Generating Electricity

Coal, gas and nuclear power stations all generate electricity by heating water to produce steam.

Coal and gas are fossil fuels which are burned. This produces carbon dioxide which adds to global warming. Nuclear fuels get hot due to nuclear fission but there is no burning taking place, so they don't produce any carbon dioxide. However, radioactive waste can be very dangerous and it has to be mixed with molten glass and poured into steel drums which are then welded shut before being buried in deep mines!

All of these fuels heat water to produce steam to drive a steam turbine which then turns an electrical generator at high speed. The generator contains a spinning magnet inside a coil which is made of thousands of turns of wire and this produces a.c. electricity.