Nuclear power appears to be a powerful way to make steam that spins a turbine. Same with geothermal, wind, & hydro. Maybe not solar? Isn’t energy lost in the multiple energy conversions (heat, water state, kinetic)? Is it theoretically possible to have a power source that more directly moves electrons through a circuit? If solar is the only one that can, it’s limited in efficiency and where it can be used. What about power generation undersea or on Ganymede or something?
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Steam turbines are the most common heat engine and we have lots of experience with them so have got the efficiency about as high as it will go. There are alternatives though that could be more efficient, supercritical co2 turbines could be significantly more efficient than steam (supposedly 50% more). There are test plants being built at the moment.
Certain types of fusion power could allow us to use a direct conversion method getting electricity directly from a charged particles kinetic energy at a higher efficiency than any heat engine. This would probably be in tandem with a heat engine though.
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