Trace the path of energy from the sun to the heat that is released by the smoke stacks of steam generation?

Answer 1

In modern plants. there is no smoke from steam generation (presumably for generating electricity). All that you ever see is steam. There are also 2 primary energy streams from the sun involved - heat and light. Only the path of some of the light is simple in terms of your question. Sunlight strikes a plant and powers photosynthesis. That chemical reaction stores/converts some of the light energy into chemical energy in the compounds that make-up the plant. After that, two possible routes are available - one taking millions of years the other taking a few days or weeks The plants could die and be buried to eventually form coal, or the plants can be harvested and burnt directly. If coal is formed, there is another change in the form of the energy as coal is very largely carbon, rather than compounds. In burning the fuel, the chemical energy is recovered, some to usefully generate steam, some to be lost as fugitive emissions from the power plant, some to be deliberately released/lost, such as the steam that you see.