2. Energy Energy creates the power to drive tools and machines, to process materials into manufactured products and to create structures. Power is generated from nonrenewable energy sources such as coal, oil, and gas, or can be generated from natural resources such as geothermal, solar, and gravitational energies.

3. Kinds of thermal power energy Fossil fuels Fossil fuels – coal, oil and natural gas -- currently provide more than 40 % of all the energy consumed in the world , nearly two-thirds of the electricity, and virtually all of the transportation fuels. Moreover, it is likely that the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels to power an expanding economy will actually increase over at least the next two decades even with aggressive development and deployment of new renewable and nuclear technologies.

4. Fossil fuels In a fossil-fueled power plant, heat, from the burning of coal, oil, or natural gas, converts (boils) water into steam (A), which is piped to the turbine (B). In the turbine, the steam passes through the blades, which spins the electrical generator (C), resulting in a flow of electricity. After leaving the turbine, the steam is converted (condensed) back into water in the condenser (D). The water is then pumped (E) back to the boiler (F) to be reheated and converted back into steam.

5. Coal Coal is one of the true measures of the energy strength of the world . One quarter of the world’s coal reserves are found within the United States, and the energy content of the nation’s coal resources exceeds that of all the world’s known recoverable oil. Coal is also the workhorse of the nation’s electric power industry.

6. Natural Gas Natural Gas usually associated with petroleum deposits, consists mostly of methane, but it also contains significant amounts of ethane, propane and butane.

7. Petroleum Petroleum is a thick, dark liquid composed mostly of compounds called hydrocarbons that contain carbon and hydrogen.

8. Thermal power plant Principle of thermal power plant Chemical E ⇒ Thermal E ⇒ Physical E ⇒ Electric E Principle of thermal power plant Chemical E ⇒ Thermal E ⇒ Physical E ⇒ Electric E

9. Equipment of thermal power plant Equipment of thermal power plant * In a thermal power plant, steam is produced and used to spin a turbine that operates a generator. Shown here is a diagram of a conventional thermal power plant, which uses coal, oil, or natural gas as fuel to boil water to produce the steam. The electricity generated at the plant is sent to consumers through high-voltage power lines.