Conventional “dirty” power plants burn coal or natural gas to produce steam or hot gases that drive turbines and generate electricity.
Conventional power plants burn fossil fuels, which release CO2 (the main greenhouse gas, GHG) into the atmosphere through smokestacks. These fuels do offer several advantages:
• Coal and natural gas are cost-effective energy sources.
• The plants’ construction and infrastructure have already been fully amortized.
• These plants can easily modulate their power output to respond to sudden surges in electricity consumption, particularly by adjusting the natural gas intake for gas turbines.
• Coal and natural gas can be easily stored, allowing power plants to reliably meet continuous demand every hour of the day and night, all year long.
Alternative “clean” power plants must replicate these characteristics in order to produce electricity without generating GHG emissions.