Slide #3: How Power Plants Work

At its most basic, a power plant is a machine that uses energy to spin a turbine attached to a magnet. The magnet is wrapped in a coil of wire, and the spinning action creates electric current, a principle of physics discovered in the 19th century.

Where do power plants get the energy to spin turbines? Engineers have developed a variety of technologies. The most common is to heat water and produce steam, which is used to push the turbine blades.

Nationwide, the most common way to heat water in power plants is to burn coal. America has abundant coal resources in the Appalachians, Midwest, Texas, the Rockies, and desert Southwest. Last year, more than 1 billion tons were extracted and burned, mainly for power generation.

The table below shows how America generates electricity. Figures supplied by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

FUEL	PERCENTAGE OF GENERATION
Coal	50.1
Nuclear	20.2
Natural Gas	17.9
Hydro	6.6
Petroleum	2.5
Other Renewables	2.2
Miscellaneous	0.4

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