Electricity is a wonderfully versatile form of energy.
It has so many uses today that we tend to forget just how much of it we use. Less developed countries tend to use it less simply because the systems for making and distributing it are beyond the means of the poor. This can be because many communities are remote, while electricity tends to be produced by huge centralised power station complexes built to feed cities and industry. There is no reason why all electricity should be made in this way. One large coal-burning power station can release 10 million tonnes of CO 2 and nearly 300,000 tonnes of SO 2 each year, leaving 4,000 tonnes of ash.