Edison Electric.

Electricity power that was developed in the past by Thomas Edison (owner of Edison Electric comapny) has many sources. One of the biggest ones are nuclear plants and coal fired plants.Nuclear power plants are nowadays designed and built with public safety as a priority issue, and the buildings are constructed to  contain all the radiation.

Emissions of the radioactive materials from routine operations of nuclear power plants should not require any protective actions on people near the plants. If you live within 10 miles of the nuclear power plant, however, in the event of an accident or a significant unplanned leak you may be instructed to evacuate and move further away.

Decommission of a nuclear plants is a serious problem.Several  nuclear power plants completed decommission in the 90′s without a viable  option for disposing of their used nuclear fuel, because the federal  government did not construct a geologic repository as it was previously planned. Accordingly, the implemented regulations allowing licensees to sell off part of their land once  it meets the release criteria, while maintaining a small parcel under license  for storing the used fuel. Other source of electricity is thermal power plants – they  have big boilers that burn a fuel to make heat.

In a power plant, the water is boiled inside the boiler, and the steam is then piped to the turbine through very thick pipes moving the turbine and producing electricity.Coal-fired power plants have the most impact on environment – it shoot 772 million pounds of airborne toxic chemicals  into the sky  every year – that is more than 2.5 pounds for every American man, woman, and child. In March last year the  Environmental Protection Agency  proposed to dramatically reduce the mercury, lead, acid gases, and other toxic materials.

Electricity is a specific form of energy.  All matter is made up of atoms, and single atom has a center that is called a nucleus. The nucleus part contains positively charged particles called protons and uncharged particles called neutrons. The nucleus part of an atom is surrounded by negatively charged particles that are called electrons.

The negative charge of an electron is equal to the positive charge of a proton, and the number of electrons in an atom is also equal to the number of protons. When the balancing force between protons and electrons is upset by an external force, an atom may gain or lose an electron and then the free movement of these electrons constitutes an electric current.

Electricity is widely known as the movement or flow of electrically powered or charged particles. In the most popular form used daily, it is generated by other energy sources (primary sources) and that is why it is considered a secondary energy source.

Electricity is conducted slightly differently among different things. The resistance of a specific substance measures how well it passes the electricity. Things which hold the electrons tightly without letting them to move well are called insulators. Electricity doesn’t pass well through various insulators like glass, wood, rubber and plastic. Whereas things that hold electrons loosely and easily allow them move easily are called conductors. Some quite good conductors of electricity are steel, copper and many kinds of the metals.

Thomas Edison that formed Edison Electric company had great influence in electric power development. Electricity power has been used for our civilization for over120 years, utilizing several sources found in nature. General concerns about the environment health caused a small part of the industry to search for other, alternative sources, such as wind energy and geothermal sources or solar energy.

Thomas Edison – born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio -  was raised in Port Huron, Michigan.  When Edison was young  his hearing problem developed and because of this he did not do well at school and was teased by the other kids.  His mother eventually took him out of the school and she started to teach him herself.  He was studying and experimenting for most of his time.  When he was 13 year old he sold newspapers, and he also learned how to use a telegraph and when he was 16 he worked as a telegrapher full time.
In 1878, Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Company in the city of New York.

Thomas Edison was able to achieve all of his life’s work  without much of a scientific or engineering education. Edison’s method was to invent whole systems rather than components of systems. Edison did not just invent a light bulb, he invented the complex system of lighting, including its generators, cables, metering, and so on.
Edison’s major innovation was the Menlo Park research laboratory that was built in New Jersey . It was the first institution set up with the specific purpose of creating constant technological innovations and improvements.
Edison has spent many years traveling around Canada and the United States, working as a telegraph operator and doing scientific experiments in his spare time.

Edison‘s experiments with the telephone and the telegraph have led to his big invention of the  phonograph  in 1877. It occurred to him that sound could be recorded and stored as indentations on a rapidly-moving piece of paper. He eventually put together a machine with a tinfoil-coated cylinder and a diaphragm and needle. When Edison for the first time spoke the words “Mary had a little lamb” into the mouthpiece, to his amazement the machine played the phrase back to him. The Edison Speaking Phonograph Company was created and distributed early in 1878 to market the machine, but the initial novelty value of the phonograph wore off, and Edison turned his attention elsewhere.