What fuels are used to make electricity?

Answer 1

Steam - Water is boiled by:

• Nuclear fission,
• The burning of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, or petroleum). In hot gas (gas turbine), turbines are driven directly by gases produced by the combustion of natural gas or oil. Combined cycle gas turbine plants are driven by both steam and natural gas. They generate power by burning natural gas in a gas turbine and use residual heat to generate additional electricity from steam. These plants offer efficiencies of up to 60%.

Also coal.

Answer 2

The fuels which are usually used for power stations in The UK are: the fossil fuels coal and gas ( these are fuels in the classic sense that they are burned), and uranium and plutonium.

Fossil fuels are burned i.e. the chemical process of combustion combines the fuels with oxygen. Coal is mostly carbon so as energy is released so is lots of carbon dioxide. Gas is a hydrocarbon so energy is released both from the carbon to oxygen bonding ( this makes carbon dioxide) and the hygrogen to oxygen bonding which makes harmless water. Thus you prduce more carbon dioxide for each kWh of electrical energy for coal than for gas. The carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas so contributes to global warming.

Coal also contains the impurity sulphur in varying amounts. When coal is burned, sulphut dioxide is released and may combine iwth rain water to make acid rain.

Uranium and plutonium are not burned but undergo nuclear fission - for uranium, the uranium nucleus absorbs a neutron becomes unstable and splits. The products are radioactive 'daughter' nuclei and neutrons which go on to find more uranium to fission in a chain reaction. No burning so no ongoing contribution to global warming - just some very nasty radioactive waste to be safely stored for tens of thousands of years.

You can also burn renewable fuels like wood and various waste products collectively known as biomass. This still releases carbon dioxide but is considered carbon neutral because the plants took in the carbon recently and are just releasing that same carbon.

Answer 3

Fossil fuels burnt (coal, oil and natural gas).

Answer 4

Aviation Fuels Airplanes Petrol Cars Natral Gas Bomfire Diesel Cars Coal Trains