Abstract
Publisher Summary This chapter presents a historical perspective on electricity and energy use. Electricity serves the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors and is the dominant energy form in the residential–commercial sector. Manufacturers employ electricity in a number of ways. Electricity drives pumps, lathes, and conveyors; electric furnaces melt steel scrap and reduce alumina; electronic instruments acquire data for analysis by computers and use in control of processes; and electricity illuminates factories, powers office equipment, and conditions the working environment. The diverse applications of electricity in an industry can be divided into three broad categories: (1) mechanical power for driving machines, (2) support services, and (3) electroprocesses. The transition from steam engines with shaft and belt drives to electric motors mounted directly on machinery had significant effects on energy consumption and productive efficiency earlier in this century. At present, most industrial assembly is performed by people and by special-purpose machines when production volume is high enough.
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