url=http://www.cslforum.org/india.htm
 |access-date=2007-12-08
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205080916/http://www.cslforum.org/india.htm
 |archive-date=2007-12-05
 |url-status=dead
}}
</ref><ref>{{Citation
| last = IndexMundi
| title = China Electricity – consumption
| url = http://www.indexmundi.com/china/electricity_consumption.html
| access-date = 2007-12-08
| archive-date = 2019-06-17
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190617183052/https://www.indexmundi.com/china/electricity_consumption.html
| url-status = live
}}</ref>

[[Environmental concerns with electricity generation]], in specific the contribution of fossil fuel burning to [[climate change]], have led to an increased focus on generation from [[Renewable energy|renewable sources]]. In the power sector, [[wind power|wind]] and [[solar PV|solar]] have become cost effective, speeding up an [[energy transition]] away from fossil fuels.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Kutscher|first1=C.F.|last2=Milford|first2=J.B.|last3=Kreith|first3=F.|title=Principles of Sustainable Energy Systems|edition=Third|publisher=[[CRC Press]]|series=Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Series |year=2019|isbn=978-0-429-93916-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wQhpDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live|archive-date=6 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606195825/https://books.google.com/books?id=wQhpDwAAQBAJ|page=5}}</ref>