Why do we still use steam as a primary means of producing electricity?

Question

It’s been more than 200 years since the widespread implementation of the steam engine.

Why is this still the most prevalent means of producing electricity? With things like fusion reactors, why is it so hard to convert the thermal energy into electrical energy?

In: 787

Answer 1

It’s just really, really, really efficient. We haven’t found a better way to turn heat into electricity. Notably, it depends on gravity, and thermoelectric devices which work outside of gravity are much less powerful than simply steam rising through a turbine to spin electromagnets.