Where Knowledge Rules

Sciences:

Physical Science

Get a Widget for this title

Empowering with hydropower: A look at the Niagara hydroelectricity project

What importance electricity has in our lives becomes quite evident when we are out of power or say short of electricity. Electricity provides a spinal cord for the industrialisation we are experiencing in the recent times. The story begins when the world's first hydroelectric power plant was made operative on September 30, 1882 in Appleton, Wisconsin

James W Steele wrote in his book Steam Steel and Electricity, "the discovery of the possibility of transmitting power by a wire, and converting it again into mechanical energy, is a strange story of the human blindness that almost always attends an acuteness, a thinking power, a prescience that is the characteristic of humanity alone, but which so often stops short of results."


Electricity can be traced down to ancient times. However, in reminiscence we see Otto von Guericke, Burgomaster of Magdeburg, as the man who invented a machine for producing the electric power in large quantity. The first ever project for the production of hydroelectricity was built in Appleton, Wisconsin in the United States. This produced direct current (DC) for the local industry. March 22, 1880, was an auspicious night that heralds a revolution, which in reality engulfed the whole planet in least time. That night Man's very old need to devise low cost energy surfaced as a reality. The power generated by Niagara Falls helped to generate the most economical electricity in the world.
The Niagara Falls' history began with ice. Some 12,000 years ago, with a sheet of ice 2-3 kilometers thick, the Niagara Escarpment was covered. The ice began to melt some twelve thousand years before. This water gradually formed the Great Lakes, and carved out the Niagara Gorge along with the 350-foot drop that facilitated the engineers to produce power today. Great Lake is a group of five freshwater lakes of central North America sandwiched between the United States and Canada. It includes Lake Superior, Huron, Erie, Ontario, and Michigan.
Canada is regarded as the largest producer of hydroelectricity and United States comes next to it. In the United States, the hydropower contribution comes in the range of 10-12 percent of total electricity requirements. In 1881, the first hydroelectric generating station on the Niagara River was developed. An 86-foot cascade of water produced electricity, which was utilised to power the machinery of local mills along with lighting up some of the village streets. Due to the fact that it does not demand any sort of fuel, the


Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:

Empowering with hydropower: A look at the Niagara hydroelectricity project

Add your voice

Know something about Empowering with hydropower: A look at the Niagara hydroelectricity project?
We want to hear your view. Write_penWrite now!

Helium Debate

Cast your vote!

Could an omniscient spiritual field conserve quantum superposition information?

Click for your side.

176597

Featured Partner

New England Coalition for Sustainable Population (NECSP)

New England Coalition for Sustainable Population's (NECSP) mission is to raise awareness in New England of regional, ...more

What is Helium? | Buy Web Content | Contact Us | Privacy | User agreement | DMCA | User Tools | Help | Community | Helium’s Official Blog | Link to Helium

Helium, Inc.
200 Brickstone Square Andover, MA 01810 USA