James Coghlan
M1- Compare the features of 3 prime energy sources that are in general use for the production of electricity by mechanically driving an electromagnetic generator.
There are many types of general use energy sources being used today, they range from the fossil fuels which have been used for many years as well as the new ideas of renewable sources, these go from energy from the sun, to energy from the wind, to energy from water, all these renewable resources are being used to generate electricity at a cheaper price than fossil fuels and do not let any pollutants off.
Hydroelectric energy uses a simple but effective, method of harnessing the power from the flowing water. To harness power from water, water like power station have to be made, these ‘power stations’ are called dams, dams block off the flow of water in a lake, this causes high pressure build-up of water, this high pressure is what is needed to produce hydroelectric energy. The water pressure that has built up is eased through the dam through small tunnels located along the dam, these tunnels are filled with turbines which rotate when water passes through, the turbines rotating, rotate an attached shaft which is attached to the electromagnetic generator which lies behind. The generator works as normal changing mechanical energy into electrical energy.
The advantages of hydroelectric power are that it can supply for large amounts of people, once built its will continually provide electricity at lower rates than if they were burning fossil fuels. Dams do not have to be used all the time, if their target of reaching a certain level out output is reached they can stop allowing the water to flow through the turbines, this means that there is no wasted electricity with the use of a dam.
The only disadvantage of a dam is that it takes a long amount of time to build.

The Burning of coal is another way of generating electricity as it a fossil fuel and can be used to start an electromagnetic generator. Burning coal has been the most common way of producing electricity for many years as it easily extracted from the ground and can easily be burnt, due to this coal has been an easy choice of in what to use to create electricity. once the coal is at the power station it is a very simple method of generating electricity, the coal is placed in a furnace in which it is heated to a great temperature, water is applied to the hot coal and begins to steam, this steam rises and travels through piping until it reaches a turbine, this turbine rotates due to the great deal of pressure from the steam, the rotating turbine spins a shaft connected to the generator, the generator begins to operate, it changed the mechanical energy from the hot steam into electrical energy. The energy is then taken out of the power station to cities and civilisation.
The advantages of burning coal to provide electricity to the nation is that coal is easily extracted from the earth’s crust, you can produce a lot of electricity from