Fossil fuels in electricity generation

Historically, electricity generating plants were built where fossil fuels were readily available, reliably delivered, cheap and easy to handle. This has over time usually meant coal, although oil was sometimes used (as in the Persian Gulf states), and latterly natural gas in countries having abundant gas reserves. An important, but often unstated criterion in both developed and developing countries was security of energy supply: it is deemed better to rely on domestic resources of fuel for electricity than to use interruptible sources which have to be imported. It has only been in the past three decades that the need to control and reduce pollution and then CO2 emissions has become an important criterion in building electricity generation plants.

Related Subject(s): Natural Resources Water and Energy