Traditional methods of power generation have created a legacy of acid rain, oil spills and - despite billions of pounds of research - nuclear waste, issues which need to be tackled. Most serious of all is the contribution to climate change. We have been steadily pumping carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere. The three major categories of energy for electricity generation are fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum), nuclear energy, and renewable energy sources. Most electricity is generated with steam turbines using fossil fuels, nuclear, biomass, geothermal, and solar thermal energy. The gases unlocked by burning the coal which fuelled the industrial revolution are augmented by the steadily increased burning of other fossil fuels, such as oil and natural gas, as well as other carbon dioxide emissions, those from car exhaust fumes are a case in point. Carbon dioxide creates a blanket around the earth. Heat which would normally disappear into space is reflected back to be soaked up by the oceans. The world gets hotter. Yet, despite all the warnings and all the evidence, it seems to be business as usual for the energy companies, which continue to invest in power stations that burn fossil fuels and discharge 40 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year. At the same time, the amount of electricity that could be generated from renewable sources is vast: both offshore wind turbines and wave power could meet our energy needs three times over.