ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Fossil-fuel power plant

A fossil-fuel power plant is like a big super machine that uses things like coal, oil or natural gas to create electricity.

Imagine you have a toy car that runs on batteries. When you insert the batteries, the car moves. Fossil-fuel power plants work in a similar way, but instead of using batteries they use fossil fuels like coal, oil, or natural gas to create electricity.

These power plants have huge machines called generators that use a special type of electricity called electrical energy. The generators create electrical energy by spinning a big magnet inside a coil of wire. This creates the energy that can be transferred to our homes and light our lamps, power up our devices and run manufacturing units among others.

To create electricity, fossil-fuel power plants burn these fossil fuels to heat water and create steam. This steam turns a turbine, which is like a big propeller, to create electricity.

Think of it like making hot chocolate. You need to heat up a pot of water or milk, add the chocolate powder, stir it all together, and then you have a delicious, hot drink! In the power plant, it's the same idea. Water heats up when it is exposed to heat, and it turns into steam. Then this steam is used to turn the turbine which creates the electricity we use every day.

However, burning fossil fuels to create this electricity has a downside. It creates greenhouse gases that pollute the air, contributes to global warming, and damages our planet. This is why many people and companies are now turning to cleaner and renewable sources of energy.