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

Water takes a lot of energy in when its being warmed up, and it needs to lose a lot of that energy to cool down. It’s not only useful because of how much energy it can hold onto, but because when it turns into steam that energy means its exerting a lot of pressure when its not allowed to easily escape from that space. The combination of reliably holding on to a lot of energy and exerting a lot of pressure is why it’s used to turn turbines in most power plants for energy.