Were you aware that the majority of all the electricity used in the world today is generated by burning coal, the dirtiest, most polluting fossil fuel of them all? The reason for this is that it remains by far the cheapest way to produce large amounts of electricity. However, it is not the only way, as we shall see:

Although it still produces the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide when it is burned, and is a dwindling resource, natural gas is by far the most environmentally friendly of all the fossil fuels used in power stations, and the fact that it produces no soot when burned means that the combustion products can be used to help turn the steam turbine, making it also by far the most efficient.

Although petroleum power stations do exist, they do not run on the type of fuel that you might put in your car. Instead, they use residual fuel oil, which is a cheap by-product of the crude oil refining process. Although this is cleaner than coal, petroleum fired power stations are still amongst the worst polluters.

Currently, the only large-scale alternative to fossil fuel fired power stations is nuclear energy, which works by splitting the atoms of a nuclear fuel such as uranium, releasing a massive amount of heat which is used to vaporise the water that drives the steam turbines. Although this process does not produce carbon dioxide, other than indirectly through the energy required to split the atoms in the first place, it does produce quite a significant volume of dangerous nuclear waste.

Hydro Power is one of the simplest, and cleanest forms of electricity production available, as it merely relies upon the flow of water in a fast flowing river or through an outlet in a dam to power the turbines. However, the amount of power that can be produced in this way is limited due to the fact that hydro plants need to be located very specifically.

If you have ever seen a volcano erupt, you will be aware that beneath the earths crust there is a lot of heat waiting to get out. In some regions, this heat energy is so close to the surface that underground water is turned into steam and shot through holes in the surface known as hot springs. This can be harnessed to power steam turbines in the usual way, and this is known as Geothermal Power.

Photovoltaic cells, also known as solar panels, can trap the energy in the suns solar rays and turn it into electricity. The heat from the sun can also be focussed using special lenses to heat water for steam turbines in a process known as solar thermal generation.

Another renewable option, in countries where there is no shortage of windy weather, is wind power, which uses windmills equipped with dynamos to turn the kinetic energy of the wind into electrical energy. However, these windmills have a habit of ruining a nice landscape, which is why so many proposed wind farms run into planning difficulties.

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