FUN SCIENCE FACT! There’s no such thing as a “GENERATOR”. Scientifically speaking, generators don’t exist because energy cannot be created or destroyed. The First Law of Thermodynamics clearly states this based on centuries of applied science and duplicable experiment over many hundreds of years. Not that generators have existed for hundreds of years, but the physics of thermodynamics has been studied for hundreds of years and the physics dictate the laws of how the world and everything in it works.
A “GENERATOR” is merely and simply an energy conversion device.
It converts stored energy into usable electricity to perform work (like lighting a lightbulb or running a washing machine).
“GENERATORS” are simple devices really. They all have 1 main moving part that spins inside a stationary part. There are different types and I won’t go into great detail about it, but the gist is this.
A central core spins inside a coil(s) of wire, or coils of wire spin inside a ring of permanent (or electro) magnets. It produces an electromagnetic field and that field of charged particles is then converted to electricity which is used to light your home.
So technically speaking, generators are energy converters, NOT generators, since it is physically impossible to “generate” (create) energy. You convert it from one form to another. But you can’t create energy from thin air.
The fuel used to power the generator is merely stored energy. Regardless of what it is. Hydro is fuel, in a sense. The energy stored inside mass(ive) amounts of water. All that mass is converted to energy when it is allowed to flow through a massive turbine (generator/convertor) turning the giant rotor and that in turn converts the stored energy into usable energy known as electricity.
It doesn’t matter the “fuel” used to turn the generator (energy converter). It can be fossil fuels (coal and gas), hydro, nuclear, geothermal, wind, all are used to produce mechanical work that spins the rotor inside the generator that produces an electromagnetic field that converts the stored energy into usable electricity.
It’s very interesting to know the physics behind where electricity comes from.
So yeah…there’s no such thing as a generator.
They’re all energy converters.