It is difficult to imagine modern civilisation without electricity, available 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, at the flick of a switch. The global demand will continue to grow because of the increasing population and prosperity. We must therefore protect the planet from environmental damage. One way to satisfy these seemingly irreconcilable requirements is to produce and use power more efficiently.

As recently as a decade ago, we converted only around 35% of the energy from coal to electricity but modern coal-fired plants can be up to 47% efficient, reducing the emission of the green house gas, CO₂ by over one-third. They can also be equipped to remove oxides of sulphur and nitrogen, which contribute to acid rain. How electricity is produced from coal.

Compared with coal, combustion of natural gas produces approx. half the amount of CO₂. The green house burden is reduced even further because the efficiency of gas-fired units is approaching 60%. How a gas turbine generates electricity.

Nuclear fission does not emit CO₂ but the technology is not favoured by the public in many countries because of a perception of risk of nuclear accidents and problems with disposal of radioactive materials. How electricity is produced using nuclear power.

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