Where Does Our Energy Come From?

Thousands of years ago, the earliest species of man discovered that if they rubbed 2 sticks together long enough, they could create fire.

Fast forward to 1752, when a mad scientist with a kite and a key went outside to test his theories on electricity in the sky (all due respect to Benjamin Franklin, but we have to admit that experiment was a little risky!).

We’ve come such a long way in the last 300 years - instead of waiting for lightning to strike, we’ve developed advanced infrastructure for the creation, distribution, and storage of energy.

So how does our energy get created? How does it get to us? What is the “grid”?

Stay tuned, we’ve got the answers for you.

While this may not be the most surprising, the majority of electricity in the US was produced by coal, nuclear energy, and natural gas (according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration). 

Even still, about one-fifth of energy used in the US comes from renewable energy sources, which can include geothermal, wind, biomass, solar power, and hydropower energy.

So now we know where it comes from, but that still doesn’t explain the how.

Let’s get into it.

In order to create electricity, Another form of energy  must be converted to electrical energy via a number of different methods.

So what does this look like in real-time? In the cases of solar thermal, biomass, geothermal, petroleum, nuclear fission, coal, and natural gas: heat is used to produce steam, and said steam moves the turbine blades. 

For hydropower and wind power, flowing water and wind are responsible for moving the blades of turbines. Solar panels utilize semiconductors to convert sunlight directly to electricity. 

Simple enough, right?

That’s because this energy has to go through quite the journey before it does the functions that affect our daily lives, such as powering our homes or lighting our streets. 

Electricity in the US typically travels through a transmission grid of over 150,000 miles of high-voltage cables, starting at energy-generating facilities and ending their journey at local substations for further distribution.

Do you know what energy turbines, dams, windmills, and hydropower plants have in common?

All of these energy-generating machines are operated via control systems - which are exactly what they sound like - control panels that control the operation of said machines.

All of these control systems need to be kept safely and secured inside of enclosures,, and this is where DIRAK shines.

High quality and innovative enclosure hardware  is necessary for these enclosures, as the equipment  must remain safe while only allowing access to authorized persons, such as operating employees or maintenance workers.

… so if you’re looking to provide enclosure security for a control system, or simply curious what hardware is revolutionizing the space, look no further than E-LINE by DIRAK.   

We’re all too familiar with electricity in our day-to-day lives, but how much do we know about how electricity is generated, or how it gets to our homes and neighborhoods?

Mechanical energy has to be converted into electric energy using turbine generators, and every variation of said generators operates using a control system.

These systems are valuable and restricted to only authorized personnel … and that’s where DIRAK comes in.

With our access control hardware in place, energy providers can better manage sensitive and valuable control system technology with maximum security and flexibility.

• How is electric energy created? 
  • In order to create electricity, non-electrical l energy must be converted to electrical energy via various means, but most frequently a turbine generator set. 

• What is an EV charging station? 
  • An EV charging station is a piece of equipment  that provides electrical power for charging plug-in electric vehicles, sometimes referred to as electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) or a charge point.

• What sources are considered renewable energy? 
  • Geothermal, wind, biomass, solar power, and hydropower energy are all considered sources of renewable energy. 

• What is the grid? 
  • Electricity in the US typically travels through a transmission grid of over 150,000 miles of high-voltage cables, starting at energy-generating facilities and ending their journey at local substations for further distribution.