Powering the powerhouses

Until the 1950s nearly every Australian town had a powerhouse, which burnt coal to generate electricity.

Today these small powerhouses have been replaced with a few larger powerhouses, many connected together in the national electricity grid.

Many of these powerhouses use coal or natural gas as the energy source to drive the steam turbines. Hydro and, increasingly, other renewable energy sources are also used.

Energy sources used to generate electricity in Australia, 2005. A PJ, or petajoule, equals one million billion joules.
Source: Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics
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