Ace the 2026 Dual Enrollment Environmental Science Exam – Power Up Your Planet-Saving Skills!

The main concept is how fossil fuels turn chemical energy into electricity through combustion, steam, and a turbine.

Fossil fuels release chemical energy when burned. That heat boils water to create high-pressure steam, and this steam spins a turbine. The turbine is connected to a generator, and as it turns, the generator converts the mechanical energy into electrical energy that can be distributed for use. This is the standard process used in most coal- and oil-fired power plants.

The other options describe different ideas: nuclear fission powers a generator, which is a different energy source; photosynthesis in plants is how plants store energy from sunlight, not how electricity from fossil fuels is produced; capturing CO2 directly from air is a carbon-removal technique, not energy generation.