This short guide provides an introduction to the history and development of buildings associated with C20 coal- and oil-fired power stations. It is intended to support the listing selection guide on Industrial Structures. Coal- and oil-fired power stations are among the largest and most recognisable industrial complexes of the 20th century. They had a profound impact on the British landscape, visually, environmentally, and culturally, and the electricity they generated had a transformational effect on our economy and society. Reaching an unrivalled scale and level of technological sophistication by the 1960s, now many of these 'great temples to the carbon age' are becoming obsolete, as cleaner, more efficient and renewable forms of energy production find favour in the 21st century.